Mint Cookies & Cream Bars

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I made these delish bars for a St. Paddy's Day brunch we went to yesterday. They were so good! Kristen over at Confessions Of a Cookbook Queen posted them a few days ago, and I knew they would be perfect for the brunch. With a tweak to her recipe of course.

Ingredients for bars

Have I mentioned how much I love cake bars? They are so easy to make and can be easily adapted to make all different kinds of bars.  You combine your cake mix, oil, water, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, food coloring and peppermint extract in a bowl.  I started with two teaspoons of peppermint extract, tasted, and then added a third. I like a noticeable mint flavor and I didn't want it getting lost. Once it is mixed, it should look like the below picture. Nice and thick.

I used Wiltons Leaf Green food coloring. I was worried that it would be too light, but just a little bit went a long way. I thought it was a perfect green. Next, I put about 10 Oreos in a bag and chopped/crushed them with the end of a knife. You should crush them so they are still big chunks like the below picture.

Add them to your batter and fold in gently. You don't want to completely crush the cookies. 

Add to your prepared pan and spread to the edges. I used a 9x13 pan covered in tin foil. I was totally out of Pam, but the bars didn't stick as bad as I had expected. I would totally use Pam or some other cooking spray whether you use tin foil or not.

Ready for baking

Bake in a 350 degree oven. I baked mine for about 15-17min. If you use a smaller pan, you need to adjust your cooking time by a few minutes.

All done!

After your cake has cooled about 10 minutes, you can start preparing your frosting. 

Ingredients for Frosting

Because the frosting cooked really quickly, I didn't get to take pictures of the prep. Sorry about that. It is really easy though. Crush an additional 4-5 cookies. Melt 4 TBS of butter on medium heat. Add your milk and cocoa powder and whisk until it just begins to boil. The mixture will thicken up. Remove from heat and whisk in your powdered sugar. Continue to whisk until mixture is smooth. Pour over bars and spread. Immediately sprinkle crushed Oreo's over frosting and lightly press in. The frosting starts to set as soon as it starts to cool so you have to do that quickly. I actually had my sister spread the frosting while I poured it on.

Looks so good! 

Closeup of the Oreo covered frosting

These bars were so good. They had a great mint flavor that worked really well with the dark chocolate frosting and the Oreo's. I loved the texture of the bars too. They were almost 'fudgy' like without being overly gooey. And they were a big hit at the brunch. 

Recipe (adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen): 

 For the bars:

 1 box white cake mix

 1/3 cup oil

 1/4 cup water

 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

 3 teaspoons peppermint extract (you can use less)

 10 Oreo's, chopped

 Green Food coloring

For the frosting:

 4 TBS butter

 2 heaping TBS Dark Chocolate cocoa powder

 3 TBS milk

 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

 4-5 Oreo's, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Line a 9x13 pan with foil and/or spray with cooking spray

Combine cake mix, water, oil, egg, egg yolk, extract and food coloring. Beat with electric mixer until well combined.

Fold in chopped cookies gently.

Spread batter in prepared pan

Bake for about 15-17 minutes until edges are lightly browned.

Let bars cool about 10 minutes and prepare frosting.

In a small saucepan, melt butter.

Add milk and cocoa powder and whisk until mixture just starts to boil. 

Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth.

Pour frosting over bars and spread to edges. Immediately press remaining chopped cookies.

Allow bars to cool completely before cutting. 

Mint Cookies & Cream Bars

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (GLUTEN FREE!)

These are an adaption of the Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies I have made before. Christmas is definitely a time for all things chocolate minty! I love these cookies because they are pretty easy to make, and they are gluten free.

You first want to separate your egg whites. Place those in a bowl and allow the whites to come to room temperature.

 Egg Whites!

While your egg whites are coming to room temperature, you can melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips.  Place the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Melt them slowly so they don't burn. I did 45 seconds, stirred and then did 20 second intervals until they chips were completely melted. Once they were melted, I added in the peppermint extract. I did about a teaspoon at a time until I thought it tasted minty enough. You can add in as much, or as little, as you want. Your chocolate should look like the below picture when it is done.

Once your egg whites have come to room temperature (about 30min) you can start beating them.  After about a minute or so on med speed, they should look like the below picture.

 You want to keep beating the egg whites until they reach soft peaks. That should resemble the following picture.

See? Soft peak!

Once you have reached this stage, you are ready to add your powdered sugar. Slowly add in 1 cup of powdered sugar. You want to add it in gradually while continuing to beat the egg whites on slow/med speed. Once your sugar has been added, the mixture should resemble marshmallow creme.

Totally looks like marshmallow creme, Right?

In a seperate bowl, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch and salt. It should look like the below picture.. just ignore the finger (oops!).

Slowly (like very slowly) add your dry mixture to the egg whites. Once that is combined, add in your melted chocolate mixture and the rest of your chocolate chips. Your mixture will become very stiff. I popped mine into the fridge for a few minutes so the mixture would be less sticky and easier to handle. Put the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar on a plate. Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball and then roll that ball through your powdered sugar.  Then place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sorry about my lack of pictures.. if you want to see pics of the steps I missed taking pictures of, click on the link for my original recipe. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the tops crack. They should look like the below picture.

All done!

Cool for about 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

I have to say, I loved the minty flavor of these cookies. I will admit to also popping 2 in the microwave (after Christmas) for a couple seconds so that they got warm and smooshy and then topping with ice cream. SO GOOD!!

Recipe:

1 10oz bag Nestle Dark Chocolate Chips

3 Large egg whites, room temperature

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided

1/2 cup unsweeted cocoa powder ( I used Hershey's Special Dark)

1 tablespoon corn starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-3 teaspoons peppermint extract

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees

Line cookies sheets with parchment paper

Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl

Stir in peppermint extract

Using mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl to soft  peaks.

Gradually beat in 1 cup sugar.

Continue beating until mixture resembles marshmallow creme

Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in medium bowl.

On low speed, beat dry ingredients into egg white/sugar mixture.

Stir in lukewarm chocolate and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Place 1/2 cup sugar on plate.

Roll 1 rounded tablespoon of dough into ball; roll in sugar.

Place on prepared sheet.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes.

Cool on sheets, on rack, about 10 minutes.

Remove cookies from sheets, place on racks to cool completely.

Store in airtight container.

Cookie closeup!