Chocolate Mint Treasures

Chocolate and mint just go together so well. Like chocolate and peanut butter. And chocolate and strawberries. And chocolate and, well, just about anything! This is a great Christmas recipe, because for some reason people decided mint is the flavor of Christmas. I don't really care, because it tastes good so this just gives me an excuse to make it.

The recipe isn't difficult. The only thing I was a little annoyed at is the fact that you have to clean your mixer in between each layer if you don't want to cross contaminate the chocolate layer with the white layer. No biggie, it just takes a little more time.

First Layer

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1/8 tsp salt

Second Layer

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 pkg (7.05 oz) After Eight thin mints

Drizzle

• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 oz white baking chocolate

For layer one: in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Spread into a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. 

For layer two: in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Gently spread over chocolate layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven. Top with mints. Bake 1-2 more minutes, or until mints begin to melt; carefully spread mints evenly over the top. Cool completely. 

In a microwave, melt bittersweet chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Drizzle over bars; chill until set. Grate white chocolate over the top. Chill until set. Cut into triangles.

NOTES: Spreading a thick dough into a greased pan was a bit difficult because it just kept sliding around on the greased surface. I ended up just using my fingers to push it towards the edges. There wasn't much of an issue with the dough sticking to the pan later when I tried to remove it, so I think I did alright.

I cooked the minimum amount of time, checked the dough and then left it in a few more minutes. It still didn't look very "golden brown", but I didn't want to overdo it. Maybe I need to check the temperature of my oven and make sure its accurate? Anyway, they were still a bit gooey once it was all said and done. Not sure if they are supposed to be or not. Maybe gooey isn't the word. Flexible? Anyway, you could probably leave them in a smidge longer so that they are a bit firmer and therefore easier to get out of the pan later.

Serves: 4 dozen

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes plus cooling

Recipe from Taste of Home