Mint Chocolate Brownies

This week I received an earnest email from a coworker, pleading for our Girl Scout cookie purchases to support his daughter's first year as a Girl Scout. He spoke of how she's so close to reaching her goal, and that my purchase will help boost her self-confidence and then, only then, can she succeed in life. Maybe I made that last part up, but if he brought her in to the office, I'll bet she would have made a killing. Who can resist buying cookies from a little girl asking so sweetly? I certainly can't, so I opted for a couple boxes of thin mints. I love that mint chocolate flavor, and when they're frozen - yum.

The thin mints will arrive sometime next week, so in the mean time I made these mint chocolate brownies to have a little taste of what's to come. I used a previous brownie recipe and added a teaspoon of peppermint extract. A little bit of that stuff certainly goes a long way. I think I would like a little more texture in these brownies, but since I usually shy away from adding nuts (per some preferences), next time I'll add in some chocolate chunks to the mix.

Mint Chocolate Brownies
adapted from a previous recipe

Ingredients:
7 ounces dark chocolate (this time I used Ghirardelli's 72% cocoa)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup flour

Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.
3. In microwave, melt chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until mixture is smooth. Whisk in cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla, peppermint, and salt in medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds.
5. Whisk warm chocolate mixture into egg mixture; then stir in flour until just combined.
6. Spoon batter into muffin pan. Bake until slightly puffed and toothpick inserted in center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature.