These Mud Hen Bars are gooey, chewy and delicious chocolate marshmallow bars topped with brown sugar meringue! They’re some of the most delicious dessert bars ever!
Mud Hen Marshmallow Dessert Bars Recipe
Sometimes names can be deceiving.
Haven’t you ever met a person and been like, yeah…your parents SO should have named you Jan and not Heather? Or Brody and not Chuck? It happens.
Same thing happened with these bars. They’re called Mud Hen Bars. Which is basically the grossest name ever. Mud is not tasty…Hens are all pecky and whatnot… And the google told me a “Mud Hen” is a gross marsh bird that lives in swamps and other wetland-type areas.
Well, I am not a bird-fan in general. They scare me. I mean, they can fly. Think about it. AND Mud Hens are not only birds, they live in swamps. Swamp birds. Could there be a worse type?
But defying all laws of logic I made these Mud Hen Bars. They sound gross. But they aren’t. They’re exactly the opposite.
What is a Mud Hen Bar?
The best way to describe Mud Hen Bars is they are is a kind-of cookie base, topped with chocolate chips and marshmallows with a yummy brown sugar meringue spread all over the top.
How to Make This S’mores Style Dessert
Just sprinkle your chips and marshmallows…
Then mix up your meringue, which is just brown sugar and egg whites…
Then spread that all over the top…
What you’ll get is a gooey cookie bar topped with a light, crunchy meringue topping.
They are really like nothing else I’ve ever had…
Such a cool combination of textures. They might not be pretty, but they are tasty.
Just forget that they’re called Mudhens 🙂
This Mud Hen Bar recipe was originally published on my site in 2012. I have since updated some of the pictures and slightly tweaked the recipe. Enjoy!
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Mud Hen Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 24 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Mud Hen Bars are gooey, chewy and delicious chocolate marshmallow bars topped with brown sugar meringue! They’re some of the most delicious dessert bars ever!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 whole egg + 2 eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup mini marshmallows
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
Instructions
- Preheat 350°
- Spray a 9×13 baking pan lightly with cooking spray
- In a large bowl cream together butter, granulated sugar, 1 whole egg plus 2 yolks and vanilla until smooth.
- Add in flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined. Spread in prepared pan.
- Top with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.
- In a clean mixing bowl with whisk attachment on your mixer, beat the 2 remaining egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes on high.
- Fold in light brown sugar and stir until combined and there are no lumps.
- Spread on top of chocolate chips and marshmallows.
- Bake 30-35 minutes until top is golden brown.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares
Notes
store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 179
- Sugar: 20.6 g
- Sodium: 61.4 mg
- Fat: 7.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.8 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Cholesterol: 33.4 mg
Oops, sorry about the typo…..May have to try it. They look good!
I’m originally from FL and my Mother’s best friend made Mud Hens waay back when; it was a special treat to get some of these. However, this is a first, seeing your recipe w/chocolate chips and marshmallows; never heard of Mud Hens with these 2 ingredients. May have to try it. The look good.
My grandmother was a member of and past president of a group of women in Akron, Ohio, in the 60’s & 70’s called MUD HENS. These women, the hens, were ceramic hobbyists hence the mud. Just thought you’d like that story too.
I did try this and it was delicious. The bottom layer was a little gooey. I’m not sure if it’s because I should have baked them a little longer, because of the marshmallow cream instead of marshmallows that had to melt, or if I should have used parchment paper. I can’t get cooking spray right now, so had to oil the pan, and may have done better using paper instead. I experimented and made them for guests because I’m crazy like that, but it was worth the try. They raved about them. Oh, and I used about half of a 7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream. If I had marshmallows I think that would def be the way to go, but this worked for me in a pinch. Thanks for a great recipe.
Oh, and the name makes for great conversation. I disagree about the way they look. When I pulled them out of the oven, they looked beautiful. I also recommend serving them with coffee because they are really sweet.
Where I live, it is hard to find marshmallows. Do you think, or has anyone tried substituting a jar of marshmallow cream?
I think if you did add marshmallow creme, you would only want to make it a thin layer. If you try it let me know!
Have you ever tried to make your own marshmallows?! The taste is phenomenal and worth the effort especially if they aren’t readily available. Here’s a recipe from Alton Brown http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-marshmallows-recipe/index.html.
Yes! I have, and homemade marshmallows are SO way better than store bought!
My mom used to make these when I was a kid, only she also put walnuts in hers. I usually make them without the walnuts, due to picky kids. However, if I do make them with nuts again, I’ll probably put pecans in them because I love pecans…or maybe almonds or cashews.
The Mudhens are a Toledo, Ohio local baseball team. They are a “farm” team, a minor league team for the Detroit Tigers. Maxwell Klinger of M*A*S*H fame often wore Mudhens uniform stuff on the show. He was from Toledo Ohio and got his stuff from the team. I guess that was all before y’all’s time!
A mudhen is an Ohio native bird. Lots of the midwest is marshy and so of course there are many kinds of water birds, not just ducks. They are not chickens though, technically considered a “rail”, although to new settlers they must have looked from afar like chickens living on the water’s edge. They are black with white on the head and beak, and they can swim although they don’t have webbed feet like a duck, but rather thick toes. Actually they are very handsome birds. Water and marsh are not the same as swamp!
My guess is these bars must be some local Toledo or Ohio treat. Probably find it somewhere on Google….
Ok, this is a matter of aging myself, but, here goes….in times gone by…..people would refer to someone as ‘uglier than a *mud-hen*’, when they were not particularly enamored with that persons’ looks or manner. You may have heard ‘mud-fence’ also. Same difference. It means they are not especially attractive, or down-right ugly!! Someone in the comments said they (the bars), didn’t look good, but taste wonderful. There you go!!! Mystery solved. Thanks for the recipe, tho, I had forgotten about these delights!!!
My mama made these for her bridge club when I was growing up and I had forgotten all about them and how good they are! Now I HAVE to make them . . . tonight!
I’ve never heard of these before but they sound amazing!