The KBAL Brownie Initiative: Week 1: Mississippi Mud Brownies

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October 13, 2006

Week 1: Mississippi Mud Brownies

This was the first selection. At the last second, it beat out "Chocolate Malt Brownies".

Graciously prepared by Jennifer, who realized the recipe instructions called for pecans when none were listed in the ingredient list (Nice going, copy editor--what exactly did you get paid for anyway?)

Comment away! We're reading!

Coming next Thursday: Chocolate Malt Brownies

Analysis:

This recipe was fairly straightforward, as all good brownie recipes should be. It was a one bowl recipe, my favorite kind, although most of my recipes turn out to be one bowl, despite instructions. It was easy to make. The only drawback was the omission of the pecans from the ingredient list, neccessitating a second trip to Kroger and delaying brownie delivery by one day.

I guessed on the pecan amount and added 1/2 cup chopped pecans. It seemed to work out fine.

Putting on the marshmallow topping was a bit tricky. I suggest using small spoonfuls instead of big glops like I did. It took too long for it to melt.

Prep time: 20 minutes (cake and frosting combined)
Cooking time: 47 minutes (needed an extra 7 in my oven)
Total time (includes cooling and frosting): 2.5 hours

Possible Modifications:

Next time, I would add more marshmallow. The recipe only called for 7oz of marshmallow fluff, but I probably could have used the whole 13oz jar. You couldn't really taste it over the frosting.

Also, I would cut down on the amount of sugar in the frosting, up the amount of cocoa and butter. It was too sweet and made the whole package a giant sugar bomb, completely covering up the taste of the marshmallow.

Improvements:

I think this would taste great with a thick layer of fudge on top of the marshmallow, or using a fudgier frosting.

John has suggested adding maraschino cherries as a decorative topping.

My Rating - scale of 1-10

Diffculty Rating: 4 (you still had to chop pecans. Yes, I could have bought them already chopped but then I would have nothing to gripe about)
Recipe Complexity (over a basic no-frills brownie): 5
Texture: 4 (more like cake than brownie)
Flavor: 6 (a bit too sugary for my tastes, esp. the frosting)
Overall Rating: 6

Posted by jsterben at October 13, 2006 10:55 AM

Comments

YUM, YUM, YUMMY!!! Thank you JZ and John the Challenger!!! All in all a delightfully satifying Brownie! Next time I would add mooooorrrre Marshmallow, the whole darn jar! and your Regular Chocolate Cake Frosting!
That would be the Pi'ece de Resist'ance!

Mwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaah! Sally

Posted by: sweston at October 13, 2006 01:01 PM

Very rich...but good. Maybe my overall rating would be around a 6 or 7. I like to have two brownies when I eat them...but this was too rich for a second one!

Thanks Jennifer.

Posted by: cseeman at October 13, 2006 01:03 PM

Me likey! Very tasty! I have to say it's unlike any brownie I've tried. It's very cake-like. A great blend of textures with creamy frosting, gooey marshmellows, and a firm brownie "crsut."

Posted by: tonlin at October 13, 2006 02:55 PM

These were very sweet, but once you got past that, they were very enjoyable--a good way to start off the Brownie Initiative. More mallow creme might have been good--that particular flavor seemed to get lost in the sweetness unless you hit a "pocket" of it in the brownie somewhere. Ultimately, the extreme sweetness lowers my score of this recipe to a 7 out of 10.

Posted by: jsterben at October 27, 2006 10:58 AM

Not too shabby at all. A bit sweet for even my mega sweet tooth. I'd give them a 6.

Thanks, Jennfier and John.

Posted by: bpietra at October 30, 2006 09:29 AM