Mint Brownies

I was first introduced to these brownies when I started college at BYU.  They were a special treat I shared with family visiting from out of town.  When my brother started attending there several years later, he worked at the BYU creamery making these beauties, and even memorized the recipe from making them so often.  But guess how the recipe went?  50 lbs sugar, 30 lbs cocoa, etc.  Yikes!  

I went on the hunt and tried a few different recipes, and most of them were pretty perfect.  It's hard to go wrong with mint and chocolate!  My favorite ended up being a recipe from Our Best Bites, but I did have one little problem with them though.  The brownie itself (not the frosting or ganache) was too much work for too little payback.  The only part of the brownie that ended up at all fudgy was plenty under-cooked, which I don't prefer.  They were just a little cakey for me.  So next time I'll use our favorite brownie recipe as a base instead.

No matter what you do, start by mixing together your brownies.

Line a pan with foil and grease it.  The foil makes the cutting process simpler.

Pour on the batter...

And bake until your knife comes out with fudgy little crumbs on it!

Mix up the frosting.  Color it if you want to.

Spread it onto the (cooled) brownies.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

To prepare the ganache, melt some chocolate and butter together.

And stir until it's nice and smooth and glossy.

Don't overheat it--you want it to be spreadable, not burned!

Give your frosted brownies a nice thick layer of chocolate.  Refrigerate.

Remove the brownies from the pan by lifting the foil straight out, cut and serve!

Keep them refrigerated if you want them to stay pretty.  Soften a few at a time on a plate at room temperature for serving.

Mint Brownies
adapted from Our Best Bites

for the brownies:
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

for the frosting:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp peppermint extract
1-2 T milk, or until desired consistency
a couple drops of food coloring, if desired

for the ganache:
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup butter

Prepare brownies by first mixing eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl, then adding dry ingredients and mixing until just moistened.  Pour into 9x13 inch pan that has been lined with foil and greased.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out with a few crumbs.  Allow brownie to cool completely.  Prepare frosting by mixing all ingredients until well combined, then spread over cooled brownie. Refrigerate for two hours.  Prepare ganache by melting chocolate and butter together, then mixing until smooth.  Spread over chilled, frosted brownies.  Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.  Remove from pan by lifting foil straight out, cut into bars, and serve.