Fresh Mint Brownies with Fudge Frosting

                                                                             

These are amazing brownies that use fresh picked mint! My husband has a lot of mint growing in his garden & I wanted to try something other than tea or jelly. These brownies are a variation of The Pajama Chef's Fudgy Mint Brownies found on the blog The Pajama Chef! They are wonderful! If you do not have fresh mint & cannot purchase any from your local store or local produce stands you may use mint extract using 2 teaspoons instead of the mint leaves. But the fresh mint is the perfect touch for these brownies. I did change a few ingredients in this recipe & this version is excellent! 

The Brownies:

1 Cup Fresh Picked Mint Leaves wash pat dry & remove all stems 

1/2 Cup Butter Melted ( I melted mine in the microwave)

1 Cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla; or 2 teaspoons mint extract, IF, you are not using the mint leaves!

1/3 Cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder

1 Cup Flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees,

In the Food processor pulse the mint leaves until very fine! If you do not have a processor just chop the leaves on your cutting board, a meat cleaver does a fine job but the processor saves you  lot of work! If not using a food processor just continue the directions using your mixer,

To the mint leaves that you have minced very fine add the melted butter & mix on high! Now beat in the sugar blending well! SMELL THAT MINT! Now beat in the 2 eggs & vanilla extract if using the fresh mint OR the mint extract if not using the mint leaves. Now add the cocoa & beat! Now beat in the flour! Batter will be thick, dark, minty & oily, the perfect brownie batter! Spray a 9x9 inch pan with cooking spray. Spoon in the batter & smooth evenly in the pan. Bake for exactly 25 minutes! Remove from oven & spread the frosting on while brownies are still warm!

FUDGY FROSTING:

3 Tablespoons Butter Melted

1 Tablespoon Honey

1 Tablespoon Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

3 Heaping Tablespoon Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa

Melt Butter, stir in Honey & Vanilla. Whisk very well. Now whisk in the cocoa & sugar, add the milk & whisk smooth! Do this all by hand it is very easy to make! Spread over warm brownies & let cool before cutting into squares! This makes 1&1/2 dozen very decadent brownies!