Ladies and gentlemen, we have had a break-through.
The man who claims to not like fruit in his desserts, declared after his third serving of my blueberry sherbet that he ‘thinks he likes fruit desserts now.’ In full disclosure, I should tell you that Bluebell’s Southern Blackberry Cobbler ice cream may also be a part of the reason.
So, I’m performing a little experiment here in the DFT household. I made these Mississippi mud brownies. They are ooey-gooey and full of chocolate, walnuts and marshmallows. Not a soul in the world would turn one down. I’m going to feed him a brownie while carefully observing his facial expressions, counting the number of moans and calculating the finger lick-ability. Then, I will feed him a fruit dessert and note the differences.
To help these brownies get that rich muddy color, you must use unsweetened chocolate. Unsweetened chocolate is the most pure form of chocolate. Its flavor cannot be matched. I also added a splash of extra strong coffee from the bottom of my French press. And yes, you really need 1 whole teaspoon of vanilla for two brownies.
The chocolate sauce on the top is a scaled down version of David Lebovitz’s best chocolate sauce (minus the extra sugar). For a portable option, skip the chocolate sauce poured on top and instead, sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips on the brownies right before adding the marshmallows and bake as usual.
Mississippi Mud Brownies
makes 2 large brownies in a loaf pan
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- oil for greasing pan
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 7 tablespoons sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon strong coffee
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
- pinch of salt
- heaping 1/2 cup of marshmallows
For the chocolate sauce:
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
- 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate
Instructions
- Begin by pre-heating the oven to 350 and oiling the sides of a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan. Trace the bottom of the pan on a piece of parchment paper, cut it out, then place it in the bottom of the pan. Oil the paper.
- Next, in a microwave-safe bowl, add the butter and chopped chocolate. Microwave in 20-second pulses, stirring in between with a spatula to ensure the chocolate melts evenly. Mine took 1 minute total.
- Next, add the sugar to the melted chocolate and stir to cool the batter. Then, add the egg, coffee, vanilla and milk and stir well. Finally, sprinkle the flour, salt and baking powder evenly over the top of the batter and fold the batter together. Add the chopped walnuts and fold again.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18 minutes. Add the marshmallows evenly on top, then bake for another 3-4 minutes, until the marshmallow puff up and slightly melt. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, make the chocolate sauce by combining all the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and whisking well. (The cocoa powder won't dissolve right away.) Heat for 30 seconds, then stir. Do this two more times.
- Serve the brownies warm topped with the chocolate sauce.
this looks like the perfect after dinner dessert! i wish you could slide me over a bowl and drizzle extra chocolate on top! ;)
1 whole teaspoon of vanilla for two brownies sounds about perfect to me! looks fab!
Ok, Christina, that picture may just be the most gorgeous brownie I’ve ever laid eyes on. Incredible! I can never get over how clever you are at scaling these desserts down to a portion for two. You are amazing! And I hope you can officially, “for real” convert your sweetheart to fruit desserts. Good luck. :)
You are so sweet, Mel! You are my blog idol :)
not a think wrong with a whole teaspoon of vanilla…i could *almost* drink that stuff!
*Melt* these look decadent – How i wish I had one now – for breakfast. I love that they have melted marshies on top. I think brownies are the bes in the dessert (or anytime snack) category. and – good luck with your chocolate vs fruit observations!
Woah…this brownie looks intense!
Oh boy! This sounds awesome!
DO you really think the fruit stands a chance? Brownies win :)
I think I might need to test if I prefer brownies or fruit. Maybe you could send me a sample of each so I can work it out?! ;-)
These look delicious!
Christina, it’ll be fun to read the results of your “experiment.” :) (My hubby’s taste repertoire has expanded over the years, too.) Good food does that!
Oh My Goodness! I am in HEAVEN! Add this on the list of yummy treats to try! Thank you for posting!
this is equal parts awesome AND dangerous. brownies for 2? in a loaf pan? welcome to my dream world.
These look great! What I also love about unsweetened chocolate is that it really doesn’t matter what brand you get since the recipe is exactly the same from everyone.
I’d love to see a picture of your husband eating one of these. The look on his face must have been heavenly. Did he ask for seconds? I sure would have :)
Yes, Paula, he ate both servings! It was Dessert For One :)
You had me at “french pressed coffee” leftover use :)
OHmahgahd. I am done for. Slain.
Sweet Mother of Pearl these look good!
Holy moly, these look good! Cheers to unsweetened chocolate!! :)
Guess what I’m doing tonight? Hint: Not eating a fruit dessert. ;)
mmmm brownies! Love that pic <3
Oh my word! This looks absolutely amazing! I would love to have this right now, this very minute, but it’s late. But there’s always tomorrow!
Yummy!!! These look to-die for!!
This is the exact type of brownie that I’ve been craving lately! Love the marshmallows and coffee…I’d be hard-pressed to not add a scoop of peanut butter on top…so dreamy and chocolatey. Okay you’ve got me fantasizing now!
GAH! These look amazing!!!
Gurrrrrlfriend….I love me some brownies! I want to shovel some in my face right this second. Hope KS is treating you well!
These brownies look divine. I love the bowl that you photographed the brownies in.
The only brownies I have ever made were those boring, plain chocolate ones. Nothing as elaborate as this, I think I’m in love!
hi ..first time here.. came here thru food gawker.. i llove this concept of scaled down recipes.. we are only two and now i can try recipes which will be enough just for us…thank u
Love lots of vanilla is desserts, it just makes them better! These brownies look incredible! I am a chocolate lover to the core. I still like fruit desserts, but chocolate will win out all the time :)
I made these today and they were really good! I didn’t have marshmallows so I used marshmallow fluff and it tasted great still. The only thing I didn’t like was that the chocolate sauce was so thin. I wanted it to be more like fudge instead of broth. I also used a different pan so it made 6 thinner brownies. Less cooking time and they were great!