Cocoa Puffs Brownies combine the best parts of childhood breakfast and after-school snack. The malty brownie base (secret ingredient: Ovaltine!) mimics the taste of Cocoa Puffs cereal, the fluffy meringue frosting serves as the sweet milk at the bottom of the bowl, and then we top them with as many Cocoa Puffs as you can fit.
Remember that time I made cupcakes out of Fruit Loops? And it was kind of weird but also charming in a kooky kind of way? Well, I’m at it again, turning breakfast cereals into baked goods. This time, it’s Cocoa Puffs Brownies. And, yes, it is fittingly cuckoo.
I wanted these Cocoa Puffs Brownies to literally mimic a bowl of cereal. Only, you know, in brownie form. So we have a basic chocolate chip brownie, to which I added a 1/2 cup of Ovaltine powder, because for some reason Cocoa Puffs scream “MALT-Y” to me. (Ok, so maybe these aren’t exactly like a bowl of cereal. Unless you add Ovaltine to your cereal milk, in which case YOU ARE GENIUS OMG.) You frost them with an ooey-gooey meringue frosting (kind of like sweet cereal milk?), then top with a generous amount of Cocoa Puffs.
Have you made meringue frosting before? I hadn’t. It’s super easy! And you get to whip egg whites, which is always fun. It makes me feel like I’m doing science, the way they magically transform from clear liquid into big frothy white fluff. Like a giant marshmallow. Amazing.
As yummy as the frosting is, I did have some trouble with it keeping its freshness. Day One, it was excellent. Gooey, sticky, marshmallowy. Day Two, it had started to harden and get crumbly. By Day Three, it had pretty much ossified. Troubled, I turned to Google for answers. How should you store meringue frosting?
Turns out refrigerating is a good idea, as is storing it in an airtight container. Guess my tinfoil-covered brownie pan resting by an open window was never going to cut it. Which is a shame. But at least now I’ve saved you from making the same mistake! You’ll still be enjoying marshmallowy meringue frosting on Day Seven. That is, if the Cocoa Puffs Brownies last that long 😉
Happy munching!
– Molly
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PinIngredients
Cocoa Puffs Brownies:
- 1 box brownie mix
- 1/2 cup Ovaltine (or other malt powder)
- 1 recipe Vanilla Meringue frosting (below)
- Cocoa Puffs
Vanilla Meringue Frosting
- 3 large egg whites
- 1¼ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp corn syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Mix brownies according to box instructions, adding the 1/2 cup of Ovaltine to the box mix.
- Bake according to box instructions. While the brownies are baking, make the frosting.
- To make the meringue frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar, salt and corn syrup in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Using a handheld mixer, whip the whites over the simmering water until the whites are warm, the sugar is fully absorbed and the mixture gets thick, almost like marshmallow fluff. Take the whites off of the heat and add the vanilla. Whip again until the vanilla has been fully incorporated.
- When brownies have cooled completely, frost with vanilla meringue frosting and top with Cocoa Puffs cereal.