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As I said in my earlier post, I needed to use my last three eggs before they expired. Well, the Irish Butter Cookies only used one egg, so I needed to find something else to bake. I had pecans and marshmallows left over, and while the pecans would keep for a while, the marshmallows were starting to harden up a bit. I didn’t want to make another cookie and after all the time it had taken me to roll and cut out the dough for them, I wanted something that was fairly quick.
My sister’s favorite dessert was a brownie. They weren’t necessarily my favorite, because as most of you know they can tend to be a bit dry or too dense. I would usually only eat the end pieces, because I like a bit of crunch on my brownie. My mother had two recipes for brownies typed up in her red binder, but I discovered that my Baker’s Chocolate had dried all out. If this ever happens to you, don’t worry. You can substitute three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder plus one tablespoon of butter, vegetable oil or shortening for the one ounce square of Baker’s Chocolate.
So, I had already taken out my butter and eggs and brought them to room temperature while I was making the Butter Cookies. Since cocoa powder can absorb moisture and clump, I always sift it. Remember, sifting blooms dry ingredients, so you need to measure, sift, then remeasure your ingredients to avoid a dry batter.
As I was pulling out the remaining ingredients for the brownies, I realized I could spice them up a bit and added cinnamon and cayenne pepper to make them a Mexican Chocolate Brownie. Add in the pecans (or walnuts) and marshmallows and what do you have…Rocky Road.
Brownie recipes usually instruct you to use an 8 x 8 x 2 inch pan, but you can use any pan you have on hand that won’t make the brownie too thin. I used a 10 x 7 x 2 inch Pyrex dish, but you could also use a round cake pan if that is all you have available.
Enjoy!
Credit: Unknown
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 6 tbl unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tbl shortening
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 – 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup mini marshmallows
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bring your butter and eggs to room temperature.
- Cream butter and shortening with sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until thoroughly mixed.
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon and cayenne pepper together. Use at least 1/4 tsp cayenne, but no more than 1 tsp. Make it as spicy as you want it.
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and mix until well blended.
- Mix in the chopped nuts and marshmallows. You can reserve some if you want to put on top of the batter instead.
- Grease your pan and pour in the batter.
- Bake for approximately 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the batter
- Cool and cut into squares.
Variations
- Use a mini muffin tin for brownie bites.
- Substitute vanilla for the cayenne and cinnamon and peanut butter chips for the marshmallows, for a Peanut Butter Cup Brownie.