These amazing mint chocolate brownies with ganache will become your favorite brownies for any time of the year! Easily make chocolate orange brownies, chocolate strawberry brownies, and chocolate lemon brownies with just a few simple tweaks! You can even do all four flavors in the same pan to make colorful Easter Brownies!
You have not lived until you have had a mint chocolate brownie. Even if you don’t like mint, you will like these brownies. But if you are ADAMANT about not liking mint, I’ve got you covered. I’m going to show you how to change the flavors of the filling in these brownies to basically whatever you want.
These brownies are rich, thick, and fudgy with the perfect layer of flavored filling, and then topped off with decadent chocolate ganache. YUM. You can either use my Decadent Chocolate Brownies as your base, or use this simple recipe for chocolate brownies with cocoa powder.
Ingredients for Mint Chocolate Brownies
These brownies have three layers, so I’ll list the ingredients separately for each layer:
Chocolate Brownies
- butter
- cocoa powder
- eggs
- sugar
- flour
- baking powder
- salt
Flavored Layer
- butter
- salt
- milk
- corn syrup
- powdered sugar
- essential oil or flavor extract (mint, strawberry, lemon, orange, etc.)
- food coloring
Chocolate Ganache
- semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- heavy cream
Mint Chocolate Brownies
How to Make Mint Chocolate Brownies
First, make the brownie layer. With these brownies, I highly suggest you line a 9×13 pan with aluminum foil and that you grease the bottom with butter.
Doing this will make it so that you can lift the brownies out of the pan and cut and serve them much more easily.
Once you bake the brownies, let them cool completely in the pan. It’s o.k. if the brownies crack and buckle. You’re going to cover all that with creamy deliciousness in a bit.
Once the brownies are cool, you will want to mix up your mint (or orange, or strawberry, etc.) layer. For these brownies, I decided to do four flavors.
I just mixed up the ingredients for the flavored layer, and then divided the mixture up into four separate bowls before I added the flavoring and coloring to each.
I love this Mixing Bowl Set of 5, because then I have enough bowls to mix up the brownies, and all four different flavors!
I like to use doTERRA essential oils for my flavoring, but you can use traditional flavor extracts as well.
I played around with the amount of flavoring. It really comes down to your preference. I suggest starting out with these amounts and then adjusting to taste:
- Peppermint: 5 drops doTERRA essential oil, or 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract
- Wild Orange: 5 drops doTERRA essential oil, or 1/2 teaspoon of orange extract
- Lemon: 8 drops do TERRA essential oil, or 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract
- Strawberry: 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry extract (there is no strawberry essential oil)
Remember that these amounts are for 1/4 the total amount of flavored frosting. If you want your frosting to be all the same flavor, you’ll need to at least double (and possibly quadruple) the amount of essential oil or extract.
I would just caution you to be careful about adding too much peppermint, or your brownies may taste a little like toothpaste, and nobody wants that! Also be aware that the more extract you add, the more liquid you are adding to your frosting, and it will affect the consistency.
Once I had my flavors added, I added a drop or two of food coloring to match the flavor. Then I spread each flavor in a band on top of the cooled brownies.
The last thing to do is make your ganache and spread it on top of the brownies.
To make the ganache, all you need to do is put your chocolate chips (I recommend Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips) and your heavy cream in a bowl. Heat the chocolate chips and heavy cream in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then stir.
Heat for another 30 seconds and stir again. If all the chocolate is not melted, heat in 15-second increments until everything is melted and you have a smooth, glossy chocolate mixture.
Just pour this mixture over the top of the brownies and then spread it around.
Now just pop the brownies, uncovered, into the refrigerator so the ganache layer will harden up. You probably want to chill the brownies for at least an hour before cutting.
Then when it’s time to cut, lift the entire sheet of brownies out of the pan with the aluminum foil. Peel the foil down on the sides and use a large, sharp knife to cut the brownies.
Then serve! You can be all fancy like me and add fresh mint to the top of the mint brownies and fresh fruit to the top of the others to match their flavors. (But really, I just added that stuff for the pictures. It’s not necessary :))
What is necessary is a nice glass of milk. Oh, and a napkin. It’s highly likely you’ll get chocolate on your face 🙂
Mint Chocolate Brownies
These amazing mint chocolate brownies with ganache will become your favorite brownies for any time of the year! Easily make chocolate orange brownies, chocolate strawberry brownies, and chocolate lemon brownies with just a few simple tweaks! You can even do all four flavors in the same pan to make colorful Easter Brownies!
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Brownies
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the Mint Layer
- 5 tablespoons butter, softened
- dash of salt
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
- 10 drops doTERRA peppermint oil, or 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (or more, to taste)
- 1-2 drops green food coloring
For the Chocolate Ganache
- 1 bag (11.5 ounces) Ghiradelli dark or bitter-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and grease the bottom of the foil with butter.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter.
- Add the 1/2 cup of cocoa powder to the melted butter and stir. Allow to cool slightly.
- Add the 2 cups of sugar and mix well.
- Add the 4 eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
- Add the 1 3/4 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt all at the same time. Mix until the flour disappears and there are no lumps left.
- Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
- Cool completely.
- Prepare the mint layer by mixing the softened butter with the dash of salt, 1 tablespoon of corn syrup, and 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the mint oil or peppermint extract and food coloring. Mix.
- Add the 3 tablespoons of milk gradually, until the frosting is a little thinner than cake frosting.
- Spread over the top of the brownies. Place the brownies in the refrigerator to help the frosting thicken up while you prepare the ganache.
- To prepare the ganache, add the bag of chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl. Pour the 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream over the chocolate chips and heat on high in the microwave for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Return to the microwave for 30 seconds on high power. Then remove and stir again. If the chocolate is not completely melted, return to the microwave in 15-second increments, stirring between each.
- When chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is glossy, pour over the top of the brownies and spread with a knife or offset spatula.
- Place the brownies in the refrigerator, uncovered, to chill for at least an hour before cutting.
- When ready to serve, lift the entire sheet of brownies out of the pan with the aluminum foil. Peel the foil down from the sides of the brownies, and then slice with a large, sharp knife.
Notes
To make different flavors of filling, simply add your desired flavor of extract or essential oil to the frosting layer.
To make Easter Brownies with four different flavors, divide the frosting into four equal portions before adding your flavoring and food coloring. Be sure to reduce the amount of flavoring for each portion.
For step-by-step pictures and instructions, be sure to scroll up in the post.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 32 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 212Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 48mgSodium: 133mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 2g
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Natalie says
These brownies look amazing! So delicious!
Julie Evink says
How fun is this? I’d make all four flavors. Delicious!
Coleen Koehl says
My family would love the strawberry combo. Trying this soon!
Danielle Green says
Mint! I love anything mint! Love the different colors you made to make this fun!
Malinda Linnebur says
This is just BRILLIANT!! My husband loves mint and I can’t wait to try the strawberry!! Thank you!!