Midnight Mint Brownies

I had a request to try and make these brownies by both my mum and Neil. They are a variation on Company’s Coming midnight mint squares. Instead of a coconut/nut base I used a brownie like at Starbucks. Next time I would use a thicker layer of chocolate on top so for now they are a work in progress.

midnight mint brownies

Midnight Mint Brownies (adapted from Company’s Coming)

Brownie Layer

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup butter or margarine

Beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, flour, salt. Melt while stirring, butter and cocoa. Stir well. Spread into a greased 8×8 inch pan. (I used about 2/3rds of the batter since this recipe is adapted from one that had two layers.) Bake at 350 for around 15 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Mint Layer

1/4 cup butter or margarine

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon peppermint flavouring

2 cups of icing sugar

green food colouring

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well adding a few drops more liquid if needed for easy spreading. Tint a pretty green. Spread over cooled brownie layer. Allow to set.

Chocolate layer

1 cup of milk chocolate chips

Melt chips in a saucepan over low heat. Spread over second layer. Chill and store in refrigerator.

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Buns

Could there be a better time of year to start a baking blog than Christmas? We don’t think so and thus here is Bake with Us. The C. Stewarts are baking up a storm and sharing it with you. It is Big C.’s job to make breakfast on Christmas morning and this year the decision was made to cinnamon bun it up. Here is the recipe courtesy of The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook.

Cinnamon buns ready for the oven on Christmas morning

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup warm water

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1. Disolve 1 tsp of the sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy. In the mean time, heat together remaining sugar, milk, butter and salt until butter is melted; let coo to lukewarm. Add eggs and milk mixture; stir to combine. With electric mixer, gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups of the flour; beat for 2 minutes or until smooth. With wooden spoon, gradually stir in enough of remaining flour to make soft, slightly sticky dough that comes away from the side of the bowl

2. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead for 7-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding enough of the remaining flour as necessary. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place for 1- 1 1/2 hours (or in refrigerator for 8 hours) or until doubled in bulk and impression remains when fingertips are pressed into dough.

3. Filling: Melt 3/4 cup butter with 3/4 cup of the sugar in a saucepan while whisking. Pour into greased 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Melt remaining butter; set aside. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

4. Punch down dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; roll out into 18 x 14 inch rectangle. Brush with all but  but 2 tbsp of the melted butter, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered; sprinkle with sugar mixture. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining butter. With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces; place, cut side down, in pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

5. Bake in centre of 375 over for 25-30 minutes (I did 20) or until golden and tops sound hollow when tapped. Let stand in dish for 3 minutes. Drizzle with icing sugar.