Dark Chocolate Peppermint Brownies
1 ½ cups flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 ½ cups sugar
5 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 ½ cups crushed Red Bird peppermint puffs or sticks
Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Sift flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a bowl.
Microwave butter and bittersweet chocolate in a medium glass bowl, stirring often, until melted and smooth, about 1 ½ minutes.
Whisk together sugar and eggs in a large bowl until blended. Add extracts and whisk to blend. Stir melted chocolate mixture into egg mixture. Gently fold in flour mixture with a plastic spatula until no streaks remain. Fold in 1 cup of crushed peppermint candies. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Top batter with remaining ½ cup of crushed peppermint candies.
Bake brownies until a toothpick inserted 2 inches from edge comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Use cookie cutters to cut out fun-shaped brownies.
Time-Saving Tip: The holidays are a busy and stressful time, so you can also follow the instructions on a box of brownie mix and just add in the peppermint extract and crushed peppermint Red Bird candies.
