Marshmallow Fudge Bars

I think for the first time in my life, I have used up an entire bag of mini marshmallows before they went stale! I have a handful of cookie recipes that call for marshmallows, but usually the recipe calls for about half a bag. I dutifully close them up and stick them in the cupboard, but by the time I think to use them in another recipe, they are as hard as rocks. This time I was successful! I had some on hand and I must have really closed them up well after my last use because I checked on the ingredients to make this recipe and I was good to go. Victory!

I had bookmarked this recipe when I first saw it. For whatever reason I kept putting off making this. I thought it might be a little too gooey and sweet to make, but I guess I don’t really worry about that too much. I decided that this was the time. I actually put the query to a couple of friends at work and while this wasn’t the top choice, it was the closest compromise. I knew I had the ingredients on hand so I figured I’d make them and then have one less item bookmarked in my “Things to Bake” bookmark folder.

These have a couple of steps so they do take a little while to assemble. The base comes together fast and bakes quickly. I love baking marshmallows, even for just a few minutes, because they puff up so much. The frosting is probably the oddest one I’ve ever made. After you’ve mixed in the powdered sugar, it looks like a lumpy mess and you may think that it will never be smooth, but it does get there. I’m so glad that the original recipe warned about this! My frosting was still very soft after a couple of hours, so you may want to refrigerate them to hurry the setting process. These are a chocolaty, gooey treat and I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long to make these.

1 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
About 2 cups mini marshmallows

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¼ cup hot water
4 tablespoons room temperature butter, cut up
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-6 tablespoons room temperature heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray and dust with cocoa.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat for 3 or 4 minutes or until very light. Beat in the vanilla, and then beat in the eggs.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the batter, stirring with a spatula until incorporated. Stir in the pecans. Spoon the batter all over the bottom of the foil-lined pan, and then gently smooth the batter so that you have a very thin layer of batter covering the pan. Bake cake for 13-15 minutes, until set. Sprinkle the base with the marshmallows and return to oven and bake for 3 minutes. Pull from oven and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the sugar, chocolate and hot water in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. When mixture starts to boil, stir constantly for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add the butter. Stir until butter melts, then add the vanilla. Let cool to room temperature. When cool, beat in the powdered sugar. It will be thick and clumpy! Beat in the heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until the icing becomes glossy and fairly pourable.

Pour/spoon the frosting over the marshmallows and use a small spatula to completely cover the marshmallows. Let the frosting set at least an hour. Lift foil from pan, set on a cutting board, cut into squares or bars.

Recipe from Cookie Madness