Chocolate Monday: Candy Cane Cookie Crunch Brownies

This is not my recipe or my picture. I found the picture online and Susan (page fan) sent me the recipe. As soon as I have a link as to where the recipe is found online and who's it is, I will make sure to give credit where credit is due :)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Dutch Process Cocoa (Dark Cocoa is great if you have it)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup crushed sandwich cookies
1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

DIRECTIONS
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan

2) In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

3) While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat well. Beat in the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla until smooth.

4) Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

5) Add the flour, cookies and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

6) Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9″ x 13″ pan.

7) Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

I like to cut my brownies into round shapes, using cookie cutters or a cup. This recipe would be awesome with frosting on top but this time I simply topped the brownies with a bit of whipped cream, some chocolate sauce and a teaspoon of crushed candy canes. Yum!"