Rocky Road Brownies

A couple of months ago I went on a ski trip with a number of friends to Golden. OK, for me it was an apres ski trip, where I excelled in drinking margaritas, attempting my first shot ski (I’ll let you google that; no wait, now it sounds dirty: it’s a ski with shot glasses attached so four people are doing shots at once.) (EDIT: I stand mistaken. This is a five-shot shot ski. Thanks Tait!), hot tubbing, cooking (for which I volunteered) and participating in much general merriment.

My friend Dawn and I created a meal plan and bought all the groceries to make things easier for everyone attending (and then we divided the cost amongst all the people on the trip). While we had a solid plan, we did wind around the grocery store aisles trying to figure out if we were missing anything. Somehow along the way we decided it would be awesome to get some marshmallows for hot chocolate. And, for some unknown reason, this culminated in purchasing a 1-kilogram (yeah, that’s 2.2 pounds) bag of baby marshmallows. When, at the end of the weekend, we were dividing up the remaining groceries, I somehow was gifted the marshmallows, which, of course, we never opened.

Initially, my instinct was to make browned-butter Rice Krispie treats. Um, then things got busy and I was eating a lot of last-minute meals and that generally translated into eating the entire box of cereal I had bought to make the marshmallow treats. Fail.

And then I starting thinking about some S’mores brownies my friend Andree made. So I started googling and at some point I stumbled across these Rocky Road Brownies. (Why they are related to TLC, I know not.) What I can tell you? They are AMAZING.

Rocky Road Brownies IV

Deep, dark, fudgy base, topped with melted smears of sweet marshmallow and the salty crunch of pecans.

Just look at that.

Rocky Road Brownies II

Let me put it this way: I usually eat one piece of whatever I’ve baked and then give the rest away. This time? I ate two pieces, gave some away, but held another two back for later. And when those were gone I’m not afraid to say that I was a wee bit sad. Thankfully (or not), I’ve got about 2 pounds of those marshmallows left.

Clearly, I’m making these again.
Melted Chocolate

Deep dark brownie batter

Rocky Road Brownies I

Rocky Road Brownies III

Rocky Road Brownies V

(The original recipe calls for walnuts, but I like pecans, so that’s what I keep around. Also, I didn’t have buttermilk and didn’t want to buy some just for this, so I used 1/4 cup of whole milk with a bit of lemon juice squeezed in.)

Rocky Road Brownies

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup miniature marshmallows
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8-inch square pan. (If you have parchment paper, I like to make a sling by lining the pan with a piece of parchment large enough to create overhang outside of the pan.)

In a pot over low heat, combine butter and cocoa, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, flour, buttermilk, egg and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Spread evenly in the pan. Bake 25 minutes or until center feels dry. Do not overbake. Remove from oven, sprinkle with marshmallows, pecans and chocolate chips. Return to oven 3 to 5 minutes or just until topping is slightly melted.

Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares.

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11 Comments

  1. Don’t these need some leavening? Maybe beating the egg white into a foamy foam or add a 1/4 tsp of baking soda to work against the lemon juice?

    1. This recipe doesn’t call for any leavening. Leaving it out is what makes the base layer so rich and densely fudgy. I was surprised too and did a little research but it’s not unusual to have brownies that don’t call for any baking powder or soda.

  2. Hi there – I read your blog constantly and love it! I have to comment this time because I relate to your weekend ski trip. Every group trip has a coordinator of the food/meals and come Sunday, random unused food items return to my kitchen….but nothing as fun as marshmallows! :)
    I have to try this recipe! Thank you for the inspiration!

  3. These sound absolutely amazing! I’m always more partial towards brownie recipes without leavening, and calls for liquid fat. I can only imagine how decadent these turned out! No wait, I think I’ll skip the imagine part, and just make them pronto :D

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