✯ Day 356 of Vintage 365 ✯
Yesterday's post centered around my favourite cheese ball recipe of all time, and today's is dedicated to another absolute fave: my mom's swoony-worthy Chocolate Mint Brownies.
For me, even factoring in tried-and-true classics like fruitcake, gingerbread cookies, plum pudding, and shortbread, there is perhaps no other sweet treat that so perfectly captures the essence of Christmas for me.
Each year as youngster I would wait, wide-eyed with anticipation, for the glorious day when my mom would prepare a big tray of these, her signature holiday brownies. They would then be cut into bite sized squares and tucked neatly into a large plastic Tupperware container to be mixed with other festive cookies, candies, and assorted sweet morsels during the holiday season.
{Classic semi-sweet chocolate, like that produced by Baker's, helps give this wonderful Christmas brownie recipe a deep, addictively delicious cocoa-y flavour. Vintage Baker's Chocolate ad - complete with two great sounding recipes - from 1953 by way of Eudaemonius on Flickr.}
If your Christmas baking repertoire is currently lacking a brownie recipe - or in need of another one - I simply cannot suggest you give this scrumptious, dense, marvelously pepperminty one a go strongly enough.
Ingredients
For the Brownies
-1 cup white sugar
-1/2 cup shortening, softened
-2 eggs
-1/s cup all-purpose flour
-2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted (right before using)
-Pinch of salt
-3/4 cup choppd walnuts (or almonds, I love either version)
-1/2 tsp vanilla extra
For the icing (frosting)
-3 tbsp margarine or butter, softened
-1 tsp peppermint extract
-1/2 tsp green food colouring (option, but it does give the finished brownies such a fun, festive look)
-2 cups sifted icing (powdered) sugar
-1 to 2 tbsp milk
-1 square semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Directions
For the Brownies
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C/gas mark 4).
In a medium or large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and white sugar (I like to use an electric mixer, but you can do it by hand if you don't have one).
Beat in eggs and combine thoroughly before adding in the melted chocolate; mix until very well combined. Next add in the flour, salt, nuts and vanilla; mix well to combine.
Spread into a greased 8X8 inch baking pan (I usually use a glass Pyrex one). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow brownies to cool to room temperature before icing (frosting).
For the icing (frosting)
Cream together butter, peppermint extract, and food colouring (if using) in a medium sized mixing bowl, adding in the icing (powdered) sugar a little at a time until thoroughly well combined.
Add in milk (as needed) and mix until icing (frosting) is smooth. Ice (frost) cooled brownies, covering evenly. Once iced (frosted) drizzle melted semi-sweet chocolate over brownies and allow chocolate to firm up before serving.
Store peppermint brownies in an air tight container for up to five days, or freeze (and oh-mah-goodness are they amazing when eaten while frozen!) for as long as three months.
Whereas there are some holiday recipes I'll sneak in at other times of the year, there's something rather special about having these brownies (well, technically the gluten-free version that I have to make these days, but which, I'm happy to report still tastes markedly similar), sweet and bursting with minty flavour, to look forward to with that same childlike anticipation each year - even if I'm the one baking them. 
