Rocky Road Bars

I receive a lot of cookbooks as gifts. I am an avid reader, and somewhat of a book collector, so a new book is always a welcome present, especially one with pictures of beautiful food.

Someone gave me the Betty Crocker cookbook Simply Dessert, and the first recipe I chose to make was the one for Rocky Road Bars. Funny, it wasn't because I was particularly in the mood for them, but because I had all the ingredients on hand. The extent of my laziness is revealed!

Rocky Road Bars

1 box chocolate fudge or devil's food cake mix

1/2 c butter or margarine, melted

1/3 c water

1/4 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 c + 1/2 c. chopped peanuts

3 c mini marshmallows

1/3 c. chocolate frosting

colored candy pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease or spray a 13x9 pan.

In a large bowl, combine half the cake mix, butter, water, brown sugar, and eggs and stir until smooth. Add in remaining cake mix and 1 cup peanuts, stirring to combine.

Spread mixture in pan, bake 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven, top with marshmallows. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, or until marhmallows are melted, puffed, and golden. DO NOT overdo this step, as the marshmallows will harden.

Microwave frosting 15-25 seconds, until melted. Drizzle over bars. Top with remaining peanuts and colored candy pieces.

Cool completely, cut into bars. (Betty says you can get 24 bars out of this pan)

The recipe above reflects the changes I made to Betty's recipe. I found that 15 minutes in the oven was WAY too long for the marshmallows (read my note above). Also, I added colored candy pieces - the bars were for a co-workers birthday, and I wanted them to include her favorite colors.

All in all, the bars are very good - not nearly as dense as brownies, yet not as airy as cake. They have some fluffiness to them, but still taste rich due to all the toppings. I've never been a huge rocky road fan, but after making these bars, I may just be converted!