Baking Monday – Chocolate Peppermint Cake

I'm catching up on some posts during this snowy snow day, so it feels very appropriate to share one more peppermint treat leftover from the holidays. I've gotten in the habit of a 2:00 mug of tea and something sweet right before the big kids get home from school. (If there are no fresh treats around, the freezer is usually stocked with a few chocolate banana muffins as a backup.) 

This cake made a delightful tea time accompaniment. The topping is Ghirardelli peppermint bark (half-off after Christmas sale!) Easy to make and looks lovely. Stay warm!

Baking Monday – Mint Chocolate Brownies

Baking Monday is back! Yay!

(This is what goes through my head every time I read "Yay!" Also? My first imbedded animated gif! Hope it's not too distracting!)

Anyhow! I'm back in the kitchen on Mondays! Pool season has started again, and it's time to dig through recipes for some new goodies. Jeff's request: something minty. These brownies are deee-licious. 

A few adjustments: butter instead of shortening, milk instead of heavy cream, and I had to add a little bit of milk to the chocolate/butter glaze, because for some reason, it was (at first) a lumpy mess. I also sprinkled some crushed chocolate cookies on top because (1) I thought they could use something crunchy and (2) they were left over in the pantry from another recipe. 

These were really super good, plus, I can envision doing different flavorings for the middle layer of frosting (specifically, peanut butter!) 

Hello! Happy to be back!