Thick, fudgy, chocolate-y and refreshingly minty gluten-free Peppermint Brownies are the perfect festive treat to enjoy this Holiday season!
How do you like your brownies?
Fudgy, gooey middle pieces? Or chewy end pieces? Thick or thin? Topped with ice cream? Filled with nuts?
The options are endless when it comes to the chocolate goodness that is brownies.
Brownies are one of my ultimate guilty pleasures. I’ve tried making healthier versions, but so far they’ve all fallen flat. There’s just something about the magical combination of sugar, butter, flour and cocoa powder that cannot be replaced.
My favorite brownies are THICK.
No barely-there brownies topped with ice cream or stuffed with nuts for me. My favorites are thick, super rich and decadent, fudgy brownies.
These brownies are just that. Thick, fudgy, super rich and sweet, with peppermint for a refreshing and festive Christmas treat!
If you want a little something other than cookies, pie or cake, these brownies will hit THE spot! 🙂
Don’t miss these tips for sweet brownie success!
First, I know many of you need to have gluten-free and dairy-free recipes. I haven’t tried this recipe dairy-free yet. But, if you wanted to try it dairy-free I would recommend using a dairy-free butter substitute like this and dairy-free chocolate chips. They should work beautifully.
Next, sugar. Often people ask how they can lessen or change the sugar content in recipes. With these brownies, I wouldn’t change a thing.
They have two cups of sugar – I don’t think I’ve ever posted a recipe with this much sugar in it! But, they’re thick, rich, sugary brownies. If you want a healthier brownie recipe honestly I would look elsewhere – and that’s okay! The only substitute for these that would work well is coconut sugar.
Next: When you’re stirring your dry ingredients together, be sure to either thoroughly whisk in your cocoa powder or pour it into your bowl through a fine mesh strainer. We don’t want any cocoa powder clumps here!
Be careful: The hardest part of making these brownies is trying to figure out when they’re done in the oven!
At 30 minutes your brownies should be fudgy with a little ooey gooey in the center. At 35 minutes they will be more cooked through, but still fudgy with a little more chewy texture on the edges. But, each oven is different so start checking at 28-30 minutes and go from there.
If all else fails, do not bake them for more than 35 minutes or you could end up with dried out brownies! And that would be sad!!
Last thing, wanna be a little extra festive? You can decorate your Peppermint Brownies easily like mine. Add about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips to a small microwaveable bowl and microwave them in small increments, stirring in between, until entirely melted.
Drizzle the chocolate across the tops of your brownies and then sprinkle crushed up candy canes on top! And/or your favorite sprinkles! 🙂
Look at the beautiful crackled top on these brownies with festive crushed up candy canes. You know from looking at these brownies that they’re thick, fudgy, decadent and peppermint! A few of my favorite things 🙂
Whether you enjoy these brownies this Holiday season or not, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays this year, friends!
If you want a more traditional Christmas dessert check out my gluten-free Pecan Pie, Molasses Cookies, and grain-free and vegan Thumbprint Cookies.
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup gluten-free all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (peppermint, milk or semi-sweet)
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To prepare, preheat your oven to 350 and line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper with two sides sticking out on either side.
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To begin, add your butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat it together with a hand mixer for several minutes, so it's nice and creamy. Add your eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract and lightly beat them into the mixture.
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In a separate mixing bowl, add your flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Whisk together thoroughly till there are no cocoa powder clumps. Alternatively, pour your cocoa powder through a fine mesh strainer over your bowl, to remove the clumps, then stir all your ingredients together.
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Pour your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and gently fold them together, till you have one smooth and consistent brownie batter. Lightly fold your chocolate chips into the batter.
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Pour your brownie batter into your pan and spread it across the bottom of the pan, till almost the whole bottom of the pan is covered.
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Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Insert a toothpick in to see if the brownies are done. If your looking for more fudgy brownies, be sure to only bake them for 30 minutes.
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Let cool, then remove the brownies from the pan and cut them into 16 brownies.
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If you would like, you can melt more chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup) and drizzle the chocolate across the tops of the brownies. Then, sprinkle crushed up candy canes on top. Simple and festive!
These brownies taste best within the first 4 days. Store them in an airtight container.
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