Monday, February 28, 2011

Mel C's Birthday Special

My dear friend Melanie is a BIG marshmallow fan, so for her birthday this year I decided that brownies with mallow topping were a necessary part of her birthday celebration (aka MelanieGras 2011). My first thought was rocky road brownies. I found what looked like a good recipe on MarthaStewart.com. After a chat with Mel, I determined nuts were out, so I had to adapt my plan. I decided to try making S'mores brownies.

I used the same brownie base as I found on MarthaStewart.com, but added a graham cracker bottom & left the nuts off the top. I also used salted dark chocolate for the drizzle instead of plain semi-sweet. They were a hit, and the salted chocolate top just adds a bit of pop. (I am a HUGE fan of salted chocolate. If you haven't had it and you're first instinct is "ew", all I can say is don't knock it until you try it!)

So, here's the adapted recipe:

For the graham bottom:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 stick melted butter

For the brownie layer:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 bag (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 cup mini marshamallows
1/3-1/2 cup dark or semi-sweet chips
sea salt to taste (if wanted - highly recommended)

1. Preheat oven & prepare pan as outlined in Martha's recipe. (I used my brownie pan where the sides separate from the bottom, so skipped the parchment paper.)

2. Melt the 1/2 stick of butter & mix with graham cracker crumbs until moist. Press into bottom of pan.

3. Follow steps 2 & 3 of Martha's recipe to prepare the brownie layer & pour over graham cracker bottom. Spread out the brownie batter carefully so as to not destroy the bottom layer

4. Bake 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs. I recommend a little underdone as you're going to be sticking the pan back into the oven for a few minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the oven & turn it up to broil. Sprinkle the top of the brownies with mini mallows & place under the broiler until golden brown, but not burnt. This should only take a few minutes. Be ware that the mallows will puff up, so allow space between them when spreading.

6. When mallows are golden remove brownies from oven & cool completely in pan. Drizzle melted chocolate over top of mallows once cooled & hardened. Lift from pan using parchment paper ends & cut into squares.

The recipe says it makes 16, but I cut mine into 12.

The bottom's a bit crumbly, so be sure to have napkins or plates available!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @MSMELC!!

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