Marshmallow crunch brownie bars

Well, we finally sold our old house. The buyers closed on it successfully, so we no longer own two homes. It's a bit sad and exciting at the same time. We made some great memories in the old house, including bringing our daughter there after she was born, and it was also the first place my husband and I lived in after we got married. We have 7 years of great memories in our former home.

Now that we are in a new house, it's time to make new memories - and a new recipe! I had bought a bag of mini marshmallows and used part of them to make S'mores bars. I had no idea what to do with the remaining marshmallows and stumbled upon this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker.  Since it contained peanut butter in the topping, I knew that my husband and coworkers would really enjoy this recipe. And because I'm not a fan of peanut butter, I wouldn't get tempted to snack on this either.

Although my husband really enjoyed these bars, I have to admit that the top layer of the chocolate peanut butter with crispy rice was really hard to spread. You may or may not be able to tell that I had to swirl the marshmallow and top layer together. I don't think that detracted from the taste though!

I only made half the recipe since I only had two eggs remaining and didn't want to make a trip to the grocery store to buy another dozen. My CSA delivery would be arriving on the same day with a dozen organic eggs, so it wasn't worth the trip. The full recipe for the brownies is below.

Ingredients

Brownie layer

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Toppings

• 1 bag (10½ ounces) miniature marshmallows
• 1½ cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter (don’t use natural peanut butter)
• 1 TBSP unsalted butter
• 1½ cups crispy rice cereal

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan.

To make the brownie layer: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the unsweetened chocolate, butter and ¾ cup of the semisweet chocolate chips. Stir occasionally while melting. Set the mixture aside and let it cool for 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla and whisk until it is well mixed. Slowly incorporate the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, and mix well. Then add in the dry sifted ingredients and mix. Finally, fold in the remaining ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and even out the top with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. If you poke a toothpick into the corner of of the pan, you should see moist crumbs.

Remove the brownies from the oven and immediately top them with the marshmallows. Bake the pan for an additional 3 minutes and remove from the oven to let it cool slightly.

While the brownies are baking once more, melt the milk chocolate chips, peanut butter, and tablespoon of butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Keep stirring until it is completely melted. Remove the mixture from the from heat, add the crispy rice cereal and mix well. Allow to cool for 3 minutes.

Spread the mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting.

Yield: About 32 bars

Source:  Brown Eyed Baker, who adapted it from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody; originally from Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel