Happy Not End of the World!  I have it on good authority from a good friend of mine that the world was supposed to end at 5:15pm Central time.  So in honor of said friend (who also happens to be the biggest choco-holic I know) and since I’ve got a little over an hour of 12-21-12, I will impart some chocolatey wisdom… or perhaps just show you these amazing little bits of heaven.

Originally shown on The Pioneer Woman, I couldn’t stop myself from a little squeal of happiness.  I MUST MAKE THESE.  Don’t these look wonderful!?!  On checking out what she did, I thought to myself “K, you like your brownie recipe from Hershey’s…why not adapt that?”  SO, I did.  And instead of tossing in Andes mints…  Well…I’m from Chicago.  And it’s Christmastime.  So you know what that means?  FRANGO.  Yes, that’s right.  I trucked myself off to Marshall Fields Macy’s and bought myself a few Frango Chocolate Mint Bars,  and saw the Christmas Tree, rode the L, and mosied around the Kris Kringle Market with my friend MK.

When we got home from our afternoon fun downtown…we couldn’t stop ourselves from making these little guys!  Enjoy the chocolatey heaven!

Chocolate Covered Mini-Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 12oz bag of chocolate morsels (I used milk chocolate Ghirardelli, feel free to use semi-sweet)
• 1 2.5oz bar Frango Mint Chocolate, chopped finely*

Directions:

Microwave butter for 1-2 minutes until melted.  In mixer, combine melted butter, sugar and vanilla.  Mix 1-2 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time, and let beat until it has a creamy “look” to it.  Turn your mixer speed down, and slowly add cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and finally flour.

Spray the mini muffin tin with Pam.  Scoop by the teaspoon-full into your mini muffin tin.  Yes, I know it’s difficult not to just sit down and eat all the brownie batter.  You can lick the beaters…I won’t tell anybody.

Bake your mini-brownies at 325º for 13-15 minutes.  Let them cool (if you have a rack, you can flip them upside down on the rack immediately, otherwise, let them cool in the tin a bit before removing).

Aren’t these just adorable?

Melt your chocolate morsels (either using a double-boiler or in the microwave, just watch for scorching), and dip these little suckers in there.  Again…try not to eat them until the chocolate gets to set….I said TRY…I understand the difficulty sometimes.

At this point, right after they’re dipped, sprinkle some of that amazing Frango Chocolate on top.  I let the chocolate set overnight (a true test in willpower) before sampling for breakfast.

*I understand not everybody has access to Frango Chocolate.  Yes, you can buy it online at Macys.com, but you can also go with Pioneer Woman’s suggestion of using Ande’s chocolates.  I think Girl Scout Thin Mints would also be an amazing topping.  Be creative!  Have fun with it!  Maybe some mini M&M’s? Chopped up pretzels?  A sprinkling of sea salt?  Enjoy!