Creme de Menthe Brownies

My boyfriend's sisters invited us over for dinner last week, so I wanted to bring a yummy dessert over.  Usually I make a 9x13" tray of brownies to bring to work, but this was a much smaller audience so I opted for the 8x8" and scaled back my usual brownie recipes.  I've been working on brownie recipes for a long time, and I still haven't quite found one that I'm in love with.  This one was decent, but I think I would have liked to cook it a bit longer for next time.

Stacey's Mint Brownie Ingredients:

1 stick butter, organic, salted
3 oz 99% unsweetened Guittard chocolate
1c dark brown sugar, organic
1c white sugar, organic
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2c whole wheat flour, organic
2 tbs Scharffen Berger cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs cornstarch
1/3c Guittard semisweet chocolate chips

Stacey's Creme de Menthe Frosting Ingredients
3 tbs heavy cream, organic
2 tsp Creme de Menthe liqueur
1.5c powdered sugar
1 tbs butter, organic, salted - melted

Guittard mint chips
Nestle mini chocolate chips

Foil
8x8" cake pan

First, I wanted to preheat the oven to 350F. However, I forgot and had to do it later and wait. If you're going to follow this recipe, you should be more mindful than me and preheat the oven. :)  I lined an 8x8" cake pan with foil. Then I heated the butter, and using a silicone pastry brush, I coated it with butter.

Then I added the 99% unsweetened chocolate to the butter and microwaved it until everything was liquid.

You don't want it to get too hot, or it will cook the eggs.  I use my temp gun and usually it's around 110F.

Then I added the sugar, vanilla, and eggs.

And finally all the other dry ingredients, including the chocolate chips.  It is about this time that I realized I forgot to preheat the oven.  Muttering curses (or more like shouting them in the kitchen), I preheated the oven while I spread the brownie mixture into the prepared cake pan.

I popped it in the oven for 16 minutes once the oven was hot enough, rotating the pan once at the halfway point.  It came out like this.  The middle sprung back when I pressed it with my finger so I figured it was done.

Once it was cool, I mixed all the frosting ingredients together in a bowl.

It was still slightly warm, which helped with the spreading.  I frosted the top and then sprinkled the mint and mini chocolate chips over the top.

Here is a cut piece - had to take it with a different camera because I forgot mine. 

Everyone enjoyed the brownies, especially one of my boyfriend's sisters because she likes them to taste more raw.  These were definitely moist if you like it that way, but I think I would have preferred to bake it for another 5 minutes or so.  Oh well, next time. :)  And of course, I'll let you know how that goes.