"Anything Goes" Rocky Road Brownies

I made these brownies for a New Year family gathering we had last night. Unfortunately we were a couple of members down when Hubby's nephew, who plays semi professional rugby, had his jaw broken in two places after a particularly bad tackle during a match yesterday afternoon.  Ouch!  I've promised to purée a few of these brownies for him so he doesn't miss out!

"Anything Goes" Rocky Road Brownies
melted butter, to grease (I used fry lite spray)
300g good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used a mixture of dark and milk chocolate)
160g butter, chopped
155g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly whisked
190g plain flour
60g pink and white marshmallows, cut in half (I used mini multi coloured ones)
80g whole, unsalted peanuts (I used unsalted mixed nuts left over from Christmas)

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Brush a 16 x 26cm (base measurement) non stick slice pan with melted butter to lightly grease.  Line the base and 2 opposite sides with non stick baking paper, allowing it to overhang.

Combine the chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir with a metal spoon for 5 mins or until the chocolate melts.  Add the sugar and cook, stirring, for 5 mins or until the sugar dissolves.

Remove from the hear and set aside for 5 mins to cool.  Stir in the egg and flour until combined.  Stir in the marshmallows and peanuts until combined.  Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly sticky.  Remove from oven and set aside in the pan for 3 hours to cool and set.  Cut into squares.

Makes 18 Squares
Taste.com Website

* This brownie can be made up to 1 week ahead.  Store them in an airtight container out of direct sunlight.

As you can see, I've made a couple of alterations to the original recipe so I thought it would also be appropriate to change the name of them to "Anything Goes"!  Baking these for the recommended 20 mins produced very fudgy brownies ... some may call them 'raw' (heathens!) so bake them a little longer if you like your brownies a bit more cake like.  They set up nicely when placed in the fridge for a couple of hours to firm up.