Mississippi Mud Brownies
ByPublished on August 1, 2012
Time
1¼ hours, plus 2 hours cooling
Yield
Makes 24
Ingredients
Brownies
6 ounces (170 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter1 ½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour⅓ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder½ teaspoon salt3 cups (21 ounces/595 grams) sugar5 large eggs¾ cup chopped pecansTopping
¾ cup marshmallow crème¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips2 teaspoons vegetable oilBefore You Begin
Be careful not to overbake these brownies; they should be moist and fudgy.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 13- by 9-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, allowing excess to overhang edges. Spray foil with cooking spray.
- Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over medium saucepan filled with 1/2 inch of barely simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water), stirring occasionally, until smooth, 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. Whisk sugar and eggs in separate bowl, then whisk in melted chocolate mixture. Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in pecans and scrape batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few wet crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire rack.
- Spoon marshmallow crème over hot brownies and let sit until softened, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate chips and oil in small bowl until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Following photos at right, spread marshmallow crème evenly over brownies and then drizzle with chocolate. Cool brownies in pan for at least 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan and cut into 2-inch squares. Serve. (Brownies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)
for the brownies
for the topping
Time
1¼ hours, plus 2 hours coolingYield
Makes 24Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
These moist, fudgy, marshmallow-topped brownies are related to Mississippi mud pie and Mississippi mud cake—desserts that share one trait: dense gooeyness that approximates the texture of the silt that settles in the Mississippi River Delta. Most mud brownie recipes call for unsweetened chocolate, but the flavor can be flat. Cocoa powder lends a deeper chocolate flavor to our brownies. We found that mini marshmallows turn hard and chewy after a stint in the oven. An easy solution was to swap the mini marshmallows out for a thin layer of marshmallow crème which evenly coated the mud brownies and kept the sugar quotient in check. Since the brownie layer in our recipe is so chocolaty, the frosting can be minimized to just a melted drizzle. Using a spatula to spread the marshmallow crème evenly over the hot brownies made easy work of it, while using a spoon to drizzle melted chocolate on top created a decorative pattern. We took care not to overbake these mud brownies; they should be moist and fudgy.
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