St. Patrick's Day Treats: Mint Chocolate Brownie Bars and Green Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies

Mint Chocolate Brownie Bars:

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
½ c unsalted butter
1 ¼ c sugar
1 t vanilla
¼ t salt
3 eggs
¾ c all-purpose flour

Mint layer:
2 c confectioner’s sugar
¼ c butter, melted
2 T milk
½ t mint extract
Green coloring, if desired

Ganache:
½ c heavy cream (or 3 T butter)
5 ½ oz milk chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 F; line bottom and sides of an 8” square pan with parchment paper.

In a heavy saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate and butter; stir until melted and smooth; remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

Whisk the sugar, vanilla, and salt into the chocolate mixture; whisk in the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition, then continue to whisk until the mixture is velvety; add the flour and whisk until just combined; pour batter into the prepared pan.

Bake until top is just springy to the touch and a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 35 minutes; transfer to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes; press down on any raised areas to even the top surface; let cool completely.

*Note: The brownie recipe is taken from Williams-Sonoma After Dinner.

Mint layer:
Combine all ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until smooth; spread mixture over cooled brownies.

Ganache:

Melt chocolate with cream (or butter) over a double-boiler, stirring constantly, until smooth; remove from heat and let cool slightly; spread over mint layer and refrigerate until set, about one hour; cut into small rectangular bars.

--This brownie bar was taken from Cooking Light March 2008. However, I wasn't happy with their recipe for the brownie layer, so I used a recipe from a favorite book of mine: Williams-Sonoma After Dinner. That book has several recipes I've made time and again over the years. The ganache topping can be made with any type of chocolate, but because the brownie layer is very dense I chose milk chocolate.

Green Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies

This recipe is from the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. I just added some green color to the cheesecake filling for St. Patrick's Day.


--This is a crunchy cookie that was delicious chilled. I found that I should have used a larger wooden spoon handle to make the indentations in the cookies because the filling spilled over a bit too much. Not a big deal, and tasty either way.
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