Mint is one of those herbs that works beautifully in both sweet and savoury dishes. I’ve not played around with it much yet, but was inspired when I went plant shopping and saw this lovely mint plant. It smelt so bright and fresh that I had to buy it! I subsequently ended up killing it somehow (someone please teach me how to take care of plants!), but the idea had formed by then. The first thing that had popped into my mind when I smelt that mint was how it would pair the best with chocolate. What could be better than brownies which have these two flavours in each divine bite?
One of my favourite chocolates of all time is After Eight. Perfect little bites of minty-chocolatey goodness. I’ve been known to devour boxes at a go! They are definitely the inspiration behind this recipe. I had a few pieces left over from my last duty free shopping and figured they would add another layer of flavour to the brownies. Totally optional, but if you have them around, throw them into the batter 🙂
The recipe is super easy and uses both cocoa as well as dark chocolate to give that dense, fudgy, delicious texture to the brownies. The top is nice and crackly too. Just how it’s meant to be!
The age old battle of crust vs center piece doesn’t apply to me – I love every bit of the brownie equally! The only problem I have is how to eat this in moderation! 🙄
To get the right amount of mint coming through, I use fresh mint as well as a teeny bit of peppermint extract. The mint, when cooked with the butter, gives the butter the entire flavour and you end up with this delightful smelling infused melted butter. It has to be one of the best fragrances around.
The brownies take about 25-28 minutes to make and then once cooled completely, are ready to be pounced on!
Go get some fresh mint and make these. You will not regret it!
Mint Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients
170g butter
3/4 packed cup mint leaves
115g dark chocolate – chopped
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
3/4 cup (90g) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (20g) cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
5-6 After Eight chocolates (optional)
Directions
- Heat the butter and mint in a pan on low heat. Once the butter is melted and the mint is infused (you will be able to smell it), switch off the heat. Strain the butter into another saucepan
- To the new pan, add chopped chocolate and melt on low heat till there are no lumps and the butter+chocolate have mixed well
- Add the sugar to the mixture and stir till fully combined. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool to almost room temperature
- Pre-heat the oven to 175C. Grease and line an 8*8 inch pan
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract for 30s
- Slowly pour in the butter+chocolate+sugar mixture into the eggs and whisk for 2-3 minutes till full combined. This helps to give the crackly tops
- Sift the flour, cocoa and salt. Add to the wet batter and mix gently till just combined
- Transfer the batter to the pan and spread out uniformly. Slice the after eights and spread over the top
- Bake at 175C for 25-28 minutes till the brownies are just slightly underbaked and the tester comes out with a couple of crumbs
- Remove from the oven and let the brownies cool in the pan till at room temperature
- Slice and serve! Wipe the knife after each cut to ensure clean slices.
My Tuck Box 
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