Festively Fudgy and Minty Fresh: Grasshopper Bars

I tried hard to keep my baked goods on theme for our annual St. Patrick's Day party at work. I brought out several recipes that I had made before, including: Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread that I made with Guinness Stout; Brown Butter Soda Bread; Almond Green Tea Cupcakes; and the Baked Ultimate Birthday Cake (which I made with light and dark green sprinkles in the cake batter and shamrock sprinkles on top of the cake). I also tried three new recipes. First, I made Irish Cream Chocolate Mousse, using this recipe from epicurious.com -- I made just the mousse without the cake and served tasting portions in two-ounce plastic cups with miniature spoons. The mousse was immensely popular and one of the first things to go at the party. Second, I made a Coconut Layer Cake covered in dyed green coconut -- that cake was so good that it will be the subject of a separate blog post. But this post is about the third new recipe I tried: Grasshopper Squares.

The grasshopper bars are comprised of a brownie topped with layers of mint ganache and chocolate ganache. To make the brownie, you heat butter with bittersweet chocolate and light brown sugar, stirring until smooth; add eggs and vanilla; and whisk in flour, cocoa powder, and salt. You bake the brownie in a lined 9-inch by 13-inch pan and cool completely. 
The mint ganache layer is made from white chocolate, cream, crème de menthe, and peppermint extract. My crème de menthe is clear, so I also added a few drops of green food coloring. I used the ganache immediately after making it, spreading it over the cooled brownie while the ganache was still warm. I chilled the brownie topped with the mint ganache before spreading on the final chocolate ganache layer, which I also did while the ganache was still warm. I chilled the finished bars overnight before slicing.

The green ganache layer made these quite festive for St. Patrick's Day. The brownie base is ultra-fudgy. Because these bars are incredibly rich and almost candylike, they should definitely but cut into small servings -- a little goes a long way. They were pleasantly minty and not overly boozy, but mostly, they were decadently chocolate-y. Tasters raved about the bars. I thought they were a great addition to the party menu.

Recipe: "Grasshopper Squares" from epicurious.com.

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