Fudge-Frosted Mint Brownies

The Baby Boy Bakers' suuuper secret recipe for our fudgy, ultra-chocolatey brownies, how to decorate a sugar cookie (Sam's instructions), and introducing two brand new cupcake frostings!

Mmmmm mmm. I don't know about you, but we at the Baby Boy Bakers' household love ourselves a good mint/chocolate combo, and these brownies NAIL it!! The chewy, chocolatey brownie base, the fluffy, cool peppermint buttercream, and that layer of fudgy ganache goodness! YUM!

Is St. Patrick's Day secretly just a day to celebrate chocolate and mint? The Baby Boys are looking into that theory.

Scroll to the bottom for this fantastic recipe we are GIVING AWAY!!! That's right, the secret recipe for Baby Boy Bakers' very own Ultimate Chocolate Brownies! The Mint Buttercream and Fudge Ganache are St. Patty's Day add-ons. You're welcome.

Or sorry. If you are trying to be healthy post-Valentine's Day and these cuties.

But not really.

Anyways, if you're not in the mood to bake a batch of these super simple suuuper delicious brownies, you can always order them here!

Seriously, these are so much better than a box mix and much better for you! The Baby Boy's mantra is GO HOMEMADE for a reason. Who wants to eat a bunch of preservatives and yuck, bleh, made-in-a-lab chemicals with their dessert? Not me!

Savoring one brownie that's 100% made from butter, chocolate, love, and not much else is the perfect way to say, "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" to your body and your tastebuds. Share the green love and enjoy homemade, real-ingredient treats in moderation. That's the Baby Boy Bakers' style in everything we do :)

Whew. Can you tell we're passionate about this over here?

Alright. Before we get to this glorious recipe, here's a fun recap of Valentine's Day with the Baby Boys and what's been going on in these two little sweethearts' lives. Enjoy!

How to Decorate a Sugar Cookie - Instructions Courtesy of Sam

1) Ask your mom to make a giant sugar cookie just for you. Make sure it's extra thick, buttery, and soft!

2) Apply a generous amount of frostings in various colors onto a large plate.

3) Using primarily your fingers, smear and spread frostings onto your cookie as desired. No need to frost the whole thing! Piling it up on 1/16th of the cookie works great. Lick fingers to clean between smears.

4) Overturn a jar of sprinkles (the bigger, the better!) onto your cookie and shake vigorously several times, until a nice pile is achieved.

Cookie perfection.

Haha that was one little boy who had a Valentine's Day blast! Baby Boy Baker #2 (Grant) was going to write a piece for you to enjoy his decorating instructions, but he gave up halfway through and his cookie mysteriously disappeared.

Baby Boy Bakers' Two Brand New Frostings

Do you remember our January post, where I talked about the Baby Boy Bakers' goals for the New Year? One of them was more cupcake frostings and cake choices for you! Well, we're working on that, and, let me tell ya, these frostings are a hit!

First is our new Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream. Oooohhhh my goodness. It is pure heaven! So silky, creamy, and richly chocolatey. I love our Chocolate Buttercream, but I may like this Swiss Meringue Buttercream even better! It's not overly sweet, so the chocolate flavor really shines. And that silky smooth texture. I go weak in the knees!

A Swiss Meringue Buttercream is made from - you guessed it - egg whites! They are heated gently until safe to eat, whipped until frothy and light, then beaten with butter, melted chocolate, vanilla, and a bit of sugar. Just heaven!

I don't know about you, but I think the processes of making different frostings is fascinating. (Am I alone? Is that weird?) Frosting freaks, give a shout out in the comments and this buttercream recipe may make it to our next Secret Recipe newsletter giveaway!

And have I waxed poetic yet about our Chocolate Cupcakes? Holy COW those things are good! Pure chocolate flavor really comes through, and they are so moist and soft. They just melt in your mouth! Seriously the BEST chocolate cake I have ever had.

Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my laptop.

Ahem. Here we have our gorgeous, decadent, full-of-strawberry flavor Strawberries n' Cream Cupcakes with Whipped Strawberry Buttercream!

Don't you just want to dive into that box? The landing would probably be nice and soft, I'm just saying. These cupcakes are made from our fluffy, insanely moist, best-thing-I've-ever-put-in-my-mouth vanilla cupcakes. Fresh, bright strawberries are folded into the batter for a zing of strawberry flavor along with our sweet vanilla cream cake!

The frosting is our light and fluffy vanilla buttercream whipped with powdered dehydrated strawberries for concentrated, sweet strawberry flavor that is 100% real, not artificial in any way. Not even kidding, that frosting tastes like strawberry ice cream in buttercream form. YUM! I was seriously dying. Can't go on about these enough! Be sure to try them before Spring is over!

Now, without further ado, our secret brownie recipe I will use for life topped with mint buttercream and chocolate fudge!!!!

Baby Boy Bakers' Fudge-Frosted Mint Brownies Recipe

Ingredients:

Brownies:

1 cup melted butter

3 cups white sugar

1 T vanilla

4 eggs

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Mint Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

2 T cream or milk

1 1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1 drop liquid green food coloring

Fudge Frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup chocolate chips (I used milk, but go with any flavor you like!)

Directions:

For the brownies:

Preheat oven to 300. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan. Melt butter and combine with sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt, being careful not to overmix. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter into pan and bake 25-30 min, until toothpick comes out mostly clean. For the fudgiest texture, be careful not to overbake! A toothpick inserted into the center should have several moist crumbs stuck to it.

For the mint frosting:

Beat softened butter until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in powdered sugar, cream, peppermint extract, and food coloring. Continue beating until combined, light, and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes more. Add in more cream for lighter frosting, more powdered sugar for stiffer frosting, more peppermint extract for a stronger mint flavor, and more food coloring for a stronger green color. Continue beating for fluffier texture.

Top completely cooled brownies with mint frosting and put in the fridge until completely set, 30 min to 1 hour.

For the fudge frosting:

Melt the chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave in 30 second increments until completely melted. Spread over the mint frosting layer and place in fridge until completely set, at least one hour or overnight.

Cut and serve! Store in the fridge for best texture.

Time: 2 1/2 to 3 hours (includes chill time) Serves: 12-15 large brownies

#chocolate #brownies #mint