Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies - the Ultimate Marshmallow Topped Brownie (with Coconut!)

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What is better than a brownie? Fudgy chocolate marshmallow brownies! These easy brownie bars have a gooey marshmallow layer with added coconut. Topped off with some milk chocolate, this is the dessert bar of dreams!

Ingredients for the Best Homemade Marshmallow Brownies

These brownie bars can be divided into essentially three layers:

1. Brownie Layer

So, without doubt, the most important layer to a layered brownie is the brownie base! These are dreamy, decadent and super moist chocolate brownies to start this bake.

You can divide the ingredients for these into two groups: wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Unlike many recipes, this will be a strict adherence to wet and dry - no need to cream the fat and sugar first.

Wet Ingredients

• Flavorless oil - you can use canola oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil. In the UK, I often use rapeseed, but in the US you may find grapeseed or other similar oils. As long as it isn't a strong flavour (such as a bold olive oil) it should do the trick!
• Eggs - these should be at room temperature for best results.
• Water
• Vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

• Flour - either all purpose or plain flour will work here.
• Cocoa powder - a good quality cocoa powder is key to a bold chocolatey brownie.
• Sugar - for these brownies, use a combination of superfine granulated sugar (or caster sugar) and powdered icing sugar (or confectioners sugar).
• Salt

2. Marshmallow Layer

For the marshmallow layer, all you really need is a bag of marshmallows! I also call for a bit of sweetened shredded coconut too.

The added coconut works well with the marshmallow for flavour and texture when these become melty and soft.

3. Chocolate Top

The chocolate top is two simple ingredients:

• Chocolate - I like to use milk chocolate here, but you could also use semi-sweet or dark, whichever you have available of have as a flavour preference. This needs to be in chip form or cut into chunks for melting.
• Butter - to add a glossy finish and a sheen to the topping, add a few tablespoons of butter once the chocolate is melted.

How to Make Marshmallow Brownies

The first step for these brownies is to line the baking tray with parchment. Trust me, with gooey marshmallows, you'll regret not putting a bit of parchment in the pan when it comes to getting them out!

I always use an 8" square tin for my brownies, blondies and bars. Mine is pretty old, but this one is a similar style.

Fudgy Brownie Layer

In order to make the brownie batter, this is a simple process of whisking the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry in another. Then add the dry on top of the wet and stir to incorporate. Don't whisk or beat - there's no need - a spatula will do the trick.

Once you have your batter, pour this into the pan and spread into the sides and corners. This is a very thick batter, so the spreading will be key to ensure the whole tray is covered in a layer of brownie.

Adding Marshmallows to Brownies

Marshmallows go through an interesting process when they're heated. At first, they'll puff up and expand, before they break down and become liquidy.

The key to adding marshmallows to brownies (and still having a gooey marshmallow layer) is to add them near the end of baking.

For this recipe, once your brownies are done (after about 30 minutes of baking), take the tray out of the oven and sprinkle with a mix of the marshmallows and shredded coconut. This is why mini marshmallows are easiest to work with - they'll provide best coverage. And you're aiming to cover the top of the brownies in a layer of the mini marshmallows.

Place this back in the oven for about 3 minutes, until the marshmallows are swollen. Any less time and they won't have melted together at all, any more time and they'll start to toast and eventually break down.

Adding Chocolate to the Top

To make these marshmallow brownies with a chocolate topping all you really need to do is melt down the chocolate. Plus adding a few tablespoons of butter will add a glossy shine.

Melting chocolate should always be done in a double boiler style set up - in a bowl fitted over a saucepan of simmering water. It is important not to directly heat chocolate or to get any water in the chocolate as this will cause it to seize.

After melting, add the butter and stir until it dissolves into the chocolate, forming a thick glossy mix.

To top off the brownies, once your marshmallows are baked and slightly puffed up, you have two options:

1. Drizzle chocolate - this is easier, but for a nice drizzle of the thick milk chocolate topping, you'll want to use a piping bag.
2. Spread the chocolate - this must be done carefully and might take a little longer to gently coat the whole top of the marshmallow brownie bars.

How to Cut Marshmallow Brownies

Now that you've made your brownies, I'm sure you will want to dig right in! But here's my one piece of greatest advice when it comes to brownies (and also specifically chocolate marshmallow brownies) - waiting will be rewarded.

Fudgy brownies will not cut well or cleanly until they've had a chance to cool thoroughly. For the brownie layer alone, I would say leave these at least an hour before slicing. But with the marshmallow and chocolate topping, you will want to leave it even longer.

For the cleanest cut through these chocolate marshmallow brownies, you want to wait for the chocolate topping to have set. The timing here will vary a bit dependent on the warmth and humidity of your kitchen. Leaving for about 4 hours is best, but if you can't wait (which I couldn't when I was taking these pictures), 2 hours is plenty for getting a reasonable slice.

When cutting through anything involving marshmallow, aim to cut straight down and not to drag the blade. This will help the slices to cut more easily. Wipe your knife regularly with warm water to keep it clean of any stickiness or excess.

FAQs

If you like these brownies, try out some other brownie and blondie bars:

• Brookies
• Banoffee Blondies
• Creme Egg Blondies
• Paradise Pie Blondie Bars