Rocky Road Brownies

I have never met a person who doesn't like marshmallows. Except for vegetarians, because when they find out its all egg white and gelatin, then its nocandosville babydoll for them. But till then, they are happy mallow eaters.

Do I eat marshmallows plain? No I like em melty. Or better still charred. I love peeling off that layer of charriness and then poking my finger in to get a load of that gooey stickiness.  But on the cold stone I icecreams I love mini marshmallows. They make them last longer with all that chewiness.

So you can totally understand why I love Rocky Road Ice cream then. Bits of chocolate, lots of nuts and plenty of marshmallows, so yum. So many  textures. So many levels of yummness.

And while my new ice cream maker is only a couple of days away, I needed to bake something rocky roady since the image was stuck in my head thanks to Pinterest. And a brownie seemed the best way to satiate that urge for something rocky. I love a sexy fudgy brownie, unlike cookies they are not my undoing. A single piece of brownie can stare at me from the fridge for days but, it wont matter.

So I succumbed. And baked. And luckily had a dinner to go to, so it all worked out perfectly for me cause these make lovely hostess presents as well.

These brownies are extremely fudgy so please put a parchment paper at the bottom (do not make my mistake) and I would suggest that you also cut the brownie when its super cold and keep it in the refrigerator until you'd like to eat em.

Also I used just walnuts - feel free to use all kinds of nuts :)

Rocky Road Brownies
Adapted slightly from Joy of Baking

Ingredients

120 gram dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

100 grams  butter, cut into pieces

150 grams sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup (95 grams) flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/2 cup chocolate chips chocolate chips

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

1. In a saucepan melt butter and chocolate together. Turn off the gas

2. Add sugar and vanilla, Whisk well.let it cool for 5 minutes

3. Add the eggs one at a time beating well. 

4. Sift in the salt and flour and pour into a parchment lined rectangular tin

5. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degree centigrade

6. Take it out and sprinkle the topping over well. And bake for an additional 5 minutes.

7. Let it cool completely before cutting

Coconut and lemon cookies

Cookies are my undoing. But you already knew that. Cookies are my husband's undoing. But you knew that too.

While the straightforward chocolate chip cookie is the true love of my life, I also very partial to a cranberry and macadamia nut and a ginger maple cookie. But that absolutely doesn't mean that I will ever skip a coconut macaroon, let an espresso cookie pass me by without sinking my teeth into.

Cookies are also my favourite giveaway. They make fantastic presents are so simple to put together. And I can think of 10,000 variations to go by. And if all else fails there's always my triple chocolate cookies to the rescue.

These cookies were made late last night, when after over two weeks of not even holding a whisk or a spatula in my hand. I baked some awesome brownies, which I will be blogging about soon. And then these cookies. Can I please tell you these cookies smell absurdly amazing? And that they spread a bit.

They taste lovely these cookies, they do. A lovely rich nutty flavour from the coconut, slight tang from the lemon and I baked them so that they crispened up a bit, so they had a beautiful crunch as well.

I left these cookies for a bit until I went to fiddle with the camera, and when I came back there was a rather large whole in the basket. Hmm.... wonder whodunnit. Anyone else living with a cookie monster?

Coconut and Lemon Cookies
Adapted from My Baking Addiction

Makes 21 large cookies

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
¾  cups white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
3 drops yellow food colouring
Zest of one large lemon, finely minced
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup unsweetened toasted coconut1/2 cup icing sugar for rolling cookies

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to180 degree centigrade. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Using your fingers mix the lemon zest and sugar together. Add the butter and whisk till fluffy.

4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lemon juice and yellow colouring.

5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.

6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

7. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned

Am also sending this to Tea Time Treats by What Kate Baked and is hosted by Lavender and Lovage this May. We've got cookies on the menu, so don't forget to send in your favourite ones.