It’s time we face the truth. All that most Americans desire on St. Patrick’s Day is to wear green shirts with witty sayings about kissing Irish people and eat green-colored food. While I cannot help you find the correct color of clothing to keep everybody from taking the liberty of inflicting minimal, yet annoying, physical pain on you, I have a recipe that is as emerald as the isle itself.
Sure, some families, usually of Irish heritage, cook up a feast of tender, succulent corned beef with red-skinned potatoes and stewed cabbage come March 17. My mom, who is almost fully Irish, devotedly hauls out the slow cooker every year to prepare corned beef for dinner each St. Patrick’s Day. Regardless of the day the holiday falls on, that slow cooker simmers away on our kitchen counter, waiting for everyone to arrive home from their busy day and feast.
As college students, however, preparing a meal from a cuisine full of slowly braised meats and hearty stews is too time consuming to be realistic. Since I did not have the heart to make you prepare, much less consume, Irish soda bread for the sake of tradition, brownies were obviously the next best choice. Mint, most often associated with the color green in food, coincidentally pairs perfectly with chocolate. The result: a match made in leprechaun heaven. Topped with a layer of creamy, cool peppermint ganache, these brownies will help you bribe your way out of an eager pincher’s grasp if you forget to wear green this St. Patrick’s Day.
St. Peppermint Patty’s Day Brownies
Brownies:
3/4 cup unsalted butter
10 ounces bittersweet or dark chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Use spray or oil to grease an 8-inch square pan or a 9×13 baking pan.
Fill a small saucepan with about an inch of water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Place a metal mixing bowl with the butter, chocolate chips and brown sugar on top of the saucepan, stirring to combine as the mixture melts.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together lightly. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt.
Take the chocolate mixture off the heat when the chocolate and butter are melted. Mix the eggs into the chocolate mixture. Add the flour mixture and stir just until the batter is homogeneous.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. If you are using the 8-inch pan, it will be closer to 25 minutes, whereas the 9×13 pan will finish baking closer to 20 minutes.
Let the brownies cool completely before spreading the mint ganache on top.
Mint Ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
11 ounces white chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
green food color
While the brownies cool, you will have the perfect amount of time to make the mint ganache.
In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream and green food color to a boil on high heat. Add as much green food color as you desire; it will darken a bit as it heats and when you add it to the white chocolate. A few drops will be sufficient for a light green color, but if you want a dark, more emerald color, add closer to 10 or 15 drops.
In a separate metal mixing bowl, add the white chocolate chips and the butter.
Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and let sit for two minutes. Stir gently with a rubber spatula, starting from the center and moving outwards as the ganache becomes smooth.
When the ganache is completely smooth, stir in the peppermint extract.
Place in the fridge, stirring every 15 minutes, until the mixture becomes firm but spreadable. When the brownies are cool, spread the ganache evenly across the top of the brownies.
Chill for about 30 minutes and serve with a tall glass of green milk.
