S’mores Brownie Bites

Last weekend was the CIBC Run for the Cure event.

For those who aren’t aware of this yearly run, it is a volunteer-led event that raises funds and awareness for breast cancer research.

This year, Ryan Cerrudo, the communications officer for the Institute for Management and Innovation, and Carla DeMarco, the communications and grants manager at the Office of the Vice-Principal, are co-organizing the event.

They held UTM’s first annual Best Bites contest to raise funds for the run. Entrants, limited to UTM staff and faculty, submitted their favourite recipes, which were then prepared by Chartwell’s chefs. The bites were then sold on September 16 and tasters could vote for their favourite recipe.

According to the co-organizers, over $350 were raised for the UTM Run for the Cure team through the Best Bites contest.

Out of the five recipes that were submitted for the contest, there wasn’t one clear-cut winner—there were two.

One of the winning recipes, the S’mores Brownie Bites, was submitted by Tara Fader, the communications coordinator for Student Housing and Residence Life.

Now if this was Madeleine Brown—our former features editor and culinary expert—I’m sure that she’d have a story to share about her own s’mores or a brownie that she baked for lunch.

But since it’s only me here, let’s talk about brownies—specifically, about eating them.

I’ve always felt like a brownie is nothing more than halfway between a cookie and a cake. To add to the brownie’s ambiguous character, it can be fudgy or cake-like, and can include chocolate chips, frosting, nuts, and much more.

Let’s check out what Fader’s recipe involves.

S’mores Brownie Bites

(with additional instructions provided for clarity)

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1¼ cup sugar
• 11 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
• ⅛ tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup chocolate chips, milk or semi- sweet (Graham crackers were used)
• ¼ cup semi-sweet baking bar, chopped (Hershey’s milk chocolate bar was used)
• Marshmallows

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to approximately 370 F.
2. Beat the eggs with the vanilla extract.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, butter, baking soda, corn starch, and salt. Stir until all ingredients have been blended well.
4. Spread the brownie mix into a greased pan.
5. Layer the Graham crackers or chocolate chips to cover the brownie mix.
6. Layer the mix with the chopped chocolate bar pieces.
7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes. To test when the brownies are ready, insert a toothpick into the brownie near the edge of the pan—if it comes out clean, it’s ready.
8. Once fully cooked, layer the marshmallows on top and let them melt.
9. Allow the brownie to cool before serving. If you’re aiming for bite-sized pieces, simply cut the brownie into strips.