15 February 2009

More Blog Inspiration... Peppermint Patties & Brownies

As anyone who reads my blog already knows, my sister has a lovely food blog called The Spiced Life. She has done a much better job keeping up with blogging and a chaotic life (2 moves, building a house, 2 toddlers - I would not only forget about my blog, I might run away to Mexico!) than me. I continually rely on her blog for inspiration and entertainment. She recently posted a recipe for some gooey Peppermint Patty Brownies. They looked really tasty to me, and her post planted a seed of an idea in my head.

I had a dinner party planned at my house for a few of my girlfriends for Valentine's Day. It was a strictly girls-only affair, and I really wanted to do something special to show my friends how much I appreciate them. Early Saturday, the seed Laura's blog planted in my head began to grow - I had some cute Valentine-themed packaging that I could tuck peppermint brownies in to send home with my guests. The little heart embellished buckets made the perfect container for a small bag of brownies and Kisses. I finished each bucket off with a handmade Valentine's Day card that doubled as a place card. I felt very creative and was certain Aunt Sandy would approve of my table-scaping efforts.

I ended up using the recipe provided by Hershey's on the back of the Mini York Peppermint Patty Baking Pieces package. I was busy making my Valentine's Day cards/place markers and forgot to keep a close eye on my brownies so they might have been a tiny bit over-cooked. However, I think I left them in the oven a solid 10 extra minutes, so the recipe is pretty forgiving. The finished brownie is chewy and slightly crumbly. This is not an ooey gooey fudge brownie, and I think they would have held up quite well to a cookie cutter. I desperately wished I had a heart shaped cookie cutter like Lori over at The Recipe Girl so I could make cute heart shaped brownies for my gift buckets, but the squares taste pretty darn good anyway.


Perfectly Peppermint Brownies from Hershey's


  • 3/4 cup Hershey'S Cocoa



  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda



  • 2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted and divided



  • 1/2 cup boiling water



  • 2 cups sugar



  • 2 eggs



  • 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour



  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract



  • 1/4 teaspoon salt



  • 1-1/3 cups (8-oz. pkg.) YORK Mini Peppermint Patties
    Directions:
    1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
    2. Stir together cocoa and baking soda in large bowl; stir in 1/3 cup butter. Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup butter; stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt; blend completely. Stir in peppermint patties. Spread in prepared pan.
    3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 brownies.
    Note: 16 to 17 small (1-1/2 inch) YORK Peppermint Patties, unwrapped and coarsely chopped, may be substituted for the mini peppermint patties.


  • 1 comment:

    Laura said...

    I'm jealous of how yours came out--although the sad truth for my waist is that my gooey version really grew on me. but I wanted to try them with pockets of mint darnit!

    PS Your table settings look so cute!