Peppermint Archives - Noble Pig

Peppermint Patty Brownies

Cathy Pollak — Sun, 20 Nov 2022 20:12:13 +0000

These mouthwatering peppermint patty brownies are a must-try for any chocolate and peppermint lover – rich treats made with the finest ingredients and baked to perfection for a fudgy, indulgent experience.

If homemade sweet treats are on your holiday gift-giving list, these sturdy, fudgey and quite decadent brownies are so intensely chocolatey, they will easily satisfy any chocolate lover on your baking list.

The refreshing peppermint flavor perfectly complements the rich chocolate, making these brownies a unique and delicious choice for any occasion. Whether you’re looking for a festive dessert to serve at your holiday gathering or a special treat to enjoy on a cozy night in, our peppermint patty brownies are sure to satisfy your cravings.

These indulgent, candy bar brownies are the stars of holiday cookie platters and look stunning stacked up on pedestal cake stands.

They are truly the biggest, gooiest, chewiest, darkest, sweetest bars out there and I promise the best-tasting ones too.

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Recipe Tips and Tricks

I use my favorite baking pan to make these brownies. It’s my only choice for making these peppermint patty brownies or any other types of bars. The straight sides and square corners of this pan means the edges don’t have to be trimmed.

When it comes to prepping your baking pan for these brownies, it takes a little patience to properly fit the pan with foil, but doing so results in easy removal and effortless cleanup.

Invert the pan and center heavy duty foil over pan bottom. Press down sides and corners, shaping to the pan. Remove foil, turn pan right side up, and place foil inside. Carefully press into place.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and place in the preheating oven. When the butter is melted, spread it over the foil with a pastry brush.

Making Clean Cuts and Uniform Slices

Use a long knife with a sharp blade to cut the refrigerated brownies into quarters. Trimming the edges is optional.

Cut each quarter in half, then cut each eighth into four bars. This narrow shape shows off the mints.

These bars are fine kept in the refrigerator or on the counter for storing. If refrigerated, remove to the counter a couple of hours before serving.

Recipe Notes

Don’t skip on using instant espresso powder. The dark, rich notes from the espresso powder trick you into tasting darker, richer chocolate flavor in your brownies. (They will not taste like coffee.) It’s an ingenious way to bolster the flavor of run-of-the-mill baking chocolate. Available at almost every grocery store.
Make sure to use unsweetened baking chocolate, 100% cacao, otherwise your bars will be too sweet.
Refrigerate these brownies for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight before cutting -they cannot be cut into bars fresh from the oven.

More Mouthwatering Brownie Recipes

Peppermint Patty Brownies

Peppermint Patty Brownies are the gooiest, darkest, most fudge-like, candy bar brownies you could ever hope for this holiday season.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Peppermint Patty Brownies

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 35

Cooling 8

Total Time 9

Servings brownies

Calories 337kcal

Author Cathy Pollak

Ingredients

8 oz unsweetened chocolate (100% cacao)
8 oz (2 sticks) + 1 tbsp unsalted butter
3-3/4 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1 tbsp + 1 tsp instant espresso powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp table salt
1-2/3 cups SIFTED all-purpose flour
8 oz walnuts, broken in large pieces (2 generous cups)
48 York chocolate-covered peppermint patties, unwrapped (about 2-1/2 eleven ounce bags)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F with rack one third up from the bottom. Fit a 9 x 13 x 2 pan with heavy duty foil. Press down sides and corners, shaping to the pan, carefully pressing into place. (see more tips on pan prep in the post above, which is very important for this recipe). Add 1 Tablespoon butter to the pan and place in preheating oven. When butter is melted, spread it over the foil with a pastry brush; set pan aside.
Melt chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan or double-boiler over low heat, stirring until chocolate and butter are melted. Stir until chocolate and butter are melted. Remove from heat; set aside.
Beat sugar, eggs, espresso powder, extracts and salt in a large bowl of an electric or stand mixer at high speed for 10 minutes. Add chocolate mixture (which may still be warm) with mixer on low speed. Beat together just until blended.
Add flour and beat again on low speed just until mixed. Stir in nuts. Spoon half the mixture (about 3-1/2 cups) into the prepared pan. Smooth top.
Layer peppermints over the chocolate layer. They should touch each other and come as close to the edges of the pan as possible (do not cut mints in half to fill-in spaces-the filling will ooze and burn). Spoon remaining chocolate mixture over mints; carefully smooth top.
Bake for 35 minutes (and no longer), rotating the pan once during baking. Start checking the pan at 30 minutes, if you overbake these, the mints will start exploding, it’s not good.
Remove from oven and let stand in pan until completely cool. Invert pan and remove foil lining. Invert again so brownies are right side up.
Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight before slicing. Cold brownies will slice perfectly with clean edges. These cannot be sliced warm. See recipe post above for how to slice these brownies to get 32 bars.

Video

Notes

Please see recipe post above for tips and tricks on making these brownies.

Nutrition information is only an estimation and variation will occur based on the ingredients/brands you use.

Nutrition

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The post Peppermint Patty Brownies appeared first on Noble Pig.

Cherry Tassies

Cathy Pollak — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:09:00 +0000

Long stemmed maraschino cherries burst right out the top of these pillowy-soft and bite-sized pastry pouch cookies. They are the perfect addition to any dessert table.

These yummy, little bites will have you menu planning for a party. Whether you’re celebrating a holiday, feeling patriotic, or just enjoy the red color scheme, these tassies look festive all together on a platter.

While maraschino cherries usually remind us of a Shirley Temple drink, it turns out they do well in baking recipes too. What you’ll find most surprising about this recipe is how well sweet cherries and peppermint complement each other. You won’t be able to stop eating them.

By perching the bright red long-stemmed cherries in these tender pastry pouches and using coarse sugar on top for glitz, you have a real winning dessert! These tassies are small enough that they can be eaten out of hand without a fork, making them a memorable sweet ending for any upcoming gathering.

What Is a Tassie?

By dictionary definition, “tassie” means cup, and in terms of dessert translates into individual pastry cups filled with a mixture of nuts, sugar, candy and in this case cherries.

Tassies are most popular in the Southern United States, where pecan tassies are the cookie version of southern pecan pie.

The filling possibilities are endless for these little bites and they bake up perfectly.

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Ingredients You’ll Need for Cherry Tassies

There are two main components in this fabulous tassie recipe: a pastry pouch crust and the simple cherry filling (which really isn’t a filling at all).

You’ll be be surprised how easy the pastry dough is to prepare from scratch. To make the homemade peppermint flavored pastry dough you’ll need:

butter – European butter is always best when making a pastry crust
confectioners’ sugar
baking powder
salt
peppermint extract
vanilla extract
egg
all-purpose flour
striped peppermint candies – found in the candy or bulk aisle

For the filling you’ll need:

stemmed maraschino cherries – that’s it, the crust bakes around and fills in around the cherry so you couldn’t ask for an easier filling recipe

Extra items:

cooking spray – for the mini-muffin tin
coarse sugar – for garnish, don’t skip this

Making Cherry Tassies

1. Preheat your oven to 350^oF. Generously coat a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray; set aside. (You can use a 48 count mini-muffin tin or two 24 count mini-muffin tins on two different racks of the oven.)

2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high speed for at least thirty seconds. Gradually beat in 1-1/2 cups of confectioners’ sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat in peppermint extract, vanilla and egg. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a spoon, stir in any remaining flour and candies.

3. Place remaining 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar in a shallow bowl. Shape the dough into 1″ balls; roll in confectioners’ sugar. Press each ball into bottom and up sides of prepared muffin cups.

4. Place cherry, stem side up, in each cup (cherry will not fill cup). Bake about 12 minutes or until pastry is slightly browned. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Cool 10 minutes in pan.

5. Using a small, sharp knife, loosen tassies from cups. Transfer to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 48 tassies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Stemless Maraschino Cherries?

Yes you can. The stems are for more dramatic effect and have nothing to do with the success of the recipe.

How Do I Store Them?

Place cherry tassies in a single layer in an airtight container. Store tassies at room temperature up to twenty-four hours or refrigerate them up to three days. Return tassies to room temperature before serving.

Can I Make An Adult Version?

Use whiskey-flavored cherries or any type of flavored cherry you prefer for this recipe.

MORE MARASCHINO CHERRY RECIPES

Maraschino Cherry Ice Cream
Soft Baked Maraschino Cherry-Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adult Shirley Temple Cocktail

Cherry Tassies

Long stemmed maraschino cherries burst right out the top of these pillowy-soft and bite-sized pastry pouch cookies. They are the perfect addition to any dessert table.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Cherry Tassies

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 12

Cooling 10

Total Time 1 2

Servings tassies

Calories 109kcal

Author Cathy Pollak

Ingredients

Cooking Spray
1-1/4 cups butter, room temperature
2-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely crushed striped peppermint candies (about 18), (I pulverized them with my food processor)
48 red maraschino cherries with stems, drained
coarse sugar for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350^oF. Generously coat a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat butter on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Gradually beat in 1-1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat in peppermint extract, vanilla and egg. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a spoon, stir in any remaining flour and candies.
Place remaining 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar in a shallow dish. Shape the dough into 1" balls; roll in confectioners' sugar. Press each ball into bottom and up sides of prepared muffin cups.
Place cherry, stem side up, in each cup (cherry will not fill cup). Bake about 12 minutes or until pastry is slightly browned. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Cool 10 minutes in pan.
Using a small, sharp knife, loosen tassies from cups. Transfer to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 48 tassies.

Video

Nutrition

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The post Cherry Tassies appeared first on Noble Pig.