Brownies, sunflowers and a sunny market day...finally!!

Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Brownies...finally perfect!!

Winning Sunflowers !! We had a sunflower contest at the market today!! Such huge flowers!!

Pretty colorful market veggies and melons.

Ever had one of those crazy days where nothing goes right? Well, mine was Friday. This is usually a day reserved strictly for baking for the weekend markets, but what did I decide to do?... Well I thought I'd like to try a few new recipes...bad idea!

I wanted to try making pumpkin biscotti so I gathered 3 recipes I found on line and baked the first one. The results were awful!! It didn't cook all the way through so it was raw on the top of the slice and overcooked on the bottom. In the trash it went.What a waste.

The next recipe I tried said to make the biscotti 1/2 " thick. I really haven't a clue what the heck happened to this one!! It never rose and stayed like a big lump. Second one in the trash..Yikes!! What's happening?!!

Ok, so I finally got smart and decided to quit trying to make pumpkin biscotti for the day. I mean, it was only about 9 o'clock in the morning by now and I'd already screwed up twice!! Best idea I had so far!! So what does this have to do with brownies...you may be wondering?

Well, I needed to begin my usual baking so I started with a batch of chocolate chip marshmallow brownies I always make. Made them, let them cool and cut them all into the correct size pieces. Decided to taste one and much to my horror I realized I only put in one cup of sugar. They were awful!! Yep, in the trash they went. At this point you'd think I should have gotten back into bed and thrown the covers over my head and slept through the weekend...but nope I just kept going, made another smaller batch and they came out, as usual, great!

So, after a stressful day, what did I learn from all this? Never to try any new recipe on Fridays during the market season and pay attention to my ingredients!! And, of course, always do a taste test because you...err rather I..just never know when I might leave out something!

So here's my recipe for really great:

Chocolate Chip Brownies:

Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Brownies

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate ( I use the Hershey Baking Bar)

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 tsp espresso or instant coffee powder

2 cups sugar( be sure to add both cups!! Ha Ha!)

1 tsp. vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup AP flour

2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9" x 13" pan with Pam. Line with heavy duty foil adding extra foil to hang over sides ( to lift them out later) and spray foil lightly with Pam. Set aside.

In saucepan, melt butter and chocolate squares. Add the espresso or instant coffee powder and stir. Set aside to cool to room temp.

Put sugar in a large bowl and beat in eggs, one at a time.

Stir in flour, then vanilla.

Fold in marshmallows and chips and lightly stir in melted chocolate til just blended.

Spread batter into pan. Bake 30 minutes or til toothpick comes out clean. (I tend to bake a little more as I don't like my brownies too underdone but this all depends on how you like your brownies).

Let them cool completely in pan ( I usually let them stay in pan at least 2 hours) and lift them out of the pan using the extra foil. When I cut them, I use a large serrated knife which I clean with hot water each time I make a cut. This makes it easier to get a clean cut without lots of crumbs falling off.

Note: I often halve this recipe and use an 8" square pan.