Mint Flourless Brownies

For my son's birthday, my son wanted brownies instead of cake. As you can tell on this blog, I don't make a lot of homemade brownies. I looked through different recipes and decided to make this one. There is a taste scale I use to find out if my husband liked them. First, I ask if he liked them. If he says yes, he then tells me how many of them he ate. My husband said he ate three of them. He would have eaten more if I had omitted the mint. Three bars translated the brownies are good.

Mint Flourless Chocolate Brownies
2 cups mini semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
3 Tbsp water
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup heavy cream 
1/2 cup Andes mints, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper. 
3. Spray the dish with nonstick cooking spray.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt the semi sweet chocolate chips, butter, water, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Stir constantly until the chocolate has melted. 
5. Remove from heat and set aside.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1/4 cup sugar until thick.
7. Stir in the vanilla extract.
8. Fold half of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture until incorporated.
9. Fold in the remaining egg mixture until thoroughly incorporated.
10. Pour the batter into the baking dish.
11. Bake for 35 minutes or until the center has risen and the edges have become firm. 
12. Allow the brownie to cool completely on a wire rack.
13. Cover the brownies and refrigerate for 4 hours.
14. In a small microwave safe bowl, heat the heavy cream for 30 seconds.
15. Add the Andes mints to the heavy cream. Let stand for 2 minutes or until the chocolate has melted.
16. Spread the melted mint ganache over the chilled brownies.
17. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before removing from the baking dish.

Recipe adapted from Toll House Nestle Cookies Cookbook. 

One year ago...........................I made Lasagna Roll Ups.
Two years ago.........................I made Fried Meatball Sandwich. 

Did you already know.............
-There are over 30 varieties of mint.
-Mint is named after the Greek river nymph Minthe. 
-Minthe was turned into a plant by Hades jealous wife.

Mint Cheesecake Pie

Do you like math or do you shun it? Today is mathematics day at my children's school. Their school asked the kids to wear a shirt with numbers on it. My son had lots of shirts with numbers on it but I could only find a shirt with tiny numbers on it for my younger daughter. I tried talking her into wearing one of her brother's shirt (since he wore her pants) but she wouldn't agree. My oldest daughter said it needs to be pi day and not math day. My oldest daughter said in high school the kids would bring in pies for pi day. My youngest daughter said she would rather have pie than wear one of her brother's shirts. My oldest daughter will be having pie. How about you?

Green for St. Patrick's Day!

Mint Cheesecake Pie
Crust:
1 1/2 cups oreos
6 oz. butter, melted
Filling:
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp mint extract
1/4 tsp green food coloring (if desired)
8 Andes mints, chopped roughly
8 oreo cookies, crushed

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the crushed oreos with the melted butter.
3. Press the oreo mixture into the bottom of an 9 inch pie pan.
4. Place the pie plate in the refrigerator to chill while preparing the filling.
5. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until well incorporated.
6. Add the two eggs and mix well.
7. Add the sour cream and combine. Scrap down the sides to make sure the filling is incorporated.
8. Add the mint extract and the green food coloring and mix until the filling is green throughout.
9. Slowly, add the mint chocolates and the crushed oreos to the filling.
10. Pour the filling into the prepared pie pan. Place the pie pan onto an aluminum lined baking sheet just in case it over flows.
11. Bake the pie for 45 minutes or until the filling is almost set in the middle.
12. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving or chill for a couple of hours. 

Recipe adapted from Domino Sugar.

One year ago................................I made Irish Mint Chocolate Ice Cream.

Did you already know..................
-Pi is used to calculate the ratio of a cirle's circumference to its diamater. 
-Pi is the irrational number 3.14159265359.....
-Albert Einstein's birthday is March 14th (pi day 3.14)

St. Patrick's Day Green

Do you wear green on St. Patrick's Day? Not only do we wear green on St. Patrick's Day, we even wear green the night before. Who really wants to be woken up by being pinched? Don't worry no one has been pinched to this date. It is like a game and no one gets caught without green in this household. Plus I wouldn't pinch anyone hard but I couldn't guarantee the kids play by the same rules. I sure don't want to find out.

Last year, I purchased The Perfect Scoop cookbook by David Lebovitz and my ice cream machine gets used often. If my husband had his way, it would be used daily. He has been disappointed lately since I haven't used it once this year. I wanted to continue with an Irish theme that was kid friendly. Since I didn't find one I liked, I decided to create one using the Chocolate Ice Cream, Philadelphia-Style as my template. The end result was delicious!

Irish Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
3/4 cups of Baileys Irish Cream Coffee Creamer
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
6 Tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 package of Andes Mint Chocolates, 18 pieces chopped
1 cup low fat milk
1/4 tsp mint extract

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, mix the creamer, heavy cream, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.
2. Over medium heat, mix the mixture until a rolling boil.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the chopped bittersweet chocolate and half of the chopped mint chocolates.
4. Stir until the chocolate has melted.
5. Add the milk and the mint extract until well combined.
6. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
7. Add the mixture to an ice cream machine. 
8. Follow the ice cream machine's instructions for the amount of time to mix the mixture.
9. At the end of the mixing cycle time, add the remaining chopped mint chocolates.

Created by Jen of Sweet Morris.

Did you already know..........
-The first St. Patrick's Day parade occurred in New York City in 1762.
-Besides New York, Boston, Savannah, Philadelphia, and Chicago have a St. Patrick's Day parade.
-Every year, Chicago dyes the Chicago River green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The city has been doing this tradition since 1962.