marshmallow crunch brownie bars with pictures

I wrote about these once before, but this weekend I made Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars again, and this time, I have pictures!

Don't they look delicious? The brownie on the bottom would be great on its own - fudgy and rich with extra chocolate chips. Then a layer of marshmallows (which no, I didn't not make from scratch!), and finally a chocolatey-peanut buttery-crunch layer that tastes like candy. They are really rich, but since they're so tall, I cut them in 64 (!) two-bite pieces, and each one is a good-sized treat.

Here's the recipe since last time I just linked to it.

Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars (slightly modified)

Brownie Ingredients

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (7 1/2 ounces) chocolate chips, divided

1 1/3 cups (5 5/8 ounces) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

2 cups (14 ounces) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Toppings

8 ounces mini marshmallows

9 ounces chocolate chips

1 cup (9 1/2 ounces) smooth peanut butter (stick with something like Jif, not natural)

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

Make brownies:

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x13" pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, melt unsweetened chocolate, butter, and 3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) of chocolate chips. Stir once a minute. (The directions say to do this in a saucepan, but I used the microwave.) Set aside to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the sugar and vanilla. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture, mixing well, and then stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the remaining 1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips. Try not to let it sit on the counter for an hour while a plumber snakes your kitchen sink. Instead, pour the batter into the pan right away, smooth the top, and bake it for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the corner of the pan comes out with moist crumbs. Took me about 27 minutes.

Make toppings:

You can hang out for the first 18-20 minutes or so, wash the dishes, and check your email. Then start prepping for the next step. Have your marshmallows ready, but ignore them for the time being. Instead, back to the microwave: melt together the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter, stirring about every minute until it's all melted. Let it cool for a few minutes. Here's where you're going: when the brownies are done, you're going to pull them out of the oven, sprinkle the marshmallows evenly over them, and return the pan to the oven for three minutes. At that point, your chocolate/pb mixture should be cooler but still fairly runny. (If it isn't, zap it for 10-15 seconds. It will be easier to work with.) Stir in the Rice Krispies, and get ready to spread this over the marshmallow layer. Remove the brownies from the oven for the second time. Spoon some of the chocolate mixture over and smooth it gently with a rubber spatula or an offset spatula. If you pour it all on at once, it will blob in one place and be hard to get it spread all over. Repeat until you've spread the rest of the chocolate mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer, working fairly quickly. Mine didn't get all the way to the edges, but a little extra marshmallow sticking out is not a tragedy.

Cool completely. Next - and don't forget this step! - CUT the brownies into whatever size pieces you want, and THEN refrigerate them. After they are chilled, you may need to saw through them again, but having cut them first, they will separate easily. This is much easier than cutting them when they're cold. As I mentioned last time, it gave me my workout for the week.

Enjoy! I keep my leftovers in the fridge, and they will easily keep for several days.