Candy Cane Brownies!

We love to bake.  Or I love to eat whatever Ryan bakes.  And Avi helps.  He's great at mixing, eating fallen chips and licking the spoon.  Really multi-talented.  Nandini gets a little bit left out as we don't let her taste most of our late night treats or help make them.  She is very willing to sample anything she finds on the floor however.  Just kidding, my kids never eat like random cheerios off the floor.  *cough*  I will say this, I think that all that exposure to germs helps them get sick less often than most kids, heehee.  At least that's what I tell myself.


I have been dying to 'supervise' some holiday baking, but we haven't gotten around to it.

Luckily tonight was the perfect night for old school claymation holiday specials and baking, after some homey vegetable soup for dinner (with green garlic, yumm).

Source: mangiodasola.com via Leticia on Pinterest

At first we wanted to make this.  And still might.  But we had like less than half of the required ingredients.

After much scouring of our collection of cookbooks, magazines and the internets, we cobbled together this recipe based on what we had in the pantry.  Very simple and did not require special planning or ingredients.

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
8 peppermint candies or 2 candy canes



Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9x13 baking dish (don't try to cheat on the size).
Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder,  and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.  Put candycanes in a bag and crush with a rolling pin.  Sprinkle on top of brownie mixture.
Bake in preheated oven, 35 to 40 minutes. Do NOT over-bake, a knife in the center may not come out totally clean, but it's fine.

We ate it right out of the oven, perfect with a glass of milk.  It had a beautiful brownie crust and it got even fudgier and yummier after cooling down a bit.

They are good as plain brownies sans peppermint, but I had to add something Christmas-y.  The mini chips melt right in, which I prefer, but you could do regular chips or chunks instead for a different texture.

And yes, there is a huge tiny chunk taken out of the side.  Because I can never really take a picture of any food until after I'm done eating, heh.  Anyway, make and enjoy.