It's Official

These are officially my favorite brownie. They were so good the first time, and as it turns out, they are extremely versatile. I have many, many plans for these brownies. Tonight's variation was a direct result of an unexpected find in the grocery store. When looking at the chocolate chip selection, I found a bag of Ande's Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips. They looked like they'd be pretty and they looked promising. I went back and forth on whether or not to buy them, but eventually, they made their way into my cart (as did a package of Hershey's chocolate-mint chips). That same day I saw this post at Culinary in the Country, and I'd already been planning a brownie for these bits, but gosh his cookies look great! Cookies or brownies. Cookies or brownies. Today the brownies won.

I made the brownies as written, omitting the nuts and malted milk balls (but still using the malt powder). Instead I added a healthy cup of the peppermint bits. After baking I let the brownies cool completely before giving them a bit of class. I started with a very basic vanilla buttercream that I tinted pink. I spread this thinly over the brownies. Next, I melted 1 cup of chocolate-mint chips and four tablespoons of butter together. When this cooled to room temp, I spread this over the frosting layer. And finally, a sprinkling of the peppermint bits gives these brownies a festive look, as well as giving a hint to the inner flavors. The brownies are fantastic. I would like a little more mint flavor myself, so I might add a drop of peppermint extract to the brownie batter next time, but overall, these are a 5 star brownie. Andy doesn't think the frosting layer is necessary, and it probably isn't but it sure looks impressive with the layering going on. Up next I have a treatment for this brownie batter that involves pecans, Fluff, and caramel. Now I just need to find a neighbor willing to eat my brownie creations for me...

Other than that, today and tomorrow is a Teacher Convention, so Abigail is home from school. I miss my princess when she's at school, so we're certainly trying to make the most of a few bonus days together. Today we spent time visiting Grandma before raking the neighbor's leaves into our yard for some leaf pile playing. Tomorrow, Abigail and I are spending some much needed Mommy-daughter time as we go shopping and out to lunch. The boys will be home pretending to be men together, and most likely attacking those leaves some more. I will leave you tonight with a picture of some of the leaf play.