Mint Cookie Brownies for St. Patrick's Day!

My friend Colleen Barber of "What's Baking in the Barbershop?!" posted a photo on her facebook page of Cookies and Cream brownies that look incredible, and I can't wait to bake them.  She's posting the recipe tomorrow, so look for it, and in the meantime check out all her recipes - they're terrific!  I can't wait to make her brownies.  In the meantime, I was thinking that I have the fixings for a cookie/brownie combo that would be great for St. Patrick's Day (thank you, Colleen, for the inspiration!).

I bought a lot of Girl Scout cookies this year, more than I remembered ordering!  I always give my brother Steven a couple of boxes of Thin Mints for his birthday, his favorite.  I have extra, and if I have extra, I eat them, which is not the best case scenario as I count points in an effort to lose pounds (the motivation came over me long after I ordered the cookies!).  So, I thought I'd make some Thin Mint Brownies as an early St. Patrick's Day treat by taking a basic brownie recipe (not a mix, but a mix would be fine) and adding chopped up cookies and chunks of dark chocolate.  I adapted a  very highly-rated recipe from allrecipes.com for the foundation, doubled, and folded in  chocolate and cookie pieces.  The brownies are baking now, and I have some photos to share.  Reviews will have to wait until my co-workers let me know how they turned out!  There's a reason why people associate St. Patrick's Day with chocolate and mint, and though I'm not sure what that reason is, I'm happy to go along with the idea!

MINT COOKIE BROWNIES
350 degrees F
13x9 pan, bottom only sprayed with cooking spray

2 bars butter, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pour melted butter into large mixing bowl.  Stir in sugar and mix well.  Add eggs and beat well with wooden spoon.  Add vanilla extract.

Add, all at once:
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

With rubber spatula or wooden spoon, fold dry ingredients into wet and stir until all the dry is incorporated, careful not to overwork the batter.  Fold in:

6 oz. chocolate, chopped (I used Dark Mint Premium Candy Wafers, the kind you find at a crafts store)
1 sleeve Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies, chopped into pieces

Thoroughly combine batter with chocolate and cookies, and spread in prepared pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

Pete and Hank, hanging out on a rainy March day...

Click to enlarge...