Brownies with peppermint bark make a sweet statement on your holiday dessert plate

This is part of Southern Kitchen's 12 Days of Cookies and Cocktails series, which runs daily through Christmas Eve. Each day, we'll pair fun festive cocktails with classic cookie recipes. These Peppermint Bark Brownies go great with this Snowbird spiked with tequila.

About the recipe

These fudgy brownies are wonderful on their own, but the addition of crisp peppermint bark makes for a delightful holiday treat.

Serves: 12

Hands on time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients

Brownies:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Peppermint bark:

1 1/2 pounds high-quality white chocolate chips

30 peppermint candies, crushed

Instructions

To make the brownies:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with nonstick oil spray. Line the bottom and the sides with parchment paper.

Fill a medium saucepan about 1 inch deep with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Combine the butter and chocolate in a large bowl and nest in the saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Let melt, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and stir until it dissolves into the chocolate. Carefully remove the bowl from the saucepan and place on a kitchen towel on the counter. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla, then whisk into the warm chocolate mixture. Work quickly to avoid scrambling the eggs. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, then whisk into the chocolate mixture, taking care not to overwork the batter. Fold in the nuts, if desired. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let brownies cool, then invert the entire tray, without cutting, onto a cutting board. Invert again so that the brownies are top side up.

To make the peppermint bark:

Return the saucepan containing the water to medium heat. Place the white chocolate in a medium bowl and then nest the bowl in the saucepan, again making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. While stirring occasionally, let the chocolate melt.

Carefully remove the bowl from the saucepan and place on a kitchen towel on the counter. Stir half of the crushed peppermints into the chocolate and evenly spread over the cooled brownies. Top with the remaining peppermints and let sit until the chocolate has hardened. Cut into squares and serve.