Sugar-Coated Sundays: S'More Brownies

I love my birthday.  It's right in the middle of 2 of my favorite people's birthdays - Ryan and Dale.

If you can imagine, birthdays went like this : Ryan's house for his party, at midnight we get a second wind because now it's officially my birthday.  Go home and sleep it off.  Wake up, lots of water, do family stuff.  Go out for the night because it's still my birthday.  Get a second wind at midnight because it's a double birthday party and now Dale is the guest of honor.  Go home and hope you can still wake up in the morning.  (kidding, don't worry mom, it wasn't ever THAT bad)  Super FUN!!

Since Dale totally gave me a free food/rant pass and he's great, I got to thinking about our double birthdays, and I remembered this brownie I made for my birthday "cake" when I turned 25.  I was a Food Network junkie at the time.  While I browsed the site for new, amazing dessert idea I came across this:

{photo source}

Food Network's picture is WAY better than mine, but then again I took this years ago.
Pre-kids, pre-blog, pre-trying to be a pro photographer with my phone's camera.

Sold!  The brownies were delicious.  The marshmallows were super sticky and kind of a pain, but worth the goo covered fingers.

S'More Brownies
from the Food Network Kitchens


Ingredients:

Crust

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

Brownie

1/2 cup unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

Large marshmallows

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.  Line an 8" x 8" square baking pan with foil so it hangs over the edges by about an inch.
2. For the crust: lightly butter the foil with some of the melted butter.  Stir the rest of the butter together with the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.  Press the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the brownie.  Put the butter and chocolate in a medium microwave safe bowl.  Using a double boiler set-up, put the butter and chocolate in a large heatproof glass bowl.  Bring water up to a simmer; set the bowl on the pan.  Stir occasionally until melted.  Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, and salt into the melted chocolate.  Add the eggs and beat vigorously to make a thick and glossy batter.  Add the flour and stir until just incorporated.
4. Pour batter into the prepared pan.  bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and carefully position a rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat oven on low broil.  Layer marshmallows across the top and toast under the broiler until golden, (keep an eye on it, burning can happen quickly), about 2 minutes.  Cool on a rack, gently removing the brownies from the pan using the foil flaps.  Carefully separate any marshmallow from the foil and fold away.  Cut into 12 - 2" squares.