Mississippi Mud
Sometimes I buy SUPER old cookbooks to find unusual or unique recipes. My favorite varieties are fundraising cookbooks which were published by small organizations and consist of members' favorite recipes. Often the recipes use ingredients I don't recognize and FAR too many call for a can of Cream of Chicken soup, but I love these books all the same. One of my favorites is called "Cooking with The Old Stone Church," and I picture pioneer women cooking up their best dishes for the church potluck. Today's recipe is pulled from there - so thank you Diane Garner - wherever you are! This dessert is a crowd favorite and I'm sure you did well with it at the bake sale!!
Here's what you need:
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 2 cups sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cup margarine
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 10.5 oz package of small marshmallows
- 1 1b box of powdered sugar (approximately 2 cups)
- 1/3 cup milk
Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the eggs.
In a separate bowl, melt one cup of margarine and add 1/3 cup of cocoa powder.
Pour over the flour mixture and mix well. (I use a whisk, no need to get out the beaters!) Also, don't rinse out the margarine/cocoa bowl since you'll use it for frosting later!
Stir in the nuts.
Grease and line a 15 1/2 by 13 1/3 pan. In case you're not familiar with what this means, start by spraying your pan with cooking spray OR rubbing another kind of fat across the surface (margarine/butter or shortening). Make sure every area is covered. Then scatter flour around the pan.
Tilt the pan around until there's an even layer of flour coating. Your pan should look like this. Alternatively, you can line the pan with foil.
Pour the mixture onto the pan and tilt until the batter is evenly distributed. Bake @325 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn the oven off. Cover the mixture with marshmallows and return to the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the marshmallows are just starting to brown. NOTE - the goal is to have the marshmallows basically whole, just melted into the batter slightly so they won't fall off when the bars are cut!
Allow the pan to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1/4 cup of margarine and whisk in the 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, the powdered sugar, and milk until smooth.
Drizzle over the pan generously in a crisscross pattern.
Let stand until firm then you can cut the pieces into bars.
You are now an honorary member of The Old Stone Church!
Enjoy!