York Peppermint Pattie Brownies

These brownies did so well in their photo shoot. Aren’t they pretty? 🙂

I don’t think I’ve ever buttered aluminum foil but it certainly helped the brownies not to stick. 

Fully mixed. The batter was really thick so I thought I’d have problems with the top layer but it went on nice and smooth.

The recipe I used said I would need ’44 chocolate-covered peppermint patties’. Turns out I only needed 43 1/2 haha. 

Top layer goes on easy like Sunday morning… 

The recipe says to remove the brownies from the pan to let them cool. I did this and my brownies cracked  a bit when I pulled them out because they weren’t completely set. So, I suggest leaving them in the pan when you put them in the fridge to avoid cracks. Even though mine had major cracking issues… they looked great once they were all sliced into bars.

These have some serious eye appeal. Those are all of my corners and brownie bites in the background.

 I toyed around with sizes for a while. Based on the density and the richness of the brownie I wanted to find the perfect size. Based on what my test subjects thought… you should get about 16 bars out of one pan.

If you buy the big bag of York patties… prepare to have extras.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon plus 1 cup butter, divided
• 8 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 4 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 5 eggs
• 3 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
• 44 chocolate-covered peppermint patties

Directions:

1. Line a 13-in x 9-in baking pan with foil. Melt 1 tablespoon butter; brush over foil and set aside. In a microwave, melt chocolate and remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Dissolve coffee granules in boiling water.

2. In a bowl, beat eggs and sugar until blended. Beat in the vanilla, almond extract, coffee mixture and chocolate until fluffy. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to chocolate mixture. Stir in walnuts.

3. Pout half of the batter into prepared pan. Top with a layer of peppermint patties, filling in the gaps with peppermint patty pieces. Top with remaining batter. Bake at 425 degrees for 23-37 minutes or until top sets. Cool on a wire rack. Using foil, remove brownies from pan. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight before cutting.

Yields: 3 dozen (according to the directions) or about 16 nice BIG brownies.