Guest Post: Compost Brownies by Big Fat Baker

My fellow Erin over on Big Fat Baker has definitely made an impact on my food-life. She is the leader of the very fun Holiday Recipe Club of which I am a member, her contributions to Milk Bar Mondays convinced me to by the cookbook, and she makes creative treats such as PB&J Creme Brulee and Watermelon Mojito Pops. What I am trying to say is that if she isn’t already on your follow-list, work on fixing that ;-).

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When Erin asked if I would be interested in doing a guest post, I was more than happy to oblige.

Erin is one of my favorite bloggers, an avid Holiday Recipe Club participant, and she has the same name as me! How could I not love her?

While I was looking through her recipes I realized I needed to come up with something a little bit more creative than usual. Erin has a lot of unique recipes that are far more interesting that the average brownie. For example her chocolate chip cookie dough brownies and cake batter puppy chow…um, yes please!

I started brainstorming ideas when I was making the cornflake cookies. I thought a Tosi like recipe would be fun to do as a guest post.

Alas, the compost brownies were born!

Using Tosi’s composting idea for cookies couldn’t be bad in brownies. So I rounded up what I thought would taste good and set to work.

I ended up making mine with a crunchy pretzel crust, ground coffee, butterscotch chips, and marshmallows — similar to the compost cookies but still different enough.

That major plus to these types of recipes is using what you have on hand. It gives you some room to be creative and have fun with it!

Compost Brownies

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups crushed pretzels
• 1 cup melted butter
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 11 oz chopped dark chocolate
• 2 stick butter, cut into cubes
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup ground coffee
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 cup mini marshmallows

To Make the Brownies:

1. First make the pretzel crust by combining the crushed pretzels, melted butter butter and sugar. Mix it all together until clumps form then press the mixture into a greased 9×13 pan.
2. Next, make the brownies. Start by creating a double boiler and adding the chocolate and cubed butter to the bowl. Melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring occasionally. While they are melting preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Once the butter and chocolate have melted together, turn off the heat but don’t move the pan or bowl. Add the sugars and mix until completely combined. Now you can move the bowl.
4. In a separate smaller bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set it aside.
5. Mix 3 eggs into your chocolate mixture. Once the 3 eggs are almost fully combined add the other 2 eggs and mix until just combined.
6. Mix the vanilla and coffee into the chocolate mixture then sprinkle the flour combo over the chocolate mixture. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture until just combined.
7. Fold in the remaining butterscotch chips and marshmallows. Pour it all over the pretzel crust and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

Thank you Erin for allowing me to guest post today! Don’t forget to stop by BigFatBaker or Tweet me @bigfatbaker and say hi!