It’s a week of Brownies! If you haven’t yet entered to win your Dancing Deer Brownie Sampler, the giveaway ends on Sunday 12/18/11. For my readers that are fellow WeightWatchers, I apologize for putting temptation in your way for the second time this week, but remember, you can eat whatever we want, you just can’t eat it with a shovel! It’s a pleasure to hand the reigns of my blog over to Melinda of Kitchen Tested for this post. These peppermint brownies look like divine and it’s a great opportunity to share with you a dessert that I could not dream of alone. Now, over to Melinda:
Nothing exemplifies winter more than peppermint, or at least that’s what I believe. Every year I count down to the day when candy canes line the store shelves and Starbucks brings out its luscious and chocolaty peppermint mocha. My constant craving for the cool and fresh tingly sensation of a peppermint candy recently became too much and I just had to bake something up right away! My answer was the ultimate three-tiered peppermint brownie, with layers of creamy milk chocolate and peppermint all over. You can certainly replace the dairy items with non-dairy substitutes, but once in a while the real thing is completely worth it!
Triple-Peppermint Chocolate Brownie Recipe
Below are the recipes I used to create my Triple-Peppermint Brownies, which were inspired by these Chocolate Chip Cookie & Oreo Brownie Bars.
Bottom: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp peppermint extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 cups Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips
In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs, extract until light and fluffy. Separately, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture in to the butter mixture until well blended. Mix in the chocolate chips and spread on the bottom of a large baking pan lined with wax paper.
Middle: Place a layer of Peppermint Joe Joe’s on top of the chocolate cookie dough.
Top: Peppermint Brownie Batter
*you can also use boxed Brownie mix but this batter is gooey and delicious
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅛ tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 4 oz. sweet chocolate bar or chips
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chopped York Peppermint Patties
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. Combine the butter and chocolate chips in a bowl and melt in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time and stirring frequently, until melted in shiny. It should take around 90 seconds. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Combine the chocolate mixture, sugar and eggs then blend in vanilla. Add the flour to the chocolate mixture and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the chopped York Peppermint Patties.
Pour the thick batter over the Joe Joe’s and smooth out the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes, until center is cooked through and a toothpick comes out mostly clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing since the brownies are very gooey and need some time to set.
Optional: Sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies a few minutes before the peppermint brownies are finished for an additional delicious layer of mint! Since the candy will be very sticky, wait until the peppermint brownies cool completely before cutting in to them for an easier time slicing. You can also flip the peppermint brownies and cut them upside down to cut through the crunchy candy topping.
