These are the perfect marriage between Mint Chocolate Brownies and a Crumb Cake! I took my favourite dense, fudgy, rich brownies added a little peppermint and then sprinkled a chocolatey crumble mix on top before baking them up – you will love all the textures and flavours in these!
Welcome to my Christmas baking madness!
For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing 3 recipes a week – there’s going to be all kinds of wonderful stuff – easy things to make for gifts, rich, decadent things just because it’s Christmas and there is no such thing as a diet at Christmas… fudge, chocolate, eggnog, mint, candy canes – there’s just so many wonderful things to make and I cannot WAIT to share them!
Let’s kick of this baking bonanza with this Mint Chocolate Brownie Crumb Cake! 🙂
It’s insane friends.
I mean, who doesn’t love brownies, right? I took my favourite ever brownies, made with both Cocoa powder and melted chocolate, then made them even better with a little peppermint extract.
These brownies are famous in my family. Everyone ADORES them and I always get asked to make them!
They’re probably the No. 1 request I get – so I apologise for not sharing them with you sooner!
I have tried SO many brownie recipes, ones with just cocoa powder, ones with just melted chocolate and ones with both.
In my humble opinion, the absolute best brownies are the ones with cocoa and melted chocolate. You just can’t beat them!
I always use really good quality 70% dark chocolate; I’ve found that brownies with just cocoa powder can be a little dry; as soon as you take out flour and add in cocoa powder it takes out moisture. So, that’s one reason why I add in melted chocolate.
Another reason, is that it makes every single bite extra rich and decadent. It’s so important to use the best quality chocolate you can find/afford. I absolutely swear by Green and Blacks – it melts down nicely, has a smooth, intense flavour and just makes you go “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!”.
If you use cheap chocolate, cake coverings or chocolate flavoured bars (they tend to be mixed with a lot of fat to make them easier to melt) then it will affect the taste of your brownies.
As for the other ingredients which add to the fudge factor – I only use 1/2 cup of flour in my brownies. Along with 1/4 cup cocoa powder, it’s the perfect amount of dry to the wet. You get a gloriously thick batter, but they are most definitely NOT cakey!
I add a pinch of salt, a small amount of baking powder and use all light brown sugar. The sugar adds a depth of flavour that plain white just can’t. You get a sweet, caramel note which is perfect with the dark chocolate.
Now, let’s talk about that crumb topping.
It’s the stuff of dreams.
Butter, flour, cocoa powder and sugar. Rubbed together to form gorgeous lumps of buttery, sweet, chocolate goodness.
I just love crumb toppings, they are SO easy to make, yet they transform things. These are no longer just standard brownies, they are pimped brownies!!!
The crunch is the perfect contrast to the dense brownie mix. I have to admit, it’s a little harder to tell when they’re baked than without the crumb topping, but it’s truly worth the fact you may have to check them a little more carefully!
I don’t know why I haven’t put a crumb topping on brownies before now – AMAZING!
Friends, MAKE THESE! Your Christmas needs them. Your hips probably don’t, but that’s what New Year’s resolutions are for… 😉
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Mint Chocolate Brownie Crumb Cake
Ingredients
- For the crumb topping:
- 1/2 stick (56g) unsalted butter, left at room temp for 10 mins
- 1/2 cup + 2tbsp (100g) plain flour
- 1/4 cup (50g) light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- For the brownies:
- 3.5 oz (100g) dark chocolate
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (200g) light brown sugar
- Just over 1/4tsp peppermint extract
- 1/2 cup (70g) plain flour
- 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt
- For the glaze:
- 2 oz (56g) white chocolate
- 1/8 tsp peppermint extract
- Christmas sprinkles/sugar pearls, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F and grease and line an 8x8 inch square pan.
- Make the crumb topping first: Place butter, flour, sugar and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl and rub together until combined and you have coarse crumbs - some large and some small lumps in perfect! Leave to one side.
- Place dark chocolate and butter into heatproof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments, stirring in-between until melted. You can also place the bowl over a simmering saucepan of water and stir until melted. Leave to cool whilst you mix the rest of the batter.
- Place eggs, sugar and peppermint extract into a large bowl and whisk until smooth and combined, about 1 minute.
- Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together into a medium sized bowl and stir until combined.
- Pour melted chocolate mix into your sugar and egg mixture and whisk until combined.
- Tip in your flour mix and fold in gently with a spatula/wooden spoon - just until there are no lumps of flour visible.
- Tip brownie mixture into your greased pan and spread until level with spoon/spatula.
- Sprinkle your crumb mixture all over the brownie mix and press it into the brownies ever so slightly with a clean hand.
- Place in the oven for 23-27 minutes until they've risen slightly and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out with just a few crumbs. The crumb topping will be firm to the touch and crisp. If your skewer comes out a little wet, give the brownies a few more minutes, but check them as they can go from perfectly baked to overdone quickly!
- Leave to cool completely in the pan.
- Once cool, make the glaze: place white chocolate into a heatproof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments, stirring in-between until melted. Add in the peppermint extract and stir.
- Either spoon over your brownies or place in a piping/Ziploc bag. Snip the end off the bag and squeeze gently in lines over your brownies. Any way you want! I did mine diagonally across! Sprinkle with holiday sugar pearls or sprinkles and dig in!
- Slice into 9-12 bars. Brownies will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature for 4 days.
Notes
