The One Where I Pretend I'm a Food Blogger: Chocolate Mint Bars

My kids asked how many pages of paragraphs of backstory I was going to write before I give you the recipe.

So, let’s get to the point. This is a family recipe for Chocolate Mint Bars that my grandmother, Bev Sander, aka Nannie, used to serve for all of her Christmas parties. I have so many fond memories of sneaking these cookies. As she was getting older, we had many cherished girls baking days with her where we’d all pitch in to make her dozen varieties of cookies. I was always in charge of the mint bars.

She left us her recipe cookbook, affectionately known as “The Blue Book”, with all of her handwritten recipes she’d collected over the years. Unfortunately some of them are written in her shorthand. Unless you had made them with her, you might not know the nuance of making them.

Over the years I have pats self on back perfected the art of the mint bar so I have decided to share it first and foremost my cousins who didn’t get the same amount of time on the earth with Nannie that I did. And also, my precious 8th Grade Girls Religion Class who has heard many stories about Nannie and “The Blue Book”

Without further ado, I give you…..the recipe.

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Mint Bars

Yield 64-80 bars

Author Bev Sander

Prep time

45 Min

Cook time

25 Min

Inactive time

4 Hour

Total time

5 H & 10 M

Nannie's famous mint bars. Perfect for holiday cookie platters.

Ingredients

Brownie

• ½ pound (2 sticks) butter or margarine
• 4 ounces of bitter chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting

• 4 Tablespoons of butter (room temperature) or margarine
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 2 teaspoons mint extract
• 2 teaspoons green food coloring

Chocolate Drizzle

• 3 ounces of bitter chocolate
• 3 Tablespoons butter or margarine

Instructions

Prepare the Bars

1. In a double boiler or melting pan, melt butter and bitter chocolate stirring often. About 20-25 minutes. Cool.
2. In a medium/large bowl, beat eggs and sugar by hand with a wire whisk in a large bowl until smooth. Add chocolate mixture and mix well.
3. Stir in flour and vanilla.
4. Pour into parchment lined 9x13 pan on 350 for 20-22 minutes.
5. Rest on wire rack until completely cool. About 2-3 hours.

Frosting

1. In a small/medium bowl, mix butter, confectioners sugar, milk, mint flavoring, and green food coloring. You can use a hand mixer for this.
2. Frost bars & refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

Chocolate Drizzle

1. In a double boiler or melting pan, melt chocolate and butter until smooth. Let cool for a few minutes.
2. Remove bars from fridge.
3. Drizzle chocolate over the mint frosting. Refrigerate again for 20-30 minutes before cutting.

Serve

1. Remove bars from pan by lifting them out by the parchment paper.
2. Use a large, warmed, chef's knife to cut into bite sized squares.
3. Store in fridge. Serve cold or room temperature.
4. Enjopy!