One thing I look forward to during the winter and holiday season is Peppermint Mocha coffee from Starbucks. Granted, I can get it all year long, but something about the cold weather makes it that much better. So naturally, anything combining chocolate and mint seems fitting for the holidays and that was our theme for this round of the recipe swap – Holiday Cooking/Baking – hosted by Sarah of A Taste of Home Cooking. I received Jey’s Blog, The Jey of Cooking, and when I scrolled through her holiday label and found these, I had to look no further.
Of course, the day I planned to make them I was out of brown sugar so it had to be put off until, well…the very last minute. Totally worth it, though, and still delicious and wintry in January! There’s mint in the brownies, mint in and on top of the frosting…how can you go wrong with that?!?! I almost didn’t want to take them to work to share, but J may have killed me if I’d kept them at the house and ::gasp:: eaten them.
A friend of his posted a pic on his Facebook yesterday that showed a groom kissing his bride on the cheek, she had a nice smile on her face and was looking off to the side and the caption above said, “Now I can get fat.” That is his worst nightmare, I’m afraid…lol. But hey, he’s a personal trainer so the likelihood that I’ll ever gain much weight is slim, right? I can hear him now, “Well, if you’d listen to me…” because, you know…I’m really a defiant 5-year-old inside and I don’t like being told what to do, even if it’s for my own good! Just ask my mom, she’ll vouch for that! Ha!
But in all honesty, I have to give the man props…he loves me and he tries really hard to keep me healthy, despite my occasional rolled eyes or whining that I want ice cream, and I have lost a good bit of weight since we’ve been together. I’ll always have that inner fat kid inside, who loves her candy, chocolate, and ice cream but the trick for me is that I don’t deny myself completely so I don’t want to binge. I have a little bit from time-to-time and it quells the cravings. Like these brownies for example…I cut off a little sliver to taste them, then boxed the rest up for work. Self-control y’all…that’s some serious self-control!
Peppermint Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar, packed
- 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1/4 Cup Buttermilk
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 2 tsp Peppermint Extract
- 2 egg whites
- 1 egg
- 8 oz Package Fat Free Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 tsp Peppermint Extract
- 1/3 cup crushed candy canes (about 3 full-size candy canes, 6 or 7 mini candy canes)
- Preheat oven to 350 and line an 8×8 pan with foil.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix.
- In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla and peppermint extract, and the eggs. Mix well then add to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry and without any crumbs. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and peppermint extract and mix at medium speed until creamy and fluffy. Spread the frosting over the brownies and sprinkle with the crushed candy canes before serving.
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I'll gladly take some of these if you don't want to keep them in the house! These look phenomenal, Jaida!
I can't wait to make these, they look incredible!