Rocky Road Marshmallow Pesach Brownies

We used Lieber’s cocoa and chocolate chips (the best, for real!) to make these extra special gluten free brownie bars that are so special, they work as a complete dessert.

Last year, we set about making our Pesach menus, full of BCP tried-and-true favorites.

But then we realized–that might be easy now, but then what are we going to do next Pesach? We always need to be trying new thing. And one of those new things one of us tried was these outrageous Rocky Road Brownies.

Adapted from these marshmallow crunch brownies from Yammie’s Noshery, these brownies are the perfect new, fun gluten-free brownie for Pesach. There’s no potato starch or almond flour! Just pure chocolate. We would make them with less of the topping–they are intensely chocolate enough and just a drizzle would do! Almond butter instead of peanut butter and some walnut nibs instead of cereal for crunch would be perfect. 

And there’s no better chocolate ingredients to use than Lieber’s. When did we first realize which brand makes the best chocolate chips? Perhaps it was when we tasted the Lieber’s Dairy Chocolate Chips shared in this Aleph Bais + Betty Crocker S’mores post. And then when we tasted the white chocolate ones we used in these super popular Toasted Marshmallow Cookies. And finally, it was inevitable that we would begin to use Lieber’s regular chocolate chips too.

Besides for our almond chocolate ganache topping, the recipe is one bowl and super easy.

In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, and eggs.

Let it get nice and creamy. But a whisk is fine, no need for a mixer.

Add the vanilla.

Then fold in the cocoa powder and salt until combined. 

And finally the chocolate chips, Lieber’s of course!

Because this recipe is very dense (one slice will satisfy you…or two!), split the recipe into three smaller loaf pans, and only take out one pan at a time. If you’re serving a larger crowd and you need all of it at once, use a larger loaf pan, or perhaps a medium one and split into two. (Use the size that makes sense for you and split the recipe accordingly.)

First, we baked these partially, until the edges are set, but the center is only a little set but still soft. See? Then top with marshmallows.

[NOTE: If you don’t use marshmallows on Pesach, you can top these brownies with meringue batter. Really, an Italian meringue which uses boiling sugar is best as the egg whites get cooked. For regular French meringue instructions, see this post. The difference between Italian Meringue and French Meringue is that you’re adding boiling simple syrup instead of straight sugar, so there isn’t a need for the longer baking afterwards.]

After adding the marshmallows, return them to the oven to bake for another 10-12 minutes, and finish under the broiler for 1 minute. Then, get these into the freezer, they’ll slice more neatly that way. 

To make the Almond Ganache, we had to figure out a cute way to get those chocolate chips melted and the Lieber’s Almond Butter soft and creamy without a microwave (and without the mess of a double boiler of course). Placing both ingredients in a Ziploc in hot water did the trick. It’s a cute little hack (Ziplocs are BPA free). Be patient. You’ll be able to smush the ingredients around to combine once everything is soft and melted. It doesn’t need to be combined perfectly.

It’s perfect that the topping is already in a Ziploc because that makes it easy to drizzle on at the end! While you can drizzle on the topping and freeze the brownies so that you’re all done, it’ll be prettier if you drizzle it on after you take it out of the tin. The topping does need to be warm when being drizzled. 

Top with the walnut nibs for crunch, and serve it like you would a chocolate log–small bites go a long way!