Recipe: Mint Chocolate Brownies

Brownies, who doesn't love a good brownie. They used to be my absolute nemesis when it came to baking turning more into a bread than a cake. However I can safely say that those days are passed and all my brownies now look like this. Delicious chunks of chocolatey goodness that get rave reviews from everyone, including my area manager at work. And with Christmas approaching, I started to think of flavours that made me think of Christmas. Gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, the taste of shortbread and mint. It reminds me of After Eights, candy canes and Aero Mint. I originally planned these to be shaped like Christmas trees but I've nothing but mishap after mishap with my cutters this year so I kept them to their fudgy chocolate filled squares.

Ingredients 
200g Dark Chocolate
200g Unsalted Butter
275g Caster Sugar
90g Plain Flour
35g Cocoa Powder
3 Eggs
100g Dark Chocolate Chips
2 Tsp Peppermint Extract

Method
1- Pre heat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9 Inch square brownie tin with greaseproof paper.
2- Into a bain marie place the dark chocolate and butter. Over a low heat, melt the two together, taking care to keep the heat down low so the chocolate doesn't catch and burn.
3- Once everything is melted together, place it to one side to cool down.
4- Into a seperate bowl place the sugar and the eggs. Whisk together until the mixture is pale, double in size and leaves a trail when you pull the whisk out. This is the only part of the recipe where you can use a higher speed on your electric mixer, everything else has to be slow or you'll end up knocking out the air you've just created.
5- Take your now cooled chocolate mix and pour into the sugar mix. Fold gently to keep the air into the mixture but remembering to scrape the side of the bowl so everything gets fully incoporated into the mix.
6- Add the flour and the cocoa powder and fold gently into the mixture. Again this part requires slow, gentle folding actions to keep the air in the mixture. However you will need to scrape the sides of the bowl as the flour and the cocoa powder will stick to it and you don't want to end up with pockets of flour in your brownies.
7- Pour in your chocolate chips and peppermint extract. You don't have to add the full two teaspoons and I was worried it was going to taste like toothpaste with two teaspoons but I've been reassured it's the perfect counterpart to the chocolate. Again fold everything in whether with your mixer or a silicone spatula.
8- Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
9- Leave to cool completely in the tin. This helps it keep it's shape and gives them a chunkiness that a lot of brownies lack.
10- Once cool, cut into squares or chunks. Then all that's left to do is enjoy them or take them into your work and woo the management like I did.