Small-Batch Baking: Rocky Road Brownies

This recipe is based on the recipe "Light Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Rocky Road Icing" by Alice Nunnery, Dot Austin, and Anna Manzo, the SMRMC IV team. It was published in a hospital cookbook probably 30 years ago. I have fond memories of these brownies from childhood. I tried making them a few years ago. They didn't turn out how I remembered. For one thing, the original recipe calls for only 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder in a whole batch of brownies four times the size of the small-batch I made. I love milk chocolate. I love the flavor, and more than that, I adore the melt of milk chocolate when I eat it. It is so creamy and satisfying to my tastes. As I remember the brownies, they were the brownie equivalent of milk chocolate, but they weren't chocolate-y at all when I made them last time, so I significantly bumped up the cocoa, but as you'll see in the pictures, they are still very light chocolate. The original recipe also calls for oleo - blast from the past, anyone!? I used unsalted butter.

The brownies can be made as one bowl brownies. I melted the butter and mixed in the cocoa.

Then I added the egg, sugar, and vanilla, and mixed all that up until well blended.

Then I folded in the flour until no traces of white were visible.

I used a mixture of chopped pecans and almonds. The original recipe calls for walnuts or pecans. Original rocky road ice cream was made with walnuts, but is generally made with almonds now. I like almonds, but I am a pecan girl, so I used a mixture.

Then I spread the batter in my baking pan and cooked them for 20 minutes.

I topped them with mini marshmallows and put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.

When I took the out of the oven, I put the pan on a wire rack to cool for a while.

I prepared the frosting and spread it over the partially cooled brownies.

Then I let them finish cooling and served them with a nice cold glass of milk!