Homemade York Peppermint Patties

{printable recipe here}
I'm always fascinated when I make something at home that I previous thought you could only buy from the store. Some things will just never be worth the investment but it's really satisfying to make something with my own two hands, to see everything that goes into it and feel like I am blessing my family (even if my son whines that he has to eat fresh, homemade wheat bread- poor kid). These homemade peppermint patties were a revelation- yummy, easy, even fun to make. And you had better believe giving someone a homemade peppermint patty makes them feel like a million bucks (they will want more than one, though, I promise!)

Besides the satisfaction of making these yourself, you can customize the size, decorations and flavoring. Next time I make these I will make them itty bitty with my smallest cookie scoop. I finally bought a package of 'chocolate dipping tools' (only a couple dollars at Michael's but I think this nice set from Ateco should be in my kitchen soon) and I am confident that will make these even more fun to make. Give them a try for St. Patrick's Day and let me know what you think! You can see more process photos here.

PS Still need St. Patrick's Day ideas? Everyone's favorite chocolate mint brownies are simple and delicious (and you can freeze the extras for later!)


Homemade York Peppermint Patties
from Anne Strawberry
{printable recipe here}
recipe adapted from Sweet Savory Life



Makes 32 patties (note- I would make these half size next time, to yield about 60- use a tiny cookie scoop to get quick and uniform results)

Ingredients:

1 can of condensed milk
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (yes, I skipped that step)
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (milk or white chocolate would be great, too, but I liked the depth of the semisweet contrasting with the sweet filling inside)
3 tablespoons shortening
3-5 drops green food coloring (optional- but I added this for St. Patrick's Day)

Directions:

Add condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and peppermint extract to a large mixing bowl. Mix everything on medium speed using the paddle attachment until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add more powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, until the dough is pliable like firm modeling clay.

Note-  at this point, I kneaded the dough by hand for a couple minutes to get it extra nice and well mixed.

Roll 3/4″ balls of dough between the palms of the hands (I used a small cookie scoop for this step with less than a tablespoon of dough- the smaller patties look neater and are better portions I think). Press each ball down slowly and set the flattened disk on a flat cutting board or plate. Transfer peppermint disks to the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, temper the chocolate coating.

Place chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, making sure to stir after each time until chocolate is smooth. Stir in shortening to thin the chocolate. Remove patties from the freezer.

Place a patty on the tongs of the fork and dip in the chocolate until completely covered. Allow excess chocolate to drip off the patty before setting each one on top of wax or parchment paper. Allow the chocolate coated peppermint patties to completely set up. This can be done quicker by placing the patties in the refrigerator. The peppermint patties are ready when they are dry to the touch. Enjoy!

Note- I melted some candy melts and drizzled them over the top for the finishing touch. After they set, package them up in cellophane bags, tie with a ribbon, and enjoy your easy, delicious, homemade treat!

Thin Mint Blondies

First friends, I would like to apologize for leaving a picture of chips up on my blog for so long. Yummy chips, but chips still. I have actually made a million treats lately between pinewood derby, baby showers, blue and gold banquet (not to mention treats for the meetings to plan all that stuff, don't you think treats make meetings better?) Spring is here and it doesn't usually last too long, so we've spent more time at the park (Little Man broke his foot there jumping seven feet off a piece of playground equipment, working on projects in the garage, and at the doctor's office- see before mention park incident and spring air sharing germs and allergies left and right.

So my apologies again for the slow posts around here. But I have a good one today- courtesy of my original food blog crush, Peabody. If you haven't 'met' her before I'd encourage you to stop by. Her photography is stunning, her recipes are incredible and she's totally hilarious. When I read her blog I don't feel so bad about my baking habits and I also identify with her a lot because she has more than one KitchenAid (for the record, I don't, but I think that would be awesome! Maybe in my fantasy double oven kitchen someday?) These blondies are all kind of deliciousness mixed together- chocolate chip cookie dough, girl scout cookie thin mints, ghirardelli chocolate, mint chips!

If you haven't made blondies before, they are super straightforward- you start with a chocolate chip cookie dough batter, omit the baking soda, and stir in your favorite mix ins. Press into a pan, bake, top with more deliciousness, and enjoy. Thin mints are of course a welcome addition to any dessert and although I had to fight off many kitchen snitchers trying to eat all of mine, it was worth it. Peabody used Andes Chips but I didn't have any of those at my mom's so I chopped up some bittersweet chocolate and some Guittard mint chips. If you haven't tried those before, they are incredible. I used to find them at Maceys in Utah and they have them around the holidays at Safeway here. You can even buy them on Amazon for an arm and a leg, but if you are lucky to have the world's best friend she may randomly drop off two bags for you yesterday (it's like she heard my mixer whirling in the last of my stash into these blondies!)

To see the recipe, please stop by Peabody's. She is incredible and you won't regret it!

Do you have a favorite St. Patrick's Day mint recipe? Are you going to have corned beef next week? Do you have a great source for mint chips? Spill!

Homemade York Peppermint Patties

{printable recipe here}
The minute I saw this recipe I knew they would be way to tempting, so I shut the window and tried to do something else. I thought about those babies all day and then mentally checked out my pantry to make sure I had the ingredients- then I woke up and made them the next day. If you like mint or chocolate or York Peppermint patties you really shouldn't make these, that is, unless you have more self control than I do. Really, they are SO good and easy to make. I felt like I was playing with Playdoh- a delicious, fragrant art project. I lied- you should make these, now. Just hide the extras in the back of the freezer behind the frozen veggies. And I wish you better luck than I had in actually taking decent pictures- these were hardly set before they started flying off the sheet. Stop by Savory Sweet Life to see some gorgeous photos and the original recipe.

I'm sure some of you are thinking, why would I MAKE peppermint patties when I can BUY peppermint patties? They taste even better than the originals, are actually really fun to make, are totally customizable (next up- white chocolate covered peppermint patties for my Tall Man! and orange chocolate patties! then maybe raspberry chocolate patties!) The best part? This is a fun treat to make that doesn't require turning on the oven. It's hot here suddenly and I really appreciate this refreshing, no bake treat. Plus, everyone will think you're Martha Stewart making your own peppermint patties when they're actually ridiculously easy. After they set, package them up in cellophane bags and you're good to go!

Just a tip- using a small cookie scoop to portion out the dough will make for pretty and uniform patties. I also kneaded my dough with a little powdered sugar on a silpat (so it wouldn't stick) and let them set on top of a silpat lined sheet as well. They came right off and clean up was a breeze (parchment would work great, too, but I never remember to buy it!)

Homemade York Peppermint Patties
from Anne Strawberry
{printable recipe here}
recipe adapted from Sweet Savory Life

Makes 32 patties (note- I would make these half size next time, to yield about 60- use a tiny cookie scoop to get quick and uniform results)

Ingredients:

1 can of condensed milk
5 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (yes, I skipped that step)
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (milk or white chocolate would be great, too, but I liked the depth of the semisweet contrasting with the sweet filling inside)
3 tablespoons shortening
3-5 drops green food coloring (optional- but I added this for St. Patrick's Day)

Directions:

Add condensed milk, 2 cups of powdered sugar, and peppermint extract to a large mixing bowl. Mix everything on medium speed using the paddle attachment until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add more powdered sugar, a half cup at a time, until the dough is pliable like firm modeling clay.

Note-  at this point, I kneaded the dough by hand for a couple minutes to get it extra nice and well mixed.

Roll 3/4″ balls of dough between the palms of the hands (I used a small cookie scoop for this step with less than a tablespoon of dough- the smaller patties look neater and are better portions I think). Press each ball down slowly and set the flattened disk on a flat cutting board or plate. Transfer peppermint disks to the freezer for no longer than 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, temper the chocolate coating.

Place chocolate chips in a microwavable bowl. Melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, making sure to stir after each time until chocolate is smooth. Stir in shortening to thin the chocolate. Remove patties from the freezer.

Place a patty on the tongs of the fork and dip in the chocolate until completely covered. Allow excess chocolate to drip off the patty before setting each one on top of wax or parchment paper. Allow the chocolate coated peppermint patties to completely set up. This can be done quicker by placing the patties in the refrigerator. The peppermint patties are ready when they are dry to the touch. Enjoy!

Note- I melted some candy melts and drizzled them over the top for the finishing touch. After they set, package them up in cellophane bags, tie with a ribbon, and enjoy your easy, delicious, homemade treat!

TWD- Chocolate and Peppermint Marbled Loaf Cake

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie treat was a real winner at our house. I used a smaller loaf pan so I made a mini loaf as well and left one with my parents and took the other home. By the time I had it cut and took a couple of pictures, my kids had each swiped a piece or two. It never made it from cutting board to plate but everyone loved it. After naps, my little man walked out and asked for a piece of "chocolate bread" and was very upset to hear we'd given the last piece away. That was my biggest problem with this recipe- it was eaten far too fast and was deceptively guiltless (hence the "chocolate bread" nickname). There's way too much butter to count this as decent breakfast fare but I'll admit it was a lovely breakfast. We loved the peppermint version (made by dividing the batter and adding melted white chocolate to one portion and melted chocolate and peppermint extract to the other). Dorie suggests several wonderful variations and I can't wait to try a raspberry key lime cake next time. See the recipe here and try the batter (it might have been even better than the amazing cake!)

By the Book Friday- Sheet Cakes

I kind of hate sheet cake. Not really, I mean, it's easy to make, transport, and serve- but there's no way to try a bit just to make sure things are okay before you send them off! Or to snitch a bit of the tempting mint brownies! I've been hoping to get some great new recipe tried this week for today's post but when it came down to it, I needed to make dessert for 80 guys tonight I didn't really want to make something new and fancy when I needed quantity and dependability, so I stuck with trusty old favorites. They don't technically meet my own 'by the book Friday' parameters but if there was an Anne Strawberry Cookbook (At Home with Anne Strawberry? See Anne Strawberry Burn through a Ton of Butter and Flour? All the Stuff Anne Strawberry Tries to Fatten Her Friends and Family with?) these would each be in there. Well, minus the Rice Krispie treats. Those are just not my style but my tall man will jump through hoops for them so I included a batch. I bet they will get eaten quickly even if I don't like them! And the chocolate, well, I couldn't decide between the mint brownies and the Texas sheet cake as I mentally tried a piece. Fortunately for me, I thought the sheet cake looked a little full before I baked it (ahem, that's a lie) so I reserved a tiny bit of batter for two mini cakes for the ladies tonight. They look so great in their tiny little pans, covered with pretty chocolate icing and pecans. Yum. I hope the men appreciate the chocolate (do they really?)

I read this poem today on Clover Lane and had to share. It's very sweet and I think I need to print it up for my house. Loving BMWs, pretty furniture, and expensive chocolate is easy enough. I need to focus on finding the beautiful in the everyday (even Rice Krispie treats?)

Learn to like what doesn't cost much.
Learn to like reading, conversation, music.
Learn to like plain food, plain service, plain cooking.
Learn to like fields, trees, brooks, hiking, rowing, climbing hills.
Learn to like people,
even though some of them may be different...
different from you.
Learn to like to work and enjoy the satisfaction of doing your job as well as it can be done.
Learn to like the songs of birds, the companionship of dogs.
Learn to like gardening, puttering around
the house and fixing things.
Learn to like the sunrise and sunset, the beating of the rain
on the roof and windows,
and the gentle fall of snow on a winter's day.
Learn to keep your wants simple and
refuse to be controlled by the likes and dislikes of others.
Lowell Bennion

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to enjoy some girl time with Baby Strawberry. We're going to try painting her toe nails again (and hopefully we'll have better results this time!) And cross your fingers that all my well loved, carefully labeled (if not shined) sheet pans and lids make it home. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little nervous...

Top to bottom:
Mint Brownies (aka BYU Brownies)
Lemon Cake (this time I used a lemon cream cheese icing instead of the citrus glaze since I was out of juice)
Texas Sheet Cake
Rice Krispie Treats (from the box, plus some sprinkles to jazz them up!)

St. Patrick's Mint Brownies

{printable recipe here}
My favorite frozen yogurt place has St. Patrick's Mint yogurt once a year. It's minty and delicious and tastes as great as 31 Flavors Mint Chocolate Chip, almost. The rest of the time, I remember it and order the peanut butter instead. These classic mint brownies, now dubbed St. Patrick's Mint Brownies in the froyo's honor, blow the delicious, hard to find frozen yogurt out of the water. I start with my favorite brownie mix (or recipe, whatever, but I usually use Betty Crocker Supreme, the kind with the extra chocolate chunks). While they bake, make a simple frosting with mint extract and green food coloring to your liking. Spread melted chocolate and butter on top, chill, and serve. They taste even better cold (is that possible?) Or warm? Either way, I think they are perfect for any holiday. I haven't made a fresh batch yet for tomorrow (Baby Strawberry has a double ear infection so survival is pretty much all that's cooking here!)

A quick note- these would taste amazing right out of the pan, but they look prettiest if you lift the whole thing out, slice the edges, and cut into pieces. I use my big chef's knife. If the brownies are nice and cold and the knife is a little wet they'll turn out a lot prettier than mine did (but we all know patience isn't my forte!)

There's a lot more mint deliciousness around here if you need more ideas for St. Patrick's Day:

Thin Mint Mini Cheesecake

Mint Chocolate Chippers (like at Paradise Bakery)

Mint Filled Vanilla Sandwich Cookies

Mint Oreo Cheesecake Brownies with Mint Ganache

 
St Patrick's Mint Brownies (aka BYU Brownies)
{printable recipe here}
from Anne Strawberry
adapted from Linda Buchanan

One 9 x 13 pan of Brownies, cooked and cooled (I like to line the pan with foil or parchment before I grease it, then I can lift them right out after they cool. Peel off the foil for a nice, neat sheet of chocolate deliciousness).

Mint Frosting:
1/2 Cup Softened Butter
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk
1 Teaspoon Pure Peppermint Extract
Green Food Coloring

Cream butter with 1/2 the powdered sugar until well incorporated. Add the remaining sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached (it should be light and nice and spread-able). Add extract and coloring to taste. Spread over cooled brownies and refrigerate.

Chocolate Topping:
1 Cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
6 Tablespoons Butter

Make a double boiler by setting a heat proof bowl over an inch or so of simmering water. Slowly melt the butter and chocolate, making sure to remove from heat just before the chocolate is completely melted. Stir until smooth and pour over cooled, frosted brownies. Place in freeze until firm and cut into small pieces.

Thin Mint Cheesecake

{printable recipe here}
Some things, you just know they're going to be delicious. My mom and I always laugh at my beloved Barefoot Contessa when she says, "Butter, chocolate, sugar, how bad can that be?" but we really tend to say the same thing. When I pulled out the cream cheese, thin mints, butter, and sugar, I knew this recipe would end well. Crush up the cookies, add a little butter, press it into the pan. Blend the softened cream cheese for a minute or two in the mixer. Pour it in and you're good to go. 

I originally adapted this recipe from Picky Palate. Jenny is so creative and never ceases to amaze me with the things she comes up with. Thin mint cheesecake is brilliant and delicious. I've lightened up the original recipe a little bit with plain yogurt instead of sour cream (I used Stonyfield) and upped the flavor with some vanilla. I also took out a little bit of the butter from the crust. To further lighten up, you can replace the cream in the ganache with "cashew cream", a blend of raw cashews (I get mine at Trader Joe's) and cold water. A few whirls in the blender and you have cashew cream that can subbed in for the regular, heavy cream in the ganache to top the cheesecake (and tastes the same!) Whether you make this cheesecake full size, in a tart pan, in a pie pan, in muffin tins- whatever- how bad can that be? You know it's going to be great!


This recipe yields 24 mini muffin size mini cheesecakes or 12 muffin size cheesecakes. I doubled the recipe and ended up with 16 muffin size cheesecakes and two 4" cheesecakes using my mini springforms. The whole thing start to finish was about an hour (including baking). This is the kind of dessert that makes a huge impact for minimal effort. Besides the thin mints (or mint oreos if the girl scouts aren't around), the rest of the ingredients are "staples"- at my house anyways. Cream cheese, sugar, eggs, cream/sour cream/or yogurt, and butter. Easy. Now go get some cream cheese out to soften and track down a girl scout, you're going to want this...



Anne Strawberry's Thin Mint Mini Cheesecakes
{printable recipe here}
1 sleeve Thin Mint Cookies, ground in food processor or blender (or Mint Oreos)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
8 oz softened cream cheese (Neufchatel reduced fat works great)
1/2 Cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons Fat Free Yogurt (or Sour Cream, Buttermilk, or Heavy Cream- I like the yogurt for more tang, but if you like it sweet and smoother go with the cream)
5 Thin mint cookies coarsely crumbled

Ganache Topping
1/4 Cup Chocolate, chopped
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
6 Thin mint cookies, crumbled (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine ground cookies and butter in a medium bowl. Drop about 1 Tablespoon of cookie mixture into 24 mini cupcake tins prepared with liners. Press crust into cups with back of a spoon.

In an electric or stand mixer cream the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add egg, yogurt, and vanilla until well combined as well. Fold in crumbled cookies. Pour cheesecake mixture into cupcake tins filled almost to the very top. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until cooked through. Carefully remove cups from tin and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Bring cream to a simmer and pour over chocolate. Set aside for one minute then stir until smooth and shiny. Spoon over each cheesecake cup and sprinkle with additional crumbled cookies.

Cashew Cream Ganache
(adapted from Enlightened Cooking)
1/3 cup raw cashews
1/3 cup cold water
7 ounces good-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Place the nuts and cold water in a blender and blend at high speed for 2 minutes. Stop the blender and scrape down the sides. Blend at least 1-2 minutes longer until the mixture is smooth (mixture will be very thick; add 1-2 additional tablespoons water, if needed, to blend until smooth).

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a metal or glass bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and cool slightly. Stir in cashew cream, vanilla and salt until well-blended. Top torte with your "healthy" ganache, and enjoy! 

Mint Chocolate Ganache Fudge Ripple Ice Cream

I'm aware the title of this recipe is overly long, but what are you going to do? When I saw the simple and delicious chocolate ganache recipe for this week's Tuesday with Dorie treat, I knew it would be a great recipe to experiment with. I had a chocolate mint Lindt bar in my chocolate stash that provided all the inspiration I needed. I also had a lovely jar of homemade hot fudge sauce in my fridge from a banana split party and figured a little more chocolate and cream couldn't hurt, so I swirled it in after it finished churning. And since I can't leave well enough alone, I also added some chopped mint chips.


The final product? Delicious. And I don't even like chocolate ice cream. But like my tall man said (as he stared longingly at the final, toxic-for-him-chocolate-laden goodness) it's not nasty fake chocolate flavored ice cream. It's cream and chocolate, lovingly combined into frozen deliciousness. Yum.

Grab the recipe from Katrina. She's amazing with ice cream and I bet she even found a way to lighten up this cream laden treat!


Easy Hot Fudge Sauce
from Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

*Note- this yields a little over two cups of sauce- I will halve the recipe next time

6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
6 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used milk and semisweet chocolate chips- it's almost a whole bag put together)
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup

Place both chocolates in a heatproof bowl and set aside. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium, stir in corn syrup, and remove from heat. Pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth, starting in the center and moving out. Cool, cover tightly, and keep refrigerated.

Reheat the sauce in the microwave by cooking in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until desired temperature is reached.

TWD- York Peppermint Brownies

I love brownies. If I were Will Ferrel's Elf I would have brownies as a food group like his "Candy, candy corn, candy canes, and syrup"- "Cookies, Cheesecake, Brownies, Lasagna (oh and Strawberrries of course!)"  Alas, my life/diet is not made up only of brownies and cookies but you might think so from my blog! These brownies were great to add to my reportoire. Quick, delicious, almost even refreshing with the York Peppermint patties. They were also pretty flexible. I was out of baker's chocolate so I subbed in cocoa powder, a little extra milk chocolate (mixing everything up), and it all turned out. Thanks Dorie- you're brilliant.

Get the recipe from Karen and make these stat. It'll ease the heat of the summer, I promise. And let me know what your favorite food groups would be. Hopefully I'm not the only one with dessert issues.

PS Did you know tomorrow is French Independence Day? Come back tomorrow for our Bastille Day menu. Oh, and bring some butter. I'm making Dorie and Ina's recipes so you'll need it!

Chocolate Mint Chippers

{printable recipe here}
I've been craving chocolate lately. On Sunday, at Church, all the women had cake and talked for the last few minutes while the men and the youth took care of every thing else, namely the kids. I was dying for a piece of chocolate cake. It was calling to me (you know that feeling right? I don't even like cake that much, either. I think it was all that chocolate frosting). Then I remembered my pastry cream sitting the fridge. Pastry cream is, to me at least, better than pretty much any other food. Sure, cheesecake or really great brownies trump that, but not by much. So I abstained. I got a piece of white cake instead and gave it my tall man (since he can't have the chocolate and I couldn't justify cake and tart both!) Well, abstinence makes the heart grow fonder or something. I've been pining for chocolate all week. Add mint and I think I'll take these over pastry cream (today at least!)

About the mint chips- I love the Guittard brand. I first tried them in Utah- super cheap at Ream's (like everything else there). Now I find the mint chips, in the pretty green bag, at my Safeway, most of the time, particularly around the holidays. You can also order them. It's totally worth it, these things are so delicious and versatile. You could also chop up York peppermint patties or Junior Mints. Same idea but more mess (though still, crazy delicious!) I'm told some people don't like mint and chocolate, in which case I'd recommend peanut butter chips. Mint holds my heart though.

If you're still in the mood for something minty...
Mint Brownies (like BYU's)
Vanilla Sandwich Cookies with Mint Filling
Mint Mini Cheesecakes
Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
Mint Oreo Cheesecake Brownies with Mint Ganache

Mint Chocolate Chippers
from AnneStrawberry (but really, like Paradise Bakery's. Yum)
{printable recipe here}

1 3/4 cups Flour (Be sure to level off- you don't want too much)
1 1/4 cups Cocoa powder (I use 3/4 cup of the regular Hershey's and 1/4 of Hershey's Special Dark)
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Butter, softened
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup white chocolate chips (I prefer Ghiradelli but let's be honest, I use Nestle or Hershey's more often!)
1 cup Guittard Mint chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheets (Grease or line with Silpat or parchment paper).

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set dry ingredients aside.

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes in the KitchenAid). Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addiction. Add vanilla and mix once to combine.

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the dry mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in white chocolate chips. Scoop onto the prepared cookie sheet and squish slightly if flatter cookies are desired.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until fluffy but still soft. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with milk and store in an airtight container or in the freezer (if your house is anything like mine, they'll be gone long before they go bad!)

St Patrick's Mint Brownies

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! My dad's grandmother came over from Ireland and even though he doesn't care in the least bit, we like to celebrate with corned beef, cabbage, and carrots. It's yummy once a year (haha) but I think we should add these brownies on to the tradition. I made them for the adults so I kept the green pretty low key but for next St. Patty's I'm going all out kelly green. You could change the extract and coloring, though, for a different dessert- almond, orange, or anything like that would be yummy. Though I must admit I'm super partial to the mint!

I've been on a serious brownie kick lately. I love that you can top them, swirl something in, and vary your mixins to make a totally different end product. They freeze nicely, are easy to serve, and please everyone (minus my tall man who can't have chocolate!) These brownies look pretty impressive but are actually pretty simple. Line your pan with foil (both ways) so you can lift them out after they cool. Spread on your mint frosting (this would be a good use of leftovers- I know I usually have some after I make cupcakes), let it set, and spread on your chocolate. Not a lot of hands on time but really these brownies pack a lot of deliciousness. Cut them with a hot knife and clean it in between strokes to get prettier brownies than me! I like to cut them into one and a half inch pieces and put thm into cupcake wrappers. Set them on a nice platter and people go crazy. Yum.

St Patrick's Mint Brownies
from Anne Strawberry
adapted from Linda Buchanan

One 9 x 13 pan of Brownies, cooked and cooled (I like to line the pan with foil before I grease it, then I can lift them right out after they cool. Peel off the foil for a nice, neat sheet of chocolate deliciousness).

Mint Frosting:
1/2 Cup Softened Butter
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk
1 Teaspoon Pure Peppermint Extract
Green Food Coloring

Cream butter with 1/2 the powdered sugar until well incorporated. Add the remaining sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached (it should be light and nice and spread-able). Add extract and coloring to taste. Spread over cooled brownies and refrigerate.

Chocolate Topping:
1 Cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
6 Tablespoons Butter

Make a double boiler but setting a heat proof bowl over an inch or so of simmering water. Slowly melt the butter and chocolate, making sure to remove from heat just before the chocolate is completely melted. Stir until smooth and pour over cooled, frosted brownies. Place in freeze until firm and cut into small pieces.

Vanilla Sandwich Cookies with Mint Filling

{printable recipe here}
Wow it's been a fast week! I didn't get to posting Dorie's chocolate chip cookies but they were a big, delicious mess. I know you all think everything I make is perfectly delicious, served up on time, right? Haha! Really though we've been busy working on the house. My baby strawberry turned five months this week, which is crazy fast, and her nursery is almost done. We found an awesome old bedroom set, that was very ugly but had lots of potential, and are painting it now. My mom finished her gorgeous bedding and I'm super excited to finish it up. I've finally hung some curtains in our bedroom and worked on getting pictures on our bare walls.

It's also been beautiful outside (60s and 70s, sunny but not at all hot) and so we've been making the most of our limited spring time here in sunny AZ. In honor of the beautiful weather I have one of my favorite cookies in a spring version- a soft, chewy vanilla cookie sandwiches a mint ganache made with my favorite (and shockingly green) mint chips from Guittard. I found them online here but don't know anything about that retailer. I know I can find them at Safeway here (especially around the holidays) and at Ream's and Macys in Utah. They're crazy delicious and worth hunting down if you love mint like I do. You could also sub in chocolate or make Martha's original raspberry version which is also delicious.You really can't go wrong with these cookies- I've even made a blueberry filling before. Let me know if you try any fun flavors. For the record I used butterscotch chips once and everyone said they were too sweet, but I know some people say there's no such thing!

I'm also happy to announce that Melody won the Safeway card from last week's giveaway. Get me your address and I'll have it sent right out!


 
Vanilla Sandwich Cookies with Mint Filling
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies, page 93


{printable recipe here}

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups plus 2 teaspoons sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved (optional)
1 cup Guittard Mint Chips (or white chocolate and a few drops of peppermint extract)
1/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mix butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add egg, extract, and vanilla seeds; mix until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture.

Scoop batter using a 1-inch ice cream scoop; space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake cookies 4 minutes. Remove from oven; gently tap baking sheets on counter to flatten cookies. Return to oven, switching positions of sheets; bake until cookies are just set, 4 to 6 minutes more. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.

Melt mint chips in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat; whisk in cream in a slow stream. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Spread 1 tab cream on the undersides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies. Cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container up to 2 days (no way will they last that long, though!)

Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Mini-Cheesecakes

We're totally cake-less this week, although I'm sure my Tuesdays with Dorie friends have baked up some amazing treats this week. For excuses I'll just say strep throat and 103 fever kept me away from the oven. However, these little Girl Scout Cookie treats are quick and delicious. I've been saving these photos to post for a while and with those little girls outside the supermarket testing the most devout among the new years resolutioners, it's time.

I literally had to fight my brother in laws off with a spatula to keep them from devouring these before the girls had a chance. You'll love them. And forgive me for skipping this week's cake- I'll be back soon, I promise! With good news too!

PS I didn't hear back on my last address so I have a new third winner for the giveaway... email me your address asap and I'll get all of those sent out! :)

1freshstart said...
Ha! We make protein shakes every morning... frozen strawberries,1% milk and soy protein, couldn't do it without our blender!
Oatmeal can be pretty scary- just don't buy the microwave packets... TOTALLY different texture. If you get the traditional cook stuff - it's kinda nutty and good.
~Cat
February 17, 2009 9:05 AM

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie Cheesecake Cups
adapted from Picky Palate
1 sleeve Thin Mint Cookies, ground in food processor or blender (or Mint Oreos)
3 Tablespoons melted butter
8 oz softened cream cheese (Neufchatel reduced fat works great)
1/2 Cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons Sour Cream or Butter Milk
5 Thin mint cookies coarsely crumbled

1/4 Cup Chocolate, chopped
3 Tablespoons heavy cream
6 Thin mint cookies, crumbled (for top of cups)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine ground cookies and butter in a medium bowl. Drop about 1 Tablespoon of cookie mixture into 24 mini cupcake tins prepared with liners. Press crust into cups with back of a spoon.

In an electric or stand mixer cream the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add egg and sour cream until well combined as well. Stir in crumbled cookies. Pour cheesecake mixture into cupcake tins filled almost to the very top. Bake for 25-28 minutes or until cooked through. Remove and cool for 15 minutes. Melt chocolate in microwave on very low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Stir in heavy cream until smooth and shiny. Spoon over each cheesecake cup and sprinkle with additional crumbled cookies.

TWD- Tall and Creamy (Peppermint Bark) Cheesecake

It's finally my turn to choose this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe and I was shocked how hard it was to decide! First, I felt I could not choose a chocolate recipe for the sake of my husband, which narrowed down the field. Then, I wanted something wonderful and worthy of the holidays.

When I flipped the page to the Tall and Creamy Cheesecake I knew I'd found my selection. Dorie posted about this cheesecake back in April and I've been pining over it ever since. Highly customizable, this cheesecake is flavorful, beautiful, and not too heavy. I'm dying to see everyone's variations and will post my own (Peppermint Bark) below Dorie's recipe. Inspired by a recent visit to The Cheesecake Factory, I divided the batter into thirds and flavored one-third with white chocolate and the other two-thirds with peppermint extract. I swirled in Andes Mint peppermint chips after marbling the two batters together. I also added a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to the crust for color (haha). I figured my husband could eat around that!

Cute baby Marcus was the star of the show on Saturday but didn't get to try any! I served this cheesecake at a baby shower for my old friend Alyson and it was delicious (though it would have been better blue than pink!) My favorite thing about it is the great flavor without the heavy heavy texture. While prepping for the party, I realized that I'd left my camera at home. Pardon the purse camera pictures, but thanks to my mom for letting me borrow her cute little point and shoot (which happens to be the same color as the cheesecake!)

We moved into our house on Christmas Eve (like crazy people) and are without internet. More importantly, we are without kitchen! The cabinets missed the train by one day and with the holidays that meant an extra two weeks. My husband was too anxious to finally live in his Christmas present, the biggest of his life, so we are sans internet, sans kitchen, and even sans kitchen sink! Thankfully our parents are close by so I'll be stealing computer and oven time around there until we are all set up. Have a happy new year and I'll be back with York Peppermint Patty Chocolate cookies (you can see them peaking in from one of the corners of the demolished cheesecake picture).

I've taken the recipe from Serious Eats where you can hear more about it.

Tall and Creamy Cheesecake: A Basic
makes 16 servings

From Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients
For the crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two

Procedure
To make the crust:

Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.

Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake:
Put a kettle of water on to boil.

Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.

Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.

Serving:
Remove the sides of the springform pan— I use a hairdryer to do this (use the dryer to warm the sides of the pan and ever so slightly melt the edges of the cake)—and set the cake, still on the pan's base, on a serving platter. The easiest way to cut cheesecake is to use a long, thin knife that has been run under hot water and lightly wiped. Keep warming the knife as you cut slices of the cake.

Storing:
Wrapped well, the cake will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or for up to 2 months in the freezer. It's best to defrost the still-wrapped cheesecake overnight in the refrigerator.

Peppermint Bark Cheesecake
from Anne Strawberry

3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
5 drops red food coloring
3 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled
1/4 cup Andes Peppermint chips
4 ounces Peppermint Bark, broken into large pieces

Prepare crust as directed and stir in cocoa powder. Bake as directed.

Prepare cheesecake batter as above and divide into thirds. Into one third, stir in white chocolate. Set aside.

In other two thirds, stir in peppermint extract (to taste) and add food coloring to achieve desired color.

Pour in pink batter, spoon over white batter, sprinkle with peppermint chips, and swirl together to form a marble pattern.

Bake and cool as directed and top with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and peppermint bark. Enjoy!

Oreo Cheesecake Brownies with Mint Ganache

I really struggled to find a decent title for this recipe and I think I failed. Hopefully, though, the description drew you in enough to decide to make them! This past week I went as a leader to girl's camp with the teenagers in my Church. I was their cabin mom for the week and wanted to bring them something really special to welcome them to camp. Plus, I used to teach them every week and spoiled them rotten bringing treats all the time, so I really needed something great! I was reading Picky Palate and found just the thing. I made a few modifications and instead of going with peanut butter, I saw some mini-York Peppermint Patties that had melted (on my counter, I'm not kidding you... dang Arizona!) and that I had tossed into the fridge to be reincarnated into something delicious. When I saw this recipe I knew they were just the thing. The photos don't do justice to these brownies that I'm going to say are probably the best I've ever made (and as you can guess, I've made many batches of brownies!)

I've recently made Dorie's French Brownies a couple of times, the Brownie Buttons (which I loved so much I left Dorie a ridiculously mushy comment on her blog about!), and the Quintuple Chocolate Brownies. Honestly, I think whatever brownie base you use is fine, since some like it cakey and some like it fudgey. You can even use a box mix (but buy a good one!) if you are trying to pack, take care of the baby and husband, make dinner, and get to bed before 2 in the morning the night before camp. Whatever works for you.

Either way, go the extra mile with the Oreos, cream cheese (or Neufchatel in my case), and ganache, and you won't regret. You'll want to go the extra mile on the treadmill, too, but I think it's worth it. And don't forget to stop by Picky Palate. Jenny is so creative and nice- you'll be glad you did!


Oreo Cheesecake Brownies with Mint Ganache
adapted from Picky Palate

10 Oreos (Plus 14 for garnish, if desired)
5 Tablespoons softened Cream Cheese (or Neufchatel)
1 9 x 13 Pan of prepared brownies, unbaked
1/3 Cup SemiSweet Chocolate Chips
3 York Mini York Peppermint Patties (1 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter would work too)
3 Tablespoons Heavy Cream or Half and Half

Preheat the oven to 350.

Prepare your favorite brownie (mix, homemade, I won't judge!) and pour into a foil lined and greased 9 x 13 pan.

Lightly crush 10 Oreos (you'll want to keep some chunks so it's not perfectly smooth) and fold in the softened cream cheese until just combined. Spoon over top of the brownies and lightly marble the upper layer of the batter.

Bake for 30-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove pan from oven and let cool for about ten minutes. Then, gently lift the edges of the foil to remove the brownies from the pan. Set on cooling rack for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare ganache by melting chocolate and mint (or peanut butter, whatever you prefer) on low power in the microwave, working on 30 second intervals. A double boiler works even better but is a little slower and messier, so take your pick. When chocolate is smooth but not too hot (you don't want to burn it, so lean toward the cooler side) slowly pour in the cream and stir until shiny and smooth. Pour ganache over the brownies and smooth to the edges. Top with evenly spaced Oreos to garnish and cut after ganache has set.

Serve with milk and enjoy within two days, or put them into the freezer for instant gratification later!