(AKA SPOOKY BROWNIES)

There’s lots of conversation on what’s the right cocoa powder for brownies. Dutch process or standard cocoa powder. Well, I’m here to introduce another contender into the ring. Black cocoa brownies with a marshmallow spider web. Black cocoa is my bae when it comes to cocoa powder. Am I cool enough to say that? Who cares, I’m saying it.

So these brownies have a super rich chocolate taste and are topped with a marshmallow spider web. I didn’t add any little fake spiders because I don’t even want to buy the little ones because I will for sure think they are real. But you totally could. Or candy spiders on top.

That being said, with or without the marshmallow topping, these brownies are awesome anytime of year. Black cocoa brownies feel spooky but the chocolate flavor is similar to oreos and that makes these year round faves. You could add nuts or candy as well. Or you can just make my Turtle Brownies or Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies.

When it’s time to decorate, the marshmallow will be very sticky, and you want to work somewhat quickly. If the marshmallow is too hot it will stretch but be the wrong consistency to make webs. Once it cools too much though it will only stretch so far before breaking.

Black Cocoa Brownies Key Ingredients

• Black Cocoa – Black cocoa is rich and delicious and gives you that wonderful dark black color. I personally love the King Arthur brand, but there are other brands available.
• Marshmallow – Warm marshmallow when stretched is easy to make look like spider webs. It will cool down back to a gooey but more solid consistency.
• Dark Brown Sugar – My first version of these brownies only used granulated sugar. While they had a similar taste, the texture was much cakier. Adding the brown sugar (and not whisking eggs) created the perfect chewy/fudgy texture.

Black Cocoa Brownies with Marshmallow

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Prep: 20 minutes minutes

Bake: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 9 Brownies

Ingredients

• 100 g AP Flour ¾cup + 1½ tbsp
• 1 tsp Salt
• 60 g Black Cocoa ½ cup
• 12 tbsp Unsalted butter
• 165 g Dark Brown sugar ¾ cup + 1 tbsp
• 100 g Granulated sugar ½ cup
• 2 large Eggs + 1 yolk cold
• 5 Marshmallows Large/Regular – Not mini

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare an 8×8" pan by greasing or with parchment.
• Heat butter either in the microwave or in a sauce pan on the stove, stir in granulated sugar and brown sugar with a spatula.
• Stir in eggs one at a time into the wet ingredients, making sure eggs are fully incorporated.
• Add black cocoa to the wet ingredients until combined.
• Add flour and salt into wet ingredients and stir in with a spatula until just combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake brownies on middle rack of oven for about 28-30 minutes. I checked mine at 25 minutes and the middle was not set, but was set about 3 minutes later, which is what you want.
• When brownies come out of the oven, let sit out for about 10 minutes, and then move pan to refrigerator to chill the rest of the way.
• When brownies are sufficiently chilled, place marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for about 15 seconds, stir, and then microwave for about another 10-15 seconds.
• Stir and then let marshmallows cool for about 1 minute. Pick up a dollop of marshmallow and spread between fingers creating a web pattern and spread/lay over brownies. Repeat until you have covered the brownies.