Peppermint Patty Brownies

Happy New Year...about a month late!  How is it that I've gone a month without writing a blog post? I have no idea.  There's actually lots I could have told you about: a batch of sarsparilla soda, a cooking class in Guatemala, and little recipes here and there. I'll save all of that for later, however.

Today I'm going to tell you about making another concoction from Dorie Greenspan's fabulous book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. She calls them "Brrrrrownies," which is an apt name for brownies made with lots of peppermint patties (she uses commercially miniaturized 'patty bits'; I just chopped up some full-sized candy).

First, however, a bit of background. Peppermint patties have long been a favorite candy of mine. I discovered at Camp Michigania many years ago that they are delicious as frozen treats, and have enjoyed them ever since. (We'll skip the fact that I discovered this at about the same age my peers were, ahem, discovering what we'll just say were somewhat less sanctioned pursuits.) For a while I even kept a Costco-sized container of them in the freezer for periodic snacking. They're tasty!

With that background, I was pretty excited to see Dorie's recipe for these brownies. It's a dark, fudgy fairly typical brownie recipe, with a cup of chopped peppermint patties thrown in. The result, as you can see in the photo, is a brownie that is both rich and refreshing. And in which the cream (ok, creme) from the patties expanded almost like marshmallows. Chilling them in the fridge really brings out the peppermint, which is pretty delicious.

I'm thinking it'd be fun to get some peppermint oil and try to make my own peppermint cream next time. Or even mix peppermint oil with some sort of pastry cream infused with fresh mint. If my mother is reading this, she likely believes I'm about to suggest making them with basil or cilantro cream. I'm not, don't worry. But pepper or sea salt might be interesting...