Do you like s'mores or rice krispie squares? These cookies take elements of both and roll them all into one. Crammed full of chocolate, nuts, rice cereal, and marshmallows, they are over the top rich. The original recipe calls for milk chocolate chips, but I only have semi sweet in my house so that that's what I used, and I think I'd stick with that.
You do have to be a bit careful when using marshmallows in cookies. Firstly, if you can air dry the marshmallows for a day or two before you use them to make them stale, it keeps them from dissolving in the cookies and leaving pockets of sugary nothingness. This is hard to do because if your house is like mine, someone will continually walk by the exposed marshmallows and grab a handful to nibble on.
Secondly, use parchment paper. With marshmallows in cookies, it's really not optional, because otherwise the marshmallow in the cookies will glue to your cookie sheets and you will be chiseling these babies off. Even when you use parchment, it's better once you remove the cookies from the oven to let them stand for a minute or two for the melted marshmallow to harden up a bit, otherwise it sticks to your spatula and then hardens, making it all messy.
I also noticed there was no salt in the recipe, which I thought was a little strange. I personally would add about 1/4 tsp to the recipe next time, but maybe it doesn't need it at all.
Once I finished making these and the entire span of counter was covered with chocolate drizzled cookies, both John and Kevin stopped in the kitchen and stared, practically wiping drool from their chins. The finished product is a sight to behold. They taste pretty awesome too.
Adapted from Food Network Magazine
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick cooking oats (not instant)
1 1/4 cup crispy rice cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup mini marshmallows (*stale)
Topping:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 tbsp heavy cream
pinch cayenne pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
Pre-heat oven to 350 F and line the cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl and set aside. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one and a time, and then add the vanilla, continuing to beat on medium speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, pour in the flour mixture and then mix on low speed until combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips, oats, cereal, marshmallows, and pecans with a wooden spoon. It will seem like not enough dough to incorporate them all, but it does work. Drop the dough by heaped tablespoons onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until set.
When you remove them from the oven, allow to sit on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes to firm up before you remove them to a cooling rack.
Once all the cookies are baked, you can move on to creating the topping.
Over medium low heat in a small saucepan, melt the marshmallows, stirring. When they are melted, remove the pan from the stove and add the chocolate chips, continuing to stir. You may have to put the pan back on the stove over low heat to get the chocolate to melt into the marshmallow but continue to stir until it's all smooth. When it is, add the pinch of cayenne, 1/3 cup of finely chopped pecans, and 2 1/2 tsp cream. I only had whipping cream, so I used that. If the mixture is too thick, feel free to add a little more more cream and stir well until it loosens up. My topping turned out too thick to drizzle, so I improvised and used a ziplock bag as an icing bag of sorts.
Once the cookies are cool, roll out a strip of waxed paper on your counter and transfer the cookies to it. Get a ziplock bag and line a mug with it, then pour in the topping mixture. Seal the top of the bag, and clip a hole in one corner. Use the bag like an icing bag to drizzle the topping all over the cookies. It's far less messy and very quick this way, plus you have some more control over how much chocolate drizzle ends up on the cookies.
Let the cookies sit for a few hours for the chocolate to firm up. Store in an airtight container, with waxed paper between layers so they don't all stick together.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies
