holiday treats Archives - I am a Honey Bee

Peppermint Pattie Brownies

Makes 16 brownies

Ingredients

For the brownie layer

1/2 Cup butter, melted

1 Cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 Cup flour

1/3 Cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 Cup chocolate chips

For the mint layer

2 Cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, softened

3 Tablespoons evaporated milk

1/4 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

For the ganache layer

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

3 Tablespoons half and half

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8″ square pan, line with parchment paper so there are ‘wings’ on 2 sides.

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with sugar and vanilla extract, whisking until combined and almost smooth.

Whisk in each egg one at a time, stirring until a smooth batter forms.

Add in flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, stirring until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake at 350 for 22-28 minutes until set. Let cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Continue to let cool.

While the brownies are cooling, combine the powdered sugar, butter, evaporated milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and peppermint extract in a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy. Pour over the cooled brownies and spread in an even layer. Chill in the refrigerator until set, about 30 minutes.

Make the ganache layer by melting 3/4 of the chocolate over a double boiler (a glass or a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water). While you are melting the chocolate continuously mix the chocolate. Add the half and half and mix well again. It will be glossy, but lumpy at this point so add the rest of the chocolate and mix until the chocolate is smooth glossy.

Evenly spread the ganache on top of the peppermint layer. Refrigerate again until set.

Adapted from Cook with Sara

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I’m so ready for Christmas and all the craziness that comes with it. Actually, I’m not at all but I’m trying. At least I will bake and cook myself into the holiday spirit. I have so many recipes bookmarked it’s a bit crazy. But I’m looking forward to tackling that list.

Something you should add to your holiday baking list are these Chocolate Bourbon Balls. As soon as I saw these on Shari’s blog, The Saucy Gourmet, I knew that these would be perfect to make for this month’s addition for Secret Recipe Club. We are taking next month off from posting so I wanted to share something perfect for the holidays.

These are so simple to make and a great treat for the holiday season. In all they took me an hour to make and that included 30 minutes of me watching Parenthood while they cooled for 30 minutes. Not bad at all. Shari suggests that you make them a few days in advance of serving them to allow the flavors to meld together and for the bourbon to mellow out. I follow no such instructions and didn’t wait so they had a real kick to them but were still soooo good. But it’s really great that you can make these in advance of a party or a cookie swap when you are super crazy swamped with a million other holiday things they will be ready and waiting for you.

Prior to making these I recruited one of the general contractors I work with into explaining bourbon to me. Bourbon is American made whiskey that is barrel-aged, which is why it is pricier than something like vodka. We discussed what bourbon to use in this recipe as well. Since this doesn’t have many ingredients it would be best to use a good quality bourbon so you don’t pucker up as you eat the bourbon balls. Basically, he suggested to skip using Jack Daniels (unless you get a nice specialty bottle). I was still confused so I called him from the liquor store… after work. Oh those general contractors are such good sports, which is why I gave them all of these bourbon balls!

Chocolate Bourbon Truffles

Makes 30 1” round truffles

Ingredients

6 oz (1 cup) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup bourbon, such as Maker’s Mark
55 Nilla wafers cookies
4 oz (1 cup) walnut pieces
Sugar of rolling

Process

Using a food processor (or a knife and some patiences), crush the Nilla Waffers and walnuts together until fine.
In a medium sized, heavy-bottom pot, melt the chocolate on low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and add the sugar, corn syrup, and bourbon and mix until chocolate mixture is smooth again. Thoroughly mix in the Nilla Waffers and walnut mixture to create a dough.
In the pot, divide the dough in half by scoring the top, then divide those 2 sections in 5 equal sections. Let the dough cool for 30 minutes.
Once the dough has cooled, remove from the pot and roll the 10 sections into even sized logs and then cut each into 3 pieces. Roll the balls and then coat with sugar.

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