Thick and fudgy brownies layered with sweet mint frosting and easy chocolate ganache. The classic mint chocolate combination!
Recipe #3 of my annual Cookie Palooza combines the mighty forces of mint and chocolate. I’m aware that brownies aren’t technically cookies but sometimes dessert just doesn’t have to make any sense.
I remember making these brownies for a Christmas party years ago. When I was a single lady without a food blog because food blogs were (are?) nerdy and weird. Along with my chocolate covered pretzels (one of the first recipes published on my blog!), these classic mint chocolate brownies disappeared. Shocking.
I decided to make the mint chocolate brownies again this year for three reasons. I mean three people. Me, Kevin, and my friend Katy who is turning 30 this weekend. We are serious mint chocolate lovers and I know you are too. Come on, I know you’ve eaten the frosting from these chocolate cupcakes with mint chocolate frosting with a spoon before too. Or is that just me?
I usually make a batch of these mint chocolate chip cheesecake brownies for us to devour, but I wanted something a bit different this time.
Let’s get down to the mint-brownie-nitty-gritty. These classic mint chocolate brownies are made completely from scratch; no brownie mix in sight. In a pinch, you may absolutely use a box mix instead. But baking brownies from scratch really isn’t that difficult at all! In fact, the brownie layer is all mixed together in one bowl and doesn’t require many ingredients. Just your typical chocolate, eggs, sugar, and flour.
A little more on the chocolate: Brownies can be made with cocoa powder or solid chocolate. If using all cocoa powder, you’ll typically need more fat in the batter because cocoa powder does not contain the cocoa butter that solid chocolate does. My brownie recipe uses both cocoa powder and solid chocolate, which makes them extra chocolate-y. I prefer mint brownies with semi-sweet chocolate, though milk chocolate would be just fine if you want a sweeter brownie. (They’re plenty sweet as is!) I don’t suggest using unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate unless you love deep, dark chocolate.
A little more on the sugar: New readers might find this weird, but I’m sure you regular dessert lovers know how much I love brown sugar. It’s my favorite ingredient not only for its robust molasses flavor, but for all the moisture it brings baked goods. And it does the same for brownies! Brown sugar in brownies isn’t very typical, so if you think this is odd—it totally is. I use a mix of white sugar and brown sugar here. These combined sugars sweeten the brownies, while also enhancing their moist, fudgy texture.
A little more on the flour: I’ve typed this about 100 times in all my brownie recipes over the past 3 years. But let me repeat it real quick in case you’re new. More flour = a more cake-like brownie. Less flour = fudgier brownie. I prefer my brownies chewy and fudgy. So dense, it’s like eating fudge. Cakey brownies just aren’t my thing, so I use as little flour as I can without having the brownie fall apart.
These brownies are incredibly rich, fudgy, and moist. I know most of you hate that word.
Let’s move onto the other layers. I promise I’ll make the rest short. I can’t believe how much I just typed about brownie ingredients.
Once the brownies are completely cooled off (–> completely cool! that’s important.), frost them with a simple mint chocolate frosting. I use just over 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract in the frosting. If you like things a little more minty, feel free to add a little more. But be warned! Peppermint extract is incredibly potent; you don’t want the frosting to taste like toothpaste. I add 1 drop of green food coloring to give the frosting a very light mint green color, but feel free to leave the mint frosting layer completely white. After frosting the batch of brownies, make sure you set the whole thing in the refrigerator so the frosting can set. This makes for neater cutting.
Speaking of cutting! I’m a little psycho about this. I’m convinced that anyone who says they can cut these mint layered brownies perfectly with absolutely no smears is lying. I’ve been making these for about 8 years now and there is no way around a few messy spots. Unless you know a secret? If so, please share. All I do is make very quick cuts, using a very sharp large knife, and wiping the knife off with a paper towel between cuts. And this is what the brownies looks like. But, it’s good enough for me.
The chocolate layer on top is a lot like chocolate ganache. Instead of chocolate and cream, we’re using chocolate chips and butter. I normally urge you to never melt chocolate chips, but this is an exception. Chocolate chips make the chocolate layer so easy. I combine them with butter because you want a softer chocolate topping. As opposed to a hard, heavy chocolate layer on top. The soft chocolate is easier to cut without messing up the frosting underneath.
Finally! I’m done. Please go make these classic mint chocolate brownies. And grab a glass of milk while you’re at it. They’re devilishly rich. And, might I add, the perfect addition to Santa’s plate of Christmas cookies!
Thick and fudgy brownies layered with sweet mint frosting and easy chocolate ganache. The classic mint chocolate combination!
