Malted Mint Brownies

Back in March, the good people from Oh Nuts! graciously offered to let me sample anything I wanted from their website. Was this a dream?! Yipee! After spending a lot of time combing through their enormous selection, I eventually settled upon Turkish Antep Pistachios and dried red sour cherries. I had lofty plans for them, but they were both so incredibly delicious I ended up just enjoying them right out of the bag, in all their naked glory.
And if free Pistachios and cherries weren't enough, Oh Nuts! included a one-pound bonus bag of Mint Cookie Malted Milk Balls which can be best described as a hybrid between Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie and a Whoopers candy - or otherwise known as the world's most best candy ever. Seriously!
One recent afternoon when I was looking for a cupcake recipe on Epicurious, this mint brownie recipe got my attention. I wondered if I could swap out the nuts for chopped malted mint ball and figured I just had to give it a shot. I also figured if I was going to go for mint brownies I had to go all out; I doubled the amount of peppermint extract. I was a little concerned that I might have overdone it but was instead rewarded with one of the most delightful brownies I've ever concocted. It might sound a tad ridiculous, but if glitter was edible, that's what these brownies would taste like! Bright and jazzy, fun and full of sparkly texture. I made these as a birthday dessert at work and everyone who had one went bonkers over them!

Malted Mint Brownies
Yield: I cut these on the small side and was able to get about 36 servings.
brownie recipe adapted from Epicurious

Brownies
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened high quality chocolate, chopped (please don't use Baker's brand, it's terrible!)
4 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 cups Mint Cookie Malted Milk Balls, cut and quartered*
Topping
1/2 cup of white chocolate chips or white Candy Melts
1 teaspoon of shortening
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
green food coloring gel (not the water based type), optional
6 Mint Cookie Malted Milk Balls, finely chopped

Brownies
Melt butter and chocolate in small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9"x12" baking pan with parchment or foil, being sure to leave some excess hanging over the sides (this makes it easier to the brownies out of the pan later.) Lightly butter the surface of the paper. Set aside.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Slowly add cooled chocolate mixture, flour, peppermint and vanilla extracts and salt; stir until just blended (don't over mix!). Add the chopped mint cookie malt balls and mix until they are evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Bang the pan on the counter to force them to fall. Cool pan on a wire rack.

Topping
Melt chocolate in a zip lock bag (or in a small bowl) on low power in the microwave until the chocolate is fully melted. Add the shortening and mix until well combined and the chocolate is a bit runny. Add the extract and green food coloring gel (you can decide how much color you want to add) and mix well.

Cut one of the bottom corners off the zip-lock bag (small cut) and use it to quickly drizzle the chocolate over the brownies (if you're using a small bowl, use a fork to drizzle the chocolate). Scatter the reserved 2 tablespoons of chopped mint cookie malted milk balls, if desired.

Let the brownies get cold in the refrigerator, at least 2 full hours and best overnight. Remove the brownies from the pan using the parchment paper and cut into squares.

Note: These brownies taste good when they are warm but they taste 10 times better after they have cooled completely.

* You can buy them from Oh! Nuts (a one-pound bag would make enough for two recipes with some left over. Alternatively you could try using 2/3 cup mint chips/Andes Candies, 1/3 cup roughly crushed Nabisco Famous Wafers, and 1 cup of Whoppers (Note: I haven't personally tried this substitution but I think it should work just fine.)