Magnificent Chocolate Mint Brownies

If you are anything like me, an unrepentant raging choc-aholic, then there are times that you just need to feed your sweet tooth. One of my favorite things to have, when I really need that chocolate fix, is mint chocolate. Here is a recipe that has always fed that craving when it has hit me.

Brownie Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Mint Frosting Ingredients:

• Mint extract—a couple of drops, or to taste
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Green food coloring

Chocolate Glaze Ingredients:

• 2/3 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons butter

To start off making these brownies you need to heat the butter, water and cocoa to boiling. Once this has started to boil, remove from the heat and let the mixture cool slightly. While this is cooling, add to the mixture the sugar, flour, eggs, milk, baking soda and vanilla. The resulting batter is going to be runny like a cake batter, which is what we want. Grease a sturdy cookie sheet that has sides, or a cake pan. Pour the brownie mix into the pan, and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

After cooking, remove the brownies and allow them to cool completely. Keep in mind, that after each of these steps you have to let the brownies completely cool, or you are not going to get the results that you want. For example the frosting that we are about to make will melt, and well, that just wouldn't be very good now, would it? One way to ensure that the brownies are completely cooled off is to put them in the freezer for 20 minutes after each step. This cools down the brownies, but does not freeze them.

While the brownies are cooling, go ahead and mix the frosting ingredients together. After the frosting has been completely, go ahead and spread it onto the brownies. Once the frosting has been spread onto the brownies, cool them off once more by placing into the freezer.

While this is now cooling off, begin on the chocolate glaze. Melt the chocolate chips and butter in a microwave, being sure that you take the bowl out so that you can stir the chocolate. This ensures that the butter and chocolate are completely mixed together. The glaze should be runny, and not of a doughy consistency, if it is then you need to use more butter. Spread this onto the brownies quickly due to a quick hardening factor. After putting it onto the brownies, quickly put them into the freezer so that it won't melt anything underneath. Once everything has been completely cooled off, slice into desired sizes and serve.