Fudge-Mallow Cookie Bars

Plum Pudding Murder

## Ingredients

* ¾ cup all-purpose flour ***(pack it down in the cup when you measure it)***
* ¾ cup white ***(granulated)*** sugar
* ½ teaspoon salt
* ½ teaspoon softened butter ***(1 stick, ¼ pound)***
* 2 eggs
* 2 one-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate ***(I used Baker's)***
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* ½ cup chopped nuts ***(I used walnuts, but pecans are fine, too)***
* 10.5 ounce package miniature marshmallows ***(you'll use ¾ of a package—I used Kraft Jet Puffed)***
* 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips ***(I used Ghirardelli)***

## Directions

* Preheat oven to 350°F, rack in the middle position.

**Hannah's Note: This is a lot easier with an electric mixer, but you can also make these cookie bars by hand.**

* Melt your chocolate first so that it has time to cool. Unwrap the 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate and place them in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat them for 1 minute on HIGH. Let them sit in the microwave for another minute and then take them out and stir them to make sure they're melted. ***(If they're not, heat them again in 15 second intervals until they are.)*** Set the bowl with the chocolate on the counter to cool while you mix up the rest of the recipe.
* Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat them together on slow speed until they're combined.
* Add the softened butter and beat well until the mixture is light and fluffy.
* Add the eggs and beat well.
* Check your chocolate to make sure it's not so hot it'll cook the eggs. If it's cool enough, add it to your bowl. If it's not, have a cup of coffee and wait until it is. Mix in the chocolate thoroughly.
* Add the vanilla and the half cup of chopped nuts. Mix thoroughly.
* Grease ***(or spray with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray)*** a 9-inch by 13-inch cake pan. Pour in the batter and smooth the top as evenly as you can with a a rubber spatula.
* Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.
* Take the pan from the oven and immediately pour the miniature marshmallows in a single layer over the top. This should take about ¾ of a 10.5-ounce bag. Work quickly to spread them out as evenly as you can.
* Cover the pan with foil crimped down tightly over the sides, or with a spare cookie sheet for 20 minutes. You want the miniature marshmallows to melt on the bottom and attach themselves nicely to the hot chocolate fudge bats.
* When 20 minutes have passed, melt 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes. Stir the chips smooth and spread the melted chocolate over the marshmallows as evenly as you can. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool.
* When the bars are coll and the chocolate on top has hardened, cut them into brownie-sized pieces and serve. If you want to hasten the hardening of the chocolate, slip the pan into the refrigerator for thirty minutes or so, and then take it out to cut the bars.
* Arrange the bars on a pretty platter and serve for a luscious treat. You can store any leftovers in a tightly-covered container, but Lisa and I bet there won't be any!

Yield: Each pan makes approximately 24 bars.

**Lisa says Herb loves these because they remind him of the chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies he used to eat as a child. He confessed he traded them with his friends, giving them the homemade cookies Marge made and put in the lunchbox for the "store boughten" marshmallow cookies. Lisa says that if you know Marge Beeseman, please don't tell her that her son did this!**