Wee Feast

For work this year we are doing a holiday recipe exchange, combined with a potluck where we bring our holiday recipes. My requirements were something fast and festive. Since I’ll be travelling to San Francisco this weekend and will have to bake the night I get back, I went with one of the simplest recipes in my arsenal. In fact, this type of brownie base was the first thing I learned to bake in about fourth grade. It’s stayed a staple because you can go from craving to eating a homemade brownie in about an hour, and because it’s a one-pot affair. You can jazz it up with any flavor your heart desires (double chocolate, vanilla, coffee), so for the season I chose mint. Peppermint seems so frosty, and it always makes me think of winter.

Easy Mint Chocolate Brownies                                         

Ingredients

• 6 oz. chocolate chips, plus half a cup
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• Half a stick of butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mint extract, but this can be to taste
• ½ tsp salt
• Box of Andes mints (the ones that are little bricks of chocolate and mint layers)

Steps

• Heat your oven to 350 F.
• Grease or spray an 8 or 9 inch square pan, whatever you have on hand.
• Melt the 6 ounces of chocolate chips and half a stick of butter together in a saucepan.
• Stir in until smooth: sugar, flour, eggs, baking powder, mint extract, salt. It will all combine if you keep stirring.
• Once combined, stir in the half a cup of chocolate chips.
• Spread it evenly in the pan.
• Bake for around 24 minutes. It’s done when you stick in a knife, and it comes out with no batter. Better slightly underdone, since they’ll cook a little in the pan.
• Eat some Andes mints, they’re delicious.
• Spread a layer of the mints on the top of the warm brownies in the pan, and let cool for a few hours.
• Cut and serve.

So as I walk down memory lane, why don’t you take a turn to reminisce? What’s your favorite “winter” flavor?