mini's marvelous minty morsels

mini's minty morsels

i love brownies and it may be 'cause i was born in bangor, maine where supposedly the delicious chocolate treat was invented accidently.

my mom told me that a bangor housewife named betina brown baked a chocolate cake for her husband benjamin brown's brother bob's birthday. seems betina botched up somethin' while bakin' and her plans for a beautiful birthday bundt failed. instead she had something much denser 'n flatter than a cake but taller 'n less cripsy than a cookie.

since benjamin would be bringin' the birthday boy, his brother bob, to their abode before she ould bake another bundt, betina decided to go on and ice the flat cake, cut it into squares 'n serve 'em up on a platter with a big candle pokin' out from the one on top.

betina's accident was a huge success with bob 'n bejamin 'n from that point on betina's 'brownie' was what all members o' the brown family requested for their birthday treat. in no time the betina's brownie started appearin' at everything from birthdays to barmitvahs across the country and quickly became a traditional american desired dessert.

though i am not sure who invented them, i also love junior mints ....mostly eaten in the dark o' a movie theatre but mini's daddy always jams a couple o' boxes in my christmas stockin' so i like eatin' 'em surrounded by ripped up wrappin' paper piles too.

always aimin' to bribe me with her bakin' talents n' aware of my love of chocolate brownies 'n junior mints, mini started bakin' me what she called junior mint brownies not long after her bakin' carreer began. she'd stir up a box o' her favorite brownie mix in two pans and once right outta the oven, she'd dumb boxes o' junior mints on top o' one and then place the layer from the other pan on top, wait just a few minutes for a lil meltin' to take place and then put the whole shabang in the fridge. the result was so delicious she was banned from bakin' them too often.

over the years she has perfected her minty brownie recipe and it is too good not to share with you. it's perfect for all celebrations as the minty layer can be made any color with a bit o' food colorin'.

for the brownies:
use your favorite brownie recipe or even bake up a batch from a box. the ones i like best are dense and fudgy. mini uses her cream cheese brownie recipe most often and you can find oodles o' those online. mini lines her brownie pans with foil - one piece arcoss the bottom n' up the sides one way n' another piece the other way. she then pops 'em in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides n' the edges just begin to brown. if you poke a toothpick in the center it will come out just about clean. when all that happens, she takes 'em outta the oven n' puts the pan on a wire rack to cool. they will stay in the pan until they are ready to cut n' serve.

once you've baked the batch o' brownies, it's time to concoct the marvelous minty layer:
you're gonna need....
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup of confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure peppermint extract or 1-2 tablespoons creme de menthe
your choice o' food colorin'

dump everything but the food colorin' of your choice into a bowl....with an electric mixer , beat all the ingredients until smooth. NOW a few drops of food coloring n' swirl around 'til you are happy with the result. if the frosting is too thick, add a little extra cream - it needs to be just thick but thin enough to spread...now spread it evenly over your COOLED brownie layer and put in the refrigerator until firm...this should take about 10 minutes...just enough time for you to make the glaze!

the chocolate glaze:
for the glorious glaze you'll need...
4 oz Semisweet Chocolate
1/4 cup Heavy Cream

this time you'll need a heatproof bowl...dump your chopped chocolate 'n butter in it and melt 'em over pan of simmerin' water n' the whisk until creamy smooth...then spread it over the minty layered brownies and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

and finally...they are ready to serve!
to remove the brownies from the pan, just lift ends of the foil and transfer the whole shabang to a cutting board. cut into lil squares with your sharpest knife, wipin' the blade with a damp cloth between cuts. if you don't eat them all within the hour, you can store them in the fridge or even freeze 'em. but be aware that freezin' 'em won't keep you from eatin' 'em...i have tried that thinkin' it would make it harder for me to gobble them down...but they are just as easy to eat frozen!

if you bake up a batch o' these delicious desserts, please take a picture n' send it to me along with how long it took for them to disappear! and if you are new to my blog n' like chocolate chip cookies, please give mini's recipe a try....you can find it here!