experiMINT: Recipe Repertoire

     Whatever you religious celebration of choice is in the winter, around this time of year there is a plethora of candy canes available.  Children pass them out as Christmas treats, they accumulate in your house during the season, or can be purchased starting the 26^th of December for a dime a dozen.  What can you do with them all?  Here are some of my favorite recipes.

     Hint:  For all of these recipes, the candy canes need to be fully crushed.  In order to do this, unwrap each one (small or large ones will work), place in a plastic bag, wrap the bag in a bath towel, and bang away with a hammer (this is great to alleviate some built-up holiday tension, but best done on a floor or outside to prevent unnecessary damage).  Crush to desired size for each recipe.

     Mint Cocoa:  To spruce up bland hot chocolate mix, toss in some crushed peppermint candy to taste.  Or try a drop of peppermint extract and mix into your cocoa.

     Peppermint Brownies: (VERY YUMMY) Line pan with tin foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Make your favorite chocolate brownie recipe, adding in 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, and an optional 1 cup of white chocolate backing chips (this addition will make it more of a peppermint bark brownie).  Bake as normal, removing 10 minutes sooner than usual.  Quickly sprinkle 1 cup of crushed candy canes evenly on top of brownies and put back in the oven for the remaining 10 minutes of bake time.  When finished, remove tin foil from pan and set the brownies on a cooling rack until cool to the touch.  Remove from foil, cut, serve, and enjoy. 
     These are best stored in an air-tight container for as long as a regular batch of brownies would keep.

     Peppermint Bark:  (TASTES LIKE STORE BOUGHT...OR BETTER) Line a 9 by 13 inch pan with tin foil and spray with non-stick spray.  In a double boiler, (or a pot and a metal bowl that will rest on the rim of the chosen pot), add water as not to touch the top pan, (or bowl).  Bring the water to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  In the top pan, melt 12 oz of semi sweet, dark or milk chocolate chips, depending on your preference. Quickly spread in the pan with a spatula or a knife to produce an even layer of chocolate.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  In the double boiler, melt 1 lb of white chocolate chips.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract and ½ cup of crushed candy canes.  Spread evenly over the cooled chocolate layer and sprinkle more candy cane pieces on top, pressing in firmly.  Refrigerate 30 minutes before breaking.

     To break:  I recommend a hammer and a flat-head screwdriver, (preferably prewashing the screwdriver, but each to his own).  I am not going to lie; this bark tastes great, but is a pain to break.  You could try using a knife, but be VERY careful.  Trips to the emergency room really put a damper on the holidays. 
     Store in the refrigerator and serve cold.

     Tips (for experiMINTing):  If you want to add mint to desserts throughout the year, Andes Candies work great as a minty chocolate chunk if you chop them into pieces.  Mint chocolate chunk cookies anyone?

     And adding that teaspoon of peppermint extract adds a hint of mint to any recipe.  Basically where there is chocolate, you cannot go wrong by adding some mint.

     Food coloring also gives you the versatility to make your treats almost any color of the rainbow!  If the cookie is mint, who says it cannot be red, green, or even blue?

     I hope you enjoy these recipes, and that they help you get rid of some of the extra candy canes in your house.  You may even find yourself buying MORE candy canes in order to complete more recipes!  Experiment with other combinations of adding peppermint to desserts.  Let me know if you find something new!