Baking Love

I thought of putting these brownies together when I saw Paula Deen making Maggie’s Decadent Brownies on the Food Network. She said it reminded her of her Marsh Mud Cake. There are so many different variations on this recipe that whatever floats your boat you could find something that suits.

I don’t usually do mixes. I prefer to mix up a substitute for the mix if the recipe calls for it, but my grandmother gave me Bob’s Red Mill Brownie Mix for Christmas, so I baked it up in this recipe to see what it would be like. I’ve made four things from gluten-free mixes ever I think, including this one. Sometimes they can be fun to experiment with and the better ones taste pretty good.

These were good for what they are: something easy to whip up. They were best just out of the oven. After they cooled I found them too salty. Heating them up improved the richness of the taste but upped the sweet factor so much that I found them too sweet. The nuts softened up in the baking and I would have preferred them crunchier. Next time I would put the nuts on top of the baked brownies after the marshmallows instead. With ice cream these brownies really found a balance, especially with strawberry, reminding me of a chocolate-covered strawberry.

Ooey Gooey Rocky Road Fudge Brownies

1 Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free brownie mix

170g (3/4 cup) butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

175 ml (3/4 cup) warm water

120g (1 cup) chopped pecans

150g (3 cups) mini marshmallows

Fudge Topping

1 395g (14 oz) tin condensed milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

340g (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Grease a 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 inch) baking dish. Place brownie mix in a bowl. Beat in melted butter, vanilla extract, water, and pecans until combined. Pour batter into prepared dish and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows, so the hot brownies melt them a bit and they get all nice and gooey. Next, prepare the topping: in a saucepan over low heat, combine the milk, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate chips are melted. Remove from heat and pour over the brownies. Spread the topping out evenly, so every bite gets as much of all three layers as possible . Enjoy!