Mississippi Mud Bars

A few years ago my mom gave me a baking cookbook with a recipe for Mississippi Mud Bars that I've wanted to make ever since I saw the picture of them. I bought some of the ingredients for it a while ago and just remembered this weekend that I still hadn't made it. I decided to try it tonight. It was very easy to make. Note that you do need to refrigerate it for at least 3 hours (something I overlooked, but luckily I started it early enough to still taste it tonight). I made this in an 11"x7" pan as the recipe said to do. It is an unusual size that many people may not have, so just use something close to it, but I wouldn't use anything smaller, as once everything was assembled, the pan was filled to the top. My bars took about 10 minutes longer to bake than the recipe said (I baked them at 325 degrees on convection). Watch them and take them out once they are firm and set. The 7-ounce jar of marshmallow creme was just enough to spread evenly over the cake. The icing was very easy to make and to spread. The hardest thing about this recipe for me was all the waiting!

Once it was finally ready to eat...wow - rich desserts don't usually effect me but this is one rich dessert! It is a little messy but tastes delicious. Just be sure the cut the pieces small! I used a brownie spatula to get the pieces out and it worked very well.

Mississippi Mud Bars

Recipe courtesy “A Passion for Baking” Cookbook

These confections are best described as bars in the best old-fashioned sense of the word – when bars, piled on a plate, dominated the bake sale or commanded the attention of anyone coming into a diner looking for dessert. Tons of recipes with this name exist, but this is a definitive, perfect version.

These dark, delicious bars are topped with a sandbar of marshmallow topping and a nice paving of the best, shiniest chocolate icing you ever had.

Bars
2 cups sugar
¾ cup butter, cut into chunks
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, measured and then sifted
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1½ cups shredded coconut, optional
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow creme

Mississippi Mud Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup cocoa powder, measured and then sifted
½ cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously spray an 11” x 7” pan with non-stick cooking spray and place it on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

In a food processor, blend sugar and butter until pasty. Add eggs and vanilla; blend well. Fold in flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and blend well. Fold in nuts, chocolate chips, and coconut and blend briefly. Spoon into prepared pan.

Bake until set and firm to the touch, about 25-30 minutes. Spread the marshmallow creme on hot cake and refrigerate, uncovered, for 3 or more hours.

For the Mississippi Mud Icing, blend all ingredients in a food processor until stiff and glossy. Using a metal spatula, dipped as required into hot water, spread icing on chilled uncut bars. Chill briefly to set icing. Cut into bars.

These are messy. It is a good idea to serve them in splayed-out paper liners to hold all of the gooey stuff and to keep chocolate from getting all over yours hands.

Makes 16-20 large or 32 small bars.

Cut up butter and mix with sugar

Add eggs and vanilla

Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt

Fold in nuts & chocolate chips (I didn't add coconut)

Spread batter in greased 11" x 7" pan

Bake until set

Spread marshmallow creme over hot cake and refrigerate for 3 hours

Mix the icing

Spread icing on cold cake and then refrigerate again until the icing is set

Cut into bars (small bars!)

Enjoy (you will need a glass of milk!)

Photos by JoJo