Good intentions...

Todd spent the past two days visiting a friend in L.A. His absence gave me plenty of time to craft a plan to surprise him at the BART (train) station. Based on his flight’s arrival time, I calculated which train he would be taking from the airport, at what time he would have to transfer, and when he would arrive home at the Berkeley station. Oh, yes, I was good. So, there I stood this morning, looking overly eager and overly impressed with my great planning skills. With two cups of coffee in my hands, I hovered over the station’s exist with a knowing grin upon my face. And then my phone rang.

It was Todd. It was Todd asking where I was. What did he mean “where I was?” Where was he?

He was already at home, wondering where I might be. How he managed to escape my watchful eye and foil my great surprise, I do not know. Suffice it to say that my wonderful math must not have been so wonderful. I’ll blame it on the lack of sleep I get when he’s away.

Luckily I had another surprise batting cleanup (or for all of your basketball fans (go Heels!), you might say I had a deep bench of surprises). These fudgy mint brownies brought my good intentions to fruition! Todd loves mint and brownies, so why not combine the two? I coerced him into eating one as soon as I returned home from my post at the train session, and SLAM DUNK! SUCCESS!

These brownies are incredibly fudgy—nothing cakey here. They have chopped Andes candies throughout the batter, and chunks of mint chocolate bars hiding amidst the chocolatey goodness. The mint chips and the chocolate bar give these brownies a nice consistency, preventing them from being overly fudgy. I’m pretty sure these brownies are a bit of heaven on a plate and certainly redeemed my failed attempt at surprise!

Chocolate Mint Brownies

1 ¼ c AP flour
1 tsp salt
3 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate (1 regular bag of chocolate chips)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 ½ c granulated sugar
½ c firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs
¼ tsp mint extract
1 package of Andes mints, chopped (or if you have the baking bits, about 1 c)
2 chocolate mint bars (I used Ghirardelli)

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Butter bottom and sides of a 9X13 baking pan.

2. Whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa powder.

3. Melt chocolate and butter together over low heat in a large saucepan or pot (you will do all of your mixing in here). Remove from heat and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined.

4. Add 2 eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the next 2 eggs and do the same. Finally, add the last egg and the mint extract, only whisking until just combined.

5. Pour the flour mixture over the chocolate and fold the flour in until just combined (some flour may still be visible, and that is okay). Fold in mint chips.

6. Spread about half of the batter into the baking pan. Place chunks of the chocolate bars on top of the batter. Cover with remaining batter, being careful not to press the bars too far into the brownie mixture.

7. Bake for 30 minutes. Let brownies cool completely before cutting and serving.