Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Christmas Mint Brownies

THIS POST IS FROM ROOM REMIX - THE BLOG .

Hey everybody! I'm participating in Kelly's from JAX Does Design's Bake-N-Blog Holiday Edition party today, and I must say I'm glad I decided to or I wouldn't have found this awesome recipe!


Kelly gave us some links from which to choose recipes and I chose the Christmas Mint Brownies from Cooking Is Medicine. If you know me, you know that I'm a little bit of a chocolate freak so these seemed like a good choice. 

The recipe was easy to follow, and the brownies were everything I hoped they would be -  dense, moist, chocolate-minty perfection. The only negative thing I would have to say is that it was hard for me to wait between the three steps because I just wanted to get them done. Obviously can't fault the recipe for that.


Here's the recipe, and I'm pretty sure you're going to want to try it! I started to document the process with photos but, even though there are three layers, the process is pretty simple so I decided not to. (might be my impatience coming through again :-))   I know some of you like to see the process no matter what, so I'll try to get better at that when I do recipes in the future.
Layer 1 - Brownie:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened margarine/butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups (16 oz.) Hershey's syrup

Mix ingredients until smooth. Pour into a greased 13x9 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. COOL COMPLETELY.

Layer 2 - Mint:
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup softened margarine (use regular not light margarine)
1 TBSP water
1/2 to 1 tsp peppermint extract (I used 3/4 tsp and it was perfect for me)
3 drops green food coloring

Mix until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies and CHILL.

Layer 3 - Chocolate Frosting:
6 TBSP butter/margarine
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt over low heat and let cool. Pour/spread over mint layer, cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

Enjoy!

One ingredient I completely forgot was the green food coloring.  I had already started to make them when I realized that I didn't have any, even though I thought I had picked it up with the rest of the ingredients.  Obviously it impacted the color of that layer since it should be green instead of white, but the flavor is still just as delish!


I'm also not necessarily recommending that you eat three in one sitting (but you could!).  :-)  Three just seemed to look better when I was taking this picture. 

Be sure to check out Kelly's party, and the great parties below for more recipes and other Christmas inspiration.

Photobucket
Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

DIY ~ Make Your Own Christmas Cards

I used to spend a fortune on Christmas cards, but for the past couple of years I love to make my own. They are more meaningful and so easy to make! This year I picked one of my favorite "winter wonderland" paintings to be on the front.
Winter Wonderland - Watercolor Painting
Most of us add a personal photo to our cards, but do you upload a personal image too? I uploaded my image to Vistaprint, but there are so many you can choose from these days. (ex: Shutterfly, Snapfish), and ordered a large 5.5" by 8.5" card with a matte finish.
Make your own Christmas Cards
Choose your family photo, and tape it with Scotch double sided tape to the back side. Write your personal message, stamp it and mail it... done! fyi - mine are going out today. Just one more thing I can check off the list!
Make your own Christmas Cards
More Bright Ideas and DIY projects
More ways to follow BB&B