BYU's Mint Brownies

While I was going to school at Brigham Young University (BYU), it was always a challenge to stay away from their made-from-scratch orange rolls, chocolate covered cinnamon bears, cinnamon rolls and especially their mint brownies. Soft, chewy and fudgy with a thin layer of mint frosting topped with a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth layer of chocolate frosting. Sinful and decadent.

Now that I live across the country in Tennessee, these brownies are kind of out of my reach, which is why I was so excited when I stumbled across the recipe that was posted in the BYU magazine back in 2003.

Let's start with the brownie part first. This was a super easy brownie recipe since it just calls for cocoa powder instead of melted and cooled chocolate. The resulting brownie was so soft, chewy and fudgy - just like the ones I remember! That's a big plus for homemade brownies since half of the time mine turn into hard bricks. :)

The frosting was also really simple and had a fantastic flavor. I love the light mint flavor combined with the chocolate frosting. And since the mint layer is tinted a light green, it makes me feel all fancy and professional, even though I'm FAR from that... Serve these with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream to take them over the edge. Oh, and if you make this large 9x13 size, make sure you take it to a party where there are a LOT of people to eat them. Otherwise you'll end up with a half of a pan full of these bad boys sitting at home. Not a good start to the Holiday season..

Ingredients:

Brownies:

• 1 cup (2 sticks)  margarine
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional - I leave these out)

Mint Icing:

• 5 Tbsp. margarine, softened
• dash of salt
• 1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• 2 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. mint extract
• 1 - 2 drops green food coloring
• 3 Tbsp. milk

Chocolate Icing:

• 5 Tbsp. margarine, softened
• dash of salt
• 1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 Tbsp. milk

Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts if desired. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool.

Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting. Note: You still want the mint frosting to be thick enough to spread and have it stay in place. Don't add more than 3 Tbsp. of milk or the consistency will be too thin.

Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time (15-20 minutes) to stiffen the icing. Mix up the chocolate icing the same way as the mint. Remove the brownies from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing. Keep brownies stored in fridge until ready to serve.