Mint Chocolate Cream Cookie Brownies

Mint and chocolate, a match made in heaven as was the case with these Mint Chocolate Cream Cookie Brownies I made recently. My rich chocolate cake recipe, baked as a brownie and flavoured with mint chocolate coffee and chopped mint chocolate cream cookies. There was only a few cookies left and it was either trying to share them out fairly or chop them up and use them in these brownies so there was more to go around. The brownies won on all counts.

I was sent these samples of Beanies flavoured coffee. My favourite was the Cinder Toffee. A really rich, cafe style instant coffee but the Mint Chocolate one, as well as being delicious to drink on it’s own, is perfect for flavouring a chocolate cake. Coffee naturally enhances the flavour of chocolate so this is a perfect blend.

This cake mix is my favourite chocolate “crazy” cake recipe that I use for all cakes like round cakes, cupcakes, loaves and brownies. If baked in a slice pan, they turn out like a rich, fudgey brownie. Start by mixing 2 tablespoons of Mint Chocolate coffee into 1 cup of hot water.

Like I said earlier, we had a few of these mint chocolate cream cookies left and there wasn’t going to be enough to go around. (I could’ve hidden them from the kids but they were onto me this time.) I thought by roughly chopping them and adding them to the brownies would add more richness and a nice crunch which it did. There was definitely more of everything to go around too so no arguments.

Mix up the dry ingredients and add the coffee liquid and other wet ingredients. 

The add the chopped mint cream cookies.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes and once cooled, top with chocolate ganache.

A rich fudgey brownie with the additional crunch of mint cream cookies. These were so good and so full of mint chocolate flavour. This recipe doesn’t contain any dairy or eggs (other than what’s in the ready made cookies) so it can be made in a hurry with basic pantry staples. A quick way to makeover a basic chocolate cake recipe by adding chopped leftover cookies (if that’s even such a thing). A piece of this brownie with a cup of Beanies Mint Chocolate flavoured coffee was the perfect combination.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 tablespoons mint chocolate flavoured coffee (or 1 tsp peppermint flavoured essence)
• chopped mint chocolate cream cookies (eg Arnotts “Mint Slice”)
• 1 cup boiling hot water
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 6 tablespoons of oil (I use vegetable or canola oil)
• 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dark chocolate and cream for ganache topping (optional)

1. Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarb soda and salt.
2. Add coffee (or peppermint essence) to cup of hot water.
3. Add white vinegar and add to dry ingredients.
4. Stir through chopped cookies.
5. Mix well.
6. Pour mixture into a 20x25cm slice pan lined with baking paper and bake in a 170 deg C oven for approximately 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
7. Allow to cool and top with chocolate ganache (equal quantities of dark chocolate and cream).

 

 

Disclaimer:  I was sent samples of Beanies flavoured instant coffee to try. All photos, thoughts and opinions are my own. This isn’t a sponsored post.

 

 

Banana Blondies

I don’t know how many times a recipe for Banana Blondies appeared in my Pinterest feed and how many times I said I was going to make them, but it never happened. I’m so over banana cake and so is my family, I thought “this is it”, I’m making Banana Blondies and that’s that. But do you think I could find the gorgeous recipe when I needed it? Oh, no!

 

 I did, however, find a recipe and it had way too much sugar in it. I thought there must’ve been a reason for it so kept it all in but it was very sweet. It was fudgy, just like a regular brownie, but oh so sweet. I’d definitely be halving the amount of sugar in it next time. I didn’t save the recipe on my computer, just wrote it on the back of an envelope, like I normally do with recipes I find on the internet so don’t have the original receipt and don’t want to discredit the original poster. I normally don’t make something if it’s got more than 1/2 cup of sugar in it. I find it still turns out okay with less sugar.

 

 This is a super cool recipe to freeze and no need to ice as well. A lovely, dense, fudgy (like I mentioned before) cake or bar that is perfect for lunch boxes, for both the young and the old. Save your overripe bananas for this one next time. You won’t be disappointed.

 

Print

Banana Blondies

A deliciously moist, fudgy banana version of the favourite brownie.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Author Anne

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup sugar can be halved
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 4 ripe bananas mashed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175 deg C (375 deg F).
2. Line a 20x25cm baking tray with baking paper.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the butter, vanilla, milk, eggs and bananas; pour into the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
6. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

 

{Cake Mix} S'mores Brownie Bars

Can someone please remind me not to take my kids shopping with me again…ever. During the last school holidays I had taken them to the movies and ‘mistakenly’ took them into the supermarket to get a couple of things. My daughter spotted a box cake mix that “Daddy has at home”. I’m not in the habit of buying packet cake mixes, as you probably already know except for the ‘el cheapo’ ones I buy specifically for birthday cake making.

I went to help her make it and the box said to add 250gm of butter and 3 eggs! WHAT? To a box cake mix? No way. I don’t even make cakes from scratch with that much butter and that many eggs. It had to be used up another way, more cost effectively.

It was time to put the thinking cap on and see what else I had lurking in the pantry. I found the last of the Danish butter cookies given to us at Christmas time and a handful of marshmallows from Easter. To be honest, I’d never heard of a S’more until my daughter went to Girl Guides about 5 years ago. She was so excited to tell me all about the art of pressing melted marshmallows and chocolate between two cookies. I couldn’t believe it at first but since blogging and finding recipes on Pinterest, not a day goes by when I don’t see a recipe for either S’mores or Brownies so I decided to combine the two in the form of these S’mores Brownie Bars.

I blitzed the cookies into crumbs and added 1/2 cup of melted butter. This was then pressed into a slice pan.

I wasn’t sure what to add to the box cake mix but ‘winged it’ with 2 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup of milk. (Still finished up using more eggs than I would’ve liked.)

I poured the cake mix batter onto the cookie crust and smoothed it over.

I then topped that with the handful of marshmallows I had and the chocolate chips that came with the cake mix. Pop that in the oven for approximately 25 minutes or until marshmallows have browned and cake mix has set. It will still be a little gooey.

The marshmallows look like little mushrooms sprouting on top. Next time I might push the chocolate chips and marshmallows into the cake mix a little before popping in the oven. I might even try this with a few nuts and jelly lollies added to make a Rocky Road type Brownie Bar.

The best part was that the kids absolutely devoured this. I’m going to have to start showing my daughter the recipe books a bit more I think and not have her thinking a box cake mix is the only way to make a cake. Although I secretly wouldn’t mind having one in the pantry again to whip this one up again.

{Cake Mix} S’mores Brownie Bars

• 400gm cookie crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 chocolate mudcake (or similar) box cake mix
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup marshmallows
• 1 cup chocolate chips

 

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Blitz cookies until fine crumbs are formed and then mix in 1/2 cup melted butter.
3. Press into a slice/bar tin.
4. Add 2 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup milk to the box cake mix.
5. Pour over pressed cookie crumb base.
6. Sprinkle marshmallows and chocolate chips over the cake batter and slightly press into mixture.
7. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown.

 

 

Double chocolate {beanie} brownies

What’s better than a brownie? A double chocolate brownie or a double chocolate brownie that’s good for you? This recipe has a hidden ingredient, red kidney beans. You might wonder why you would go and ruin a perfectly good brownie recipe with hidden beans but besides not altering the taste at all, it actually enhanced the chocolate flavour and made the brownies more fudgey and moist.

Kidney beans are an excellent source of fibre and cheap, dirt cheap. They are perfect for Mexican food, Italian dishes and many vegetarian dishes as they are also an excellent source of protein. Red kidney beans are also a natural source of folate, B1, phosphorous, iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium and Vitamin K. Also,

Kidney beans are an excellent source of the trace mineral, molybdenum, an integral component of the enzyme sulfite oxidase, which is responsible for detoxifying sulfites. Just one cup of cooked kidney beans supplies 177.0% of the daily value for molybdenum. Sulfites are a type of preservative commonly added to prepared foods like delicatessen salads and salad bars. Persons who are sensitive to sulfites in these foods may experience rapid heartbeat, headache or disorientation if sulfites are unwittingly consumed. If you have ever reacted to sulfites, it may be because your molybdenum stores are insufficient to detoxify them.

Source: whfoods.org

McKenzie’s have been my go to brand for Red kidney beans and other pulses for as long as I can remember. For just over $2 a pack, what a cheap option for a meal or a sweet dish. If you think its time consuming to prepare dried pulses, try doing 2 cups at a time and freezing what you don’t use or use any leftovers in a cake batter (or brownie like I did) or add to any mince dishes and casseroles. They make your meat options go a little further if you’re trying to cut down on your grocery bill.

Besides McKenzie’s being popular for red kidney beans, lentils, pearl barley and other pulses, they make these handy salt and pepper grinders as well.

I’ve been using McKenzie’s Bicarbonate of Soda and other baking products since I started to learn to bake over 40 years ago. 

You can’t go wrong with this little bundle of goodness, in sweet or savoury, Oh, and just don’t tell the kids. They won’t know the difference.

Double Chocolate {Beanie} Brownies

• 1.1/2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tbs cocoa
• 1/2-1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup red kidney beans (soaked overnight, boiled until soft and then blitzed in a blender)
• 6 tbs oil (I used Canola)
• 1 tbs vinegar
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Add all ingredients together and mix well by hand.
2. Pour into a pan lined with baking paper and bake for approx 20 mins at 160 deg C.
3. Allow to cool and cut into pieces and serve.
4. Can be sprinkled with icing sugar or cocoa to serve.

Disclaimer:  I was given McKenzie’s products to try. All thoughts, opinions and recipes are my own.