I saw these on Slashfood awhile ago and I knew I had to have them. My housemates thoroughly agreed. So once I finished all the projects and classes and found myself in vacation, I went straight to Trader Joe’s, bought myself a box of Peppermint Jo-Jo’s (so much better than an Oreo will ever be) and baked up a plate of these insanely delicious brownies.
I didn’t follow the Baking Bites recipe exactly. Or at all. Instead, I found a basic brownie recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s book and stirred in the crushed up peppermint cookies at the end. And wow, oh wow. They were the very picture of decadence. The creamy peppermint filling melted into the brownie, and the cookies got crispy and extra baked tasting, and all in all, this was a brownie experience well worth repeating. In fact, I only got one brownie before they disappeared, which is both testament to their deliciousness and a requirement for me to make them again. Soon.
The recipe was pretty easy, but they ended up needing a lot longer to bake than Dorie suggested. I’m not sure if that’s because the cookies in the batter make it wetter or because my oven is crap. I just kept sticking a skewer into the middle and it kept coming out covered in uncooked brownie. I eventually took them out of the oven before they were 100% completely done because I could smell them starting to burn around the edges a bit, but once they sat and cooled, they were cooked all the way through. It’s like magic!
Baking Bites is right, too–the Peppermint Jo-Jo’s are the way to go. I don’t know if Oreo even makes a peppermint variety, but Trader Joe’s cookies have bit of broken up candy cane in the cream filling which is out of control. I don’t usually like Oreos at all, but these peppermint cookies are addictive. I must thank Ms. Alex for introducing me to them last Christmas. Thanks, Alex!
Peppermint Cookies and Cream Brownies, Laura-style
- 1/2 c. flour
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
- 3 large eggs
- 1 c. sugar
- about 3 c. Peppermint Jo-Jo’s, crushed up into approximately half-inch pieces
Preheat the oven to 300F and line an 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. I’ve never done this before, actually, but it worked quite well for brownie-removal at the end of the process.
Whisk the flour and salt together. Put the chocolate in the top part of a double boiler, or a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir it about over the heat until the chocolate is smooove and melted. Then add the butter, and stir until it melts completely. Dorie points out that it is very important not to overheat the chocolatey butter mixture, but doesn’t point out how you will know if it’s overheated.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until you have a smooth, thick paste mixture. Then pour in the buttery chocolate and stir until it’s all combined. Then fold in the dry ingredients just until everything is combined. Then stir in almost all of your crushed cookies (save some to decorate the tops).
Scrape the batter into the pan, sprinkle the remaining cookie bits on top, and bake for a long, long time. Dorie suggests 50 to 60 minutes. These took over an hour and a half in my kitchen. Just check on them and use the skewer/knife/toothpick method and keep your senses alert to potential brownie burning. And then let them cool really well before removing from the pan and cutting them up, because they are very fudgy and moist. Some people like their brownies more cake-y and if that is you, you won’t like these at all. However, I like mine to be almost liquid, so these made me very, very happy.
Mmm. So happy that I might have to make more today. It really is a terrible thing that I have to cancel my gym membership. Sigh.