I’ve spent a lot of time this summer trying to do things better.  Right now most of that energy goes into learning how to make beautiful flowers out of paper (more on that soon!), but sometimes those energies are directed towards chocolate.  

These are brownies I’ve made before. Years ago, and it’s been too long since they’ve been revisited.  This time around I’m making the brownies thicker, more gooey, adding more chocolate and slicing generously.  This is me trying to make things better, with more chocolate. That’s usually the answer, right?

I hope you’ll consider these for your weekend.  Get that marshmallow off a stick and onto a brownie, ya know?

There’s debate in the brownie world.  First of all… there’s a brownie world.  Amen to that. 

The debate in brownie world is this:  unsweetened chocolate bar OR unsweetened cocoa powder.  I always choose chocolate bar for it’s fat and richness.  It makes for a much for fudge-y brownie than the cocoa powder.  I also have a soft spot in my heart because the first thing I ever baked was the brownie recipe on the back of the Baker’s Chocolate box.  This, of course, was after trying to eat the chocolate as it was not realizing that unsweetened chocolate, pre-brownie, is one of god’s cruel jokes. 

In a double boiler – that’s a heat-proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water – I melted an ample amount of butter with an almost equally ample amount of unsweetened chocolate. Stir until glossy and completely melted.  

Right over here, in another bowl, I whisked together brown sugar, not brown sugar, and plenty of large eggs (5 to be exact).  

Brownies don’t have a lot of flour in them.  What we lack in gluten structure is supported by the large amount of eggs, creating structure and moisture, and a damn fudgey brownie thankyouverymuch! 

The melted chocolate is mixed with the whipped up eggs and sugar.  The batter will be loose and glossy, just like my heart. 

In with a modest amount of flour, a kick of baking powder, and what might seem like too much salt but is in fact not too much salt. 

Here’s where we get s’mores-y.  Graham crackers , crumbled, go straight into the batter.  

Chocolate chips too. A good handful to melt into the batter as it bakes. This will have you feeling very full of good ideas. 

Into the pan, graham and all, and topped with large marshmallows before baking.  They’ll brown and puff, melt and spread just slightly and it will feel like all is right in the world for a few fine moments. 

The brownies need some time to cool and settle before they’re sliced.  I even like to put them in the refrigerator to set before slicing.  The brownies are stellar at room temperature. They’re also very good when individually wrapped and frozen.  A thick chocolate frozen brownie is absolutely fantastic and the marshmallow, when frozen, turns to a taffy consistency. It’s dreams any way you slice it.  

You’ll make these, wontcha!?

Photos by

Jon Melendez

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