Name: Rocky Road Brownies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces; ½ cup unsalted butter; 1 cup granulated sugar; 3 large eggs; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup all-purpose flour; ½ tsp kosher salt; 1 cup chocolate chips, plus ¼ cup, divided; ½ cup mini marshmallows, plus 1 cup, divided; ½ cup chopped pecans, plus ½ cup, divided

Rocky Road Brownies are rich and exquisite, with a topping not to be missed. Chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans … what’s not to love?

Homework until 10 or 11pm. More on weekends. Concerns about not entirely understanding concepts — and yet, excelling at everything. Balancing sports and school. Working hard and playing hard. Is this what high school is like?

My son Will started his freshman year about a month ago, and this has been our experience so far. It’s changed the dynamics in our house too — with a kid both driven to excel in classes and stretched thin between his training for cross country and his challenging course load, I’ve been lax about things I haven’t been in the past.

I don’t stress too much over chores undone (though I really wish they would get done with more regularity) and bedtime is more flexible — sometimes that time after homework is done is his only time to do the things he loves with spare time like read or look through his Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic cards.

I knew high school would be a change, but I never expected — not for a second — that it would be like flipping a switch from not busy to insanely busy. But that’s exactly what it has been like.

A rocky road to finding a new rhythm for life, if you will.

It kind of seems like the perfect metaphor for these brownies.

Inside the making of rocky road brownies

Rocky Road Brownies are rich and exquisite, with a topping not to be missed. But first, you have to make them. Here’s how.

Start by making the brownie base. Chocolate and butter are melted together. Next, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract are whisked together. Flour and salt is added to the sugar mixture. Then, the chocolate mixture is stirred in.

Before you spread the batter into your pan, you need to fill the brownies with delightfulness. Mix in some chocolate chips, marshmallows and pecans. Then spread the batter into a pan and sprinkle ore chocolate chips, marshmallows and pecans on top.

Oh, this is going to be good.

Bake the brownies to golden perfection. Let them cool slightly and then cut into squares.

Then dig in. Why wait?

The rocky road of finding a new rhythm to everyday life is uncomfortable but these sweet Rocky Road Brownies are very agreeable.

Rocky Road Brownies

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Rocky Road Brownies are rich and exquisite, with a topping not to be missed. Chocolate chips, marshmallows, pecans ... what's not to love?

Ingredients

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chips, plus ¼ cup, divided
½ cup mini marshmallows, plus 1 cup, divided
½ cup chopped pecans, plus ½ cup, divided

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small saucepan, melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter, stirring constantly until fully combined. Remove from the burner and let cool.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the flour and salt and stir well until combined. Drizzle the chocolate mixture in, a little at a time, stirring constantly until combined. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips, ½ cup mini marshmallows and ½ cup chopped pecans.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, taking care to evenly distribute it. Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips, marshmallows and pecans.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out cleanly.
Let cool slightly before cutting into squares.