Rocky Road Brownies

So a couple of months ago I saw 1kg of mini marshmallows on sale for $4 and being like any sane person I bought them and I have slowly been working my way through them. One of my favourite recipes I have made with them is Rocky Road Brownies, these are so good and they take my normal brownie recipe to another level. 

The recipe is super simple, I just took my loaded brownie recipe and adapted it a bit by baking it in a bigger tray and topping it with mini marshmallows, sliced almonds and melted chocolate. The reason for a bigger tray is so that it's a good ratio of all the ingredients and you're not overwhelmed by any one ingredient. You can totally leave out the nuts but they add a nice crunch to the brownie and also break up all the sweetness.

Ingredients:
210 grams of butter (or margarine)
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder (I use the Cadbury brand)
1 1/2cups of sugar
3/4 cup of plain flour
3 eggs (take them out of the fridge the moment you need to add them)
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 - 2 cups mini marshmallows or big marshmallows sliced in half (depending on the size of the tray)
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1 pack Cadbury milk melts (you could also use dark or white) - for the brownies pictured I used milk melts then melted some dark chocolate chips and drizzled them on top of the milk melts for a nice contrast.

Note: You have to use plain flour and baking powder in this recipe self raising flour won't achieve the fudginess (it makes them rise them too much). You can skip the baking powder if need be but it makes them less dense.

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees, line a 23cm by 33cm pan with greaseproof paper .
2. Melt butter (or margarine) in a largeish saucepan, mix in sugar, salt and cocoa powder, it will look grainy at this stage but don't stress! Let cool for 5 minutes (you don't want to scramble the eggs).
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla essence until its glossy.
4. Mix in flour and baking powder until there are no white streaks left.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a bit under baked, remove from oven and sprinkle on/place the marshmallows evenly (a few gaps are fine, as they will puff up a bit).
6. Bake for a further 5 minutes until the marshmallows are lightly browned/toasted.
7. Once removed from the oven, sprinkle on the almonds carefully pressing them into the marshmallows so they stick.
8. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
9. Melt the melts in a microwave safe bowl stirring after 30 second increments until melted, drizzle on over the brownies so that you can still see some of the marshmallows peaking out.
10. Cool in fridge until just set, bring to room temperature and cut into squares. It is rich so small pieces work best.

These brownies have to be one of my favourite recent bakes and they are a crowd pleaser, one piece is never enough!