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Mississippi Mud Brownies

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on August 1, 2012

Time

1¼ hours, plus 2 hours cooling

Yield

Makes 24

Mississippi Mud Brownies

Ingredients

Brownies

6 ounces (170 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 ½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour ⅓ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder ½ teaspoon salt 3 cups (21 ounces/595 grams) sugar 5 large eggs ¾ cup chopped pecans

Topping

¾ cup marshmallow crème ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Before You Begin

Be careful not to overbake these brownies; they should be moist and fudgy.

Instructions

    for the brownies

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 13- by 9-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, allowing excess to overhang edges. Spray foil with cooking spray.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over medium saucepan filled with 1/2 inch of barely simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water), stirring occasionally, until smooth, 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. Whisk sugar and eggs in separate bowl, then whisk in melted chocolate mixture. Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in pecans and scrape batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few wet crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire rack.
  3. for the topping

  4. Spoon marshmallow crème over hot brownies and let sit until softened, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate chips and oil in small bowl until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Following photos at right, spread marshmallow crème evenly over brownies and then drizzle with chocolate. Cool brownies in pan for at least 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan and cut into 2-inch squares. Serve. (Brownies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)
Mississippi Mud Brownies

Mississippi Mud Brownies

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Time

1¼ hours, plus 2 hours cooling

Yield

Makes 24

Ingredients

Brownies

6 ounces (170 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups (21 ounces/595 grams) sugar
5 large eggs
¾ cup chopped pecans

Topping

¾ cup marshmallow crème
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

Brownies

6 ounces (170 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups (21 ounces/595 grams) sugar
5 large eggs
¾ cup chopped pecans

Topping

¾ cup marshmallow crème
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Test Kitchen Techniques

Ingredients

Brownies

6 ounces (170 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups (7½ ounces/213 grams) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups (21 ounces/595 grams) sugar
5 large eggs
¾ cup chopped pecans

Topping

¾ cup marshmallow crème
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Test Kitchen Techniques

Why This Recipe Works

These moist, fudgy, marshmallow-topped brownies are related to Mississippi mud pie and Mississippi mud cake—desserts that share one trait: dense gooeyness that approximates the texture of the silt that settles in the Mississippi River Delta. Most mud brownie recipes call for unsweetened chocolate, but the flavor can be flat. Cocoa powder lends a deeper chocolate flavor to our brownies. We found that mini marshmallows turn hard and chewy after a stint in the oven. An easy solution was to swap the mini marshmallows out for a thin layer of marshmallow crème which evenly coated the mud brownies and kept the sugar quotient in check. Since the brownie layer in our recipe is so chocolaty, the frosting can be minimized to just a melted drizzle. Using a spatula to spread the marshmallow crème evenly over the hot brownies made easy work of it, while using a spoon to drizzle melted chocolate on top created a decorative pattern. We took care not to overbake these mud brownies; they should be moist and fudgy.

Before You Begin

Be careful not to overbake these brownies; they should be moist and fudgy.

Instructions

    for the brownies

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 13- by 9-inch baking dish with aluminum foil, allowing excess to overhang edges. Spray foil with cooking spray.
  2. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over medium saucepan filled with 1/2 inch of barely simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water), stirring occasionally, until smooth, 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. Whisk sugar and eggs in separate bowl, then whisk in melted chocolate mixture. Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in pecans and scrape batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few wet crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Transfer to wire rack.
  3. for the topping

  4. Spoon marshmallow crème over hot brownies and let sit until softened, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, microwave chocolate chips and oil in small bowl until smooth, 30 to 60 seconds. Following photos at right, spread marshmallow crème evenly over brownies and then drizzle with chocolate. Cool brownies in pan for at least 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan and cut into 2-inch squares. Serve. (Brownies can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)

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