Minty Brownies

Minty Brownies

Mmm... another tasty recipe compliments of a parent at the school I teach at. These brownies were one of the sweet offerings with our PTO-provided dinner at parent-teacher conferences. After my first bite, I knew I had to get the recipe. The brownies were dense and moist, chocolaty, with a thin chocolate frosting on top. It wasn't a typical frosting, though, it was just like a think layer of chocolate. It took me two weeks to get the "recipe" from her, and when she sent it to me, I was surprised at what gave it the minty flavor. It was just Hershey's Mint Chocolate Chips. She baked a box brownie mix and then sprinkled the minty chips on top and spread them out after they'd melted. That's it. I added the Andes Mints to the top to avoid confusion and potential waste by non-mint lovers.
Since I enjoy making brownies from scratch, I just adapted my regular recipe and put the mint chocolate chips on top. As I ate the first one from this batch, I was reminded of Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies. Only this was thick and soft chocolate minty-ness, not thin and crisp. Mmm. They're so good. I'm going to have to take some to friends to make sure I don't eat them all myself.
Now, if you're like me, enjoying minty chocolate things, but avoiding it in baking because of the odd, unpleasant graininess that quickly sets in with minty baked goods, this recipe is for you. I think because all of the mint flavor is in the chocolate topping, rather than the brownie itself, the brownie stays soft and fresh. Good, good stuff.

Minty Brownies

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs @ room temp. 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 
• ½ cup butter, melted & cooled 
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 scant cup of Hershey's Mint Chocolate Chips
• 8-10 Andes Creme de Menthe Thins, chopped

Instructions:Preheat oven to 350°F. Using a spoon, stir eggs with sugar and vanilla. Add melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix the ground chocolate with flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture. Spread evenly into a buttered 8” pan (or a pan lined with parchment paper or non-stick foil).  Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out relatively clean. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with the mint chocolate chips. Cover with a plate or pan and allow to sit for a few minutes. Remove plate/pan and spread melted chocolate evenly over the top. Now you have a choice: either sprinkle the chopped Andes mints now and let them melt in (at which point you can run a toothpick around the top to make an abstract design on top) or you can wait until brownies and chocolate have cooled for about 15 minutes, and then sprinkle with the chopped Andes mints that will hopefully keep their shape but still stick to the top. Allow brownies to cool completely, and then cut into squares (I like to use a pizza cutter for this--as long as I've used parchment to line the pan). 
Makes 16-20 brownies.