Plain Jane brownies

The s'mores brownies got me thinking. I've never actually made brownies from scratch. I never use mixes for cakes, cookies, or bars. I always make my own frosting. But for some reason, I've always used boxes for brownies. And I decided that had to change. After all, they can't really be that hard, right? Anything that can turn out well when you mix powder with oil, eggs, and water has to be pretty foolproof. One thing I didn't count on, though, is that they compensate for lack of correct texture with lots of extra chocolate in the boxed mixes. I mean LOTS of extra chocolate. I doubled the chocolate in the recipe, and I still feel like these were a little lacking. I guess every first try can't be a success, right?



The color of these just isn't what I was expecting! Brownies from a box are dark brown, not the buttery brown of these. But the texture was amazing! Honestly, it made up for the lack of chocolate. Not that I won't add more chocolate next time. That's just crazy talk. And it definitely didn't make these last more than a day.



So, this recipe is definitely not perfect. But it was pretty darn good.

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups chocolate chips
3 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Melt 1 stick of butter with 1 cup chocolate chips over low heat
Let cool to room temperature -- you don't want warm chocolate compromising the texture of the brownies!

3. Beat eggs in a mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and vanilla. Beat on high until mixture becomes stiff. It will happen, I promise. You just have to be patient.

4. Mix in flour until just combined.

5. Fold in melted chocolate with a spatula. When combined, fold in the remaining 1 C chocolate chips.

6. Pour into 9x13 baking dish lined with greased foil. Bake 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. You know the drill. Let cool completely.

Gooey S'mores Brownies

When I said that this next post would feature roasted marshmallows



I meant a whole lot of roasted marshmallows. Roasted marshmallows on top of some chewy, chocolately brownies, finished off with a graham cracker crust. S'mores -- in brownie form.



The gooey marshmallows on top made these a little hard to serve, but it was worth it. My favorite part of cheesecake has always been the graham cracker crust. So crumbly and buttery.



I stole this recipe from Jessica at How Sweet Eats and modified it a little. She had a bit of a hard time with the brownies being underdone, so I have to admit, I was a little terrified when I started this project. But, since I only had 3 left after 24 hours, I'd say they were a success.

Preheat the oven to 350 ° F

Graham cracker crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted

Combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter and stir until crumbs are evenly coated and sticking together. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 cake pan.

Brownies:
I'm a little embarrassed to say that I cheated and used a box. Ghiradelli double chocolate brownie mix, to be precise. If I'm going to cheat with a mix, at least it's a good one, right?

Prepare as directed on the box, and spoon over the graham cracker crust. It will be tricky to spread it evenly over the pan without picking up the crumbs, so just do your best. I definitely didn't notice the crumbs all mixed up in the batter, and I definitely had more than a few!

Because of the crust, you'll need to adjust the cooking time. Add 15 minutes to whatever the box says. Test with a toothpick when you think they're done, of course.

Allow to cool completely (or cool a bit, since I was impatient and wanted to try the finished product).

Marshmallows:
About half a bag of jet-puffed marshmallows

Spread marshmallows evenly over the surface of the brownies. They'll expand in the oven, so don't worry about spaces between them.

Broil for about 10 minutes, watching carefully to make sure they don't burn. Of course, some people like burned marshmallows on their s'mores. Definitely not me. Personally, I like them a nice, rich golden brown. Which is just how my marshmallows turned out.

Let fully cool and serve. The marshmallow will be sticky, so the pieces are difficult to separate. Maybe this is a sign that you should eat 2... or 3... or a whole row, just to make the serving process easier.