The One With The Great Brownie Recipe

I haven't posted in a bit, and haven't known what to post for a while, but I was reminded the other day at how much I love making desserts, and not just any desserts, the best desserts, so I decided I can share my love for dessert baking with all of you.  :)

Rick's mom just had surgery on her knee, and she LOVES mint brownies, so I decided to do what I do best (haha, or what I like to think is one of the things I do best...) and make a tasty treat.  I didn't have a lot of time so I went to Albertson's and bought a brownie mix, but it wasn't just any brownie mix (I don't like to skimp on quality with my sweets, I don't want to make okay desserts, I want to make AMAZING desserts), so I bought the most expensive brownie mix I could see (I forget the brand, but if I remember it I will update this) since I didn't have the time to make it from scratch, and went home to get busy (in a good way).  

I made the brownie portion, put it in the oven, then moved onto the mint frosting portion.  The recipe goes as follows for the mint frosting:

1/4 cup softened butter

2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons of milk

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

green food coloring

To make the mint frosting, cream the butter and confectioners' sugar. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until it is smooth and spreadable. Beat in the peppermint extract and tint to the desired shade with green food coloring. Frost the cooled brownies, cover, and chill for 1 hour. 

Luckily, I realized that it said to cream the butter and sugar... I had never done that, so I looked up how to do it.  Thanks to the site http://www.meninaprons.net/2006/07/how_to_cream_butter_and_sugar.html (yes, that is www.meninaprons.net), I learned that you get the somewhat softened butter and take a pastry blender and smash it occasionally adding a little sugar, until it is fluffy. 

This takes some time and patience, but is so worth it.  It ended up being pretty tasty, if I do say so myself.  After that, you melt chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter together and put on top of the cooled brownies.  Refrigerate for about an hour and it is good to go!   Needless to say, Jaleen loved the brownies and they were gone in about 48 hours.  They were so delicious, I might make more tomorrow, since I didn't get to give any to my dad.  I am also trying a recipe for sweet rolls tomorrow.  Wish me luck on this endeavor.  Below is the closest pic I could find as to what they looked like.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of mine.