Peppermint Fudge Brownies
Does anyone else remember those York Peppermint Patty commercials from when we were younger? Where people would “feel the sensation” during random activities?
I’ve been feeling the sensation for the past couple of weeks thanks to some mini York Peppermint Patties that I’ve been storing in the fridge. They have been really hitting the spot as the temperature increases in Boston.
When I was brainstorming ideas of what to bring to our friends for a cookout last week, I reached into the fridge to grab one of these cool minty treats and it hit me. Brownies with York Peppermint Patties had to be an amazing treat.
So I whipped up a batch of my favorite brownies, and added a layer of York Peppermint Patties in the middle. I packed as many of those little York Peppermint Patties into the pan as I could. The resulting brownie was minty, fudgey, and indulgent. They were a big hit at the cookout and taste even better slightly chilled.
Peppermint Fudge Brownies
Mint and chocolate make such a great pair, it's no wonder these brownies were such a big hit!
Yield: 24 brownies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp espresso powder, optional
1 Tbsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
~1.5 lbs Mini York Peppermint Patties (~45 patties)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan
In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, just until it's hot, but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
Transfer the sugar mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl, if you've heated it in a saucepan. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla.
Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth.
Spoon 1/2 of the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan. Top with peppermint patties - be sure to place the candies as close together as possible to ensure each bite has a bit of candy in it. Spoon remaining batter on top of candy.
Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool completely prior to cutting.
Recipe adapted from My Go-To Brownie Recipe
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I do not come across enough caramel-filled cupcakes. These look insanely delicious.
These look delicious. My husband is Irish so I’ve been instructed to make them for this weekend!!
beantownbaker — March 13th, 2013 @ 8:44 pm
I hope he enjoys them!
They went down a treat, will definitely make them again. Thanks for recipe!!
beantownbaker — March 17th, 2013 @ 11:50 am
Glad you guys enjoyed them!
That tip about using a sturdy plastic straw to pit cherries is genius—I’ve always struggled with that step! The idea of roasting the cherries to deepen the flavor makes total sense too, especially since you mentioned avoiding eating them raw. Honestly, reading all about this rich dessert is such a fun contrast to my usual days spent debugging code and writing tutorials over at Robin’s Blog. Would love to see you tackle a savory recipe sometime!