Chocolate Mint Brownies

This is my green for St. Patrick’s Day.

When my kids were younger, like last year, I would have green pancakes and green milk for breakfast.  I don’t remember doing green eggs and ham.  Did I ever do that guys?  You’ll have to correct me if I’m wrong.

I was such a good mom that I made their lunches everyday and on St. Patrick’s day I made their sandwiches out of green bread that I had made the day before.   I’d make green sugar cookies and purchase anything  green to go inside the lunch.  This tradition was carried out from elementary school through high school.

The greenist that I’m getting this year is going to be chocolate mint brownies. Oh my they are rich.  It could have something to do with the amount of butter in this recipe.  Just remember the recipe makes enough brownies to share.  If you eat them all, you will get fat…no doubt.

The good news this year is that the St. Paddy’s day party is NOT being held at my house.  Oh happy day.  The boxing, spoon fights, “Feats of Strength”, root beer and apple cider guzzling (come on, I live it Utah), along with Phillip’s little Irish jig, will all take place somewhere else.   I don’t care where, just as long as it isn’t at my house.  Yes, the moron’s can throw up apple cider in someone else’s sink.  And that’s all the information I am willing to share.

On with the brownies.

As I was reviewing my photo’s I noticed something in this picture that is not an ingredient.

Whoops!  How did my foot get in there.  Actually I was standing on my counter top to get this shot.

Duh!  (I laughed)

Ingredients with no foot.

Just pretend that you don’t see FIVE sticks (2 1/2 cups) of butter (I like unsalted).   But there really are 5 sticks of butter, sugar, flour, dutch process (a fan) cocoa, eggs (EIGHT), vanilla and a bit of salt.

Prepare a baking sheet, by spraying with a non-stick spray or lightly buttering and flouring the pan.

In a medium-sized sauce pan melt the FIVE sticks (2 1/2 cups) of butter over medium heat.

Meanwhile, In the bowl of an electric mixer add sugar and flour.

Add the cocoa.

and the salt.

Turn the mixer on and mix dry ingredients together.  Set aside.

Once the butter has completely melted, remove from the heat.

Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients.

The mixture will be very thick.

Add the EIGHT eggs.

And vanilla.

Beat just until the eggs are incorporated.  No need to over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Spread evenly.

Place in a preheated 350 degree oven.  Bake for 32-35 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

For the mint layer you will need – yes – two more sticks (1 cup)  of softened butter, 4 cups confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the softened butter.

Beat just  a bit to smooth out the butter.

Add the four cups of confectioners sugar.

Add the milk.

And the peppermint extract.

Mix ingredients until smooth.

Add a few drops of green food color.  I generally just add two drops because I like my mint layer to be a pale green, but St. Paddy’s day I thought I’d kick it up.  Add the amount you would like.

Spread the mint layer onto the cooled brownies.

Spread as evenly as you can.

Place the brownies into the refrigerator to harden the mint layer.

For the chocolate layer you will need 12 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of butter.

Have you been counting how much butter is in these babies?

That’s a grand total of 7 1/2 sticks (3 3/4 cups) of butter.  Holy cow.

In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and butter.

Place in the microwave and cook for 70 seconds.

Remove from microwave and stir until smooth.

Not all semi-sweet chocolate chips are created equal.  I find that Guittard melt very nicely.  IF by chance your chocolate mixtures seems thick and not spreadable, just add two teaspoons of shortening and it should smooth and become spreadable.

Placing the chocolate back into the microwave and cooking it longer will NOT make it more spreadable.

Spread chocolate over the mint brownies.  I find that it is easier to spread by doing small amounts.  So I spread a small strip of chocolate over the mint layer, then repeat until I have all of the chocolate spread over the mint layer.  Did I explain the well enough??

Just don’t dump the warm chocolate in the middle of the mint layer and try to spread it over the entire pan.  It works better to add small amounts.  This way the warm chocolate doesn’t melt the mint layer.

Lift the pan.

I think it probably weighs close to 10 lbs.  What do ya think?

Return to the refrigerator and allow the chocolate layer to harden before cutting into squares.

Actually at this point I have covered the entire pan with aluminum foil and placed in the freezer.  The brownies will freeze great for a couple of weeks.

I generally cut the brownies into 2 x 2-inch squares.  I didn’t count, but the recipe makes a good 3 dozen brownies.  I generally start eating them, so I don’t get an accurate count.

Serve with a tall glass of milk.