Recipes, Part 2

Last week, I posted two family recipes for salads that I love, upon the request of one of my readers. This week…I have something even better, a recipe for delicious mint brownies and a recipe for our beloved peanut butter cup cookies. The latter of these recipes is always the crowd favorite and I have a tendency to triple or quadruple the recipe so that we have extras to freeze or give away. Because if you love chocolate and peanut butter (and really, who doesn’t?!), you’re gonna love these. I promise. I make them every year for the holidays and deliver them to neighbors, my husband’s co-workers, and friends. And every year, I get a request for the recipe. They’re that good.

 

MINT BROWNIES

Brownies:

• 1c sugar
• 1/2c butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1c flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 can Hershey syrup
• 1/2 c chopped nuts (optional — I usually leave them out)

Frosting:

• 2c powdered sugar
• 1/2c butter
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 2-3 drops green food coloring (optional — I prefer to leave it out)

Glaze:

• 1c semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 Tbsp butter

-Mix brownie ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes in a greased 9×13 pan.

-Mix frosting ingredients and frost over brownies once they’ve cooled.

-Melt glaze ingredients in a double boiler, cool, and spread over frosting.

 

PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES (makes 3 dozen or so)

1/2c butter

1/2c peanut butter

1 egg

1/2c brown sugar

1/2c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/4c flour

dash of salt

14-16oz package of small Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

-Mix all ingredients together except the peanut butter cups.

-Fill mini muffin tins halfway full with the dough. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. While dough is baking, unwrap peanut butter cups.

-When muffin tins are removed from the oven, immediately place one peanut butter cup into each muffin tin. Chill until chocolate is set and then remove from muffin tins with a spoon.