Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies

 Pinterest is whipping out the fitness videos, these people just did a fitness Adele spoof, and I admit that we had salmon and zoodles for dinner tonight because... just because the roast/potato/cookie motif was getting a little old.

But let's not pretend there aren't those New Year's parties coming up. Or that you don't have ten billion leftover candy canes. Because I know you do. I remember my mom saving the extra candy canes from year to year--she'd just put them in the boxes with the other Christmas stuff and out they'd come for the next year (wonder why nobody ate them...). I, myself, in my extreme cheapskatery have been known to buy them post Christmas (oh, look, they're $.10 instead of a that whopping $.99; I'll save them for next year). And in my absolute defense, the sell-by dates weren't until the next year either, so if I didn't buy them cheap, the companies who make those things were probably just going to put them in their proverbial Christmas boxes and bring them out the next year too.

But perhaps we can all agree that there are better things to do with leftover candy canes than save them year after year. This one is so much better that you'll never have to save a candy cane again. Though you might have to pin a few extra fitness videos. You can thank me later.

Note: These are ridiculously, crazily over-the-top. In fact, I didn't think they'd be worth it. They are, friends, they are.

Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies
Makes 1 9x13 inch pan of brownies
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes
Cost: $8.00 (no, they're not really cheap, but don't worry--that's coming with the fitness videos. And to be fair they're way cheaper than any brownie you'll buy at Starbucks, so there you go. They're still just $.33/brownie)
$2.65 for brownies, 1.35 for chocolate chips, 2.00 for white chocolate chips, 2.00 for Andes mints (though to keep price down, use leftover candy from Christmas because you know you probably have some), milk: .10

1 recipe for Kip's brownies
4 oz Andes mints (or other leftover Christmas candy as long as it's chocolate-y or minty)
1 1/2 C chocolate chips
4 candy canes, chopped (or whizzed in a blender, which is so much better)
White Chocolate Ganache:
1 1/2 C white chocolate chips (a higher quality chip will incorporate better with the milk)
3/4 C milk or half and half

Here's what you do:

1. Make the batter for Kip's brownies
2. Pour half of it (a largish half--you can see in the pics above that I didn't pour enough into my bottom layer and the Andes mints were nearer to the bottom; not a problem, but...) into your 9x13 inch pan and spread around
3. Chop or break Andes mints (or other Christmas candy) and sprinkle over batter.
4. Pour remaining batter over candy and spread evenly.
5. Bake according to directions (note: brownies in metal pans bake quicker than brownies in glass; we use glass, so possibly cut some time if using metal)
6. When brownies are done and HOT, pour chocolate chips over top of them. Allow to melt and spread the chocolate.
7. Let chocolate cool (I did this overnight, but you can always refrigerate or freeze if you need it that day).
8. Make white chocolate ganache. Pour over chocolate layer
9. Sprinkle chopped candy canes over top of this. I hate chopping candy canes because they shatter and go everywhere, so I put mine in my magic bullet and gave it a whiz. They chopped beautifully and even got kind of powdery. I didn't think I'd like this, but I loved it--it was delicious and made it so the candy cane didn't overpower the brownie or get stuck in clumps in your molars.

And that's it. Hope you got your fitness videos pinned.