Peppermint Brownies

Yeah, Christmas is over and we should be posting a bunch of healthy undo-the-Christmas-feast recipes.  But we (Sumiko and family) still have one more Christmas to celebrate.  Both my and Kimiko’s family celebrated with our parents.  Today, we are celebrating with Robbie’s family.  We’re basically doing Christmas over again:  big breakfast, presents, big dinner, multiple desserts.  But this one will be easier as we’ll eat the leftovers from Sunday’s dinner (see them menu here).

There will be a few differences from the meal we ate with my family.  Breakfast casserole instead of our traditional cinnamon rolls, sautéed fresh green beans in place of green bean casserole, and mashed potatoes in lieu of couscous.  As for the desserts, we will still have pecan pie and ice cream, but will also have the choice of peppermint brownies!

If your family is like mine, you always end up with a bunch of candy canes after Christmas.  About Valentine’s Day, I get tired of seeing them in the pantry and throw them away.  This year I decided to put them to good use.  So far I’ve made a batch of peppermint brownies and want to try to make a peppermint hot chocolate mix with the rest.

The easiest way to break the candy canes is to
put them in a zip-top bag and hit them with
something.  You will get little holes in the bag
and some candy cane dust on the counter.

I basically used Kimiko’s dark chocolate brownie recipe and made a few alterations.  The biggest change is that I used all regular cocoa.  I do have dark cocoa in my pantry, thanks to my wonderful sister, but I’d rather save it for pure chocolate brownies.  I also changed the sugar/brown sugar ratio, making the final product a little chewier.

Peppermint Brownies

1½ c. flour

1 c. cocoa powder, sifted to remove lumps

1 tsp. salt

1 c. butter, melted

1½ c. sugar

1½ c. brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. peppermint extract

1 c. chocolate chips

5 candy canes, crushed (more or less to preference), divided

Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter 9”x13” pan; set aside.  Alternatively, line pan with foil and spray or rub with oil.  In small bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, and salt.

In large bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar.  Add 2 eggs; mix thoroughly.  Add remaining two eggs; mix thoroughly.  Stir in peppermint extract.  Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 additions.

Mix in chocolate chips and a little more than half of the crushed candy canes.

Looks good enough to eat as is!

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle remaining candy cane pieces over top.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted middle comes out clean (keep in mind a toothpick inserted in a chocolate chip will not come out clean).  Cool completely.

Perfect with Safeway Select peppermint ice cream!!