Today I’m sharing a favourite cookie from my childhood.  It’s Friday, and I just got rear-ended so can you blame me for wanting a warm fuzzy from my childhood?  A crack in my car but not my head: no better time to bake.  My weekend reading list for you is here too.  You can thank me later.

There’s one in every Chocoholics Anonymous: a mint lover. For all those who eschew the stuff, mint with chocolate is still a classic favourite from a generation that didn’t salt their caramels or douse bacon with chocolate.  Here’s a cookie with an immensely satisfying hit of chocolate almond brownie and a creamy mint filling. These are addictive and often the first to go on a cookie platter.  What are you waiting for?

Chocolate Mint Sticks

What you need:

for brownie base:

• 4 oz. good-quality unsweetened chocolate, chopped ( okay, I used Ghirardelli, but the original uses Bakers. Perfectly fine here too)
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup chopped almonds

for mint filling:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon whipping cream
• ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract

for chocolate glaze:

• 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

What you do:

1. Melt chocolate and butter on top of a double boiler.
2. Beat eggs in a mixer until frothy. Stir in sugar, melted chocolate mixture, and peppermint.
3. Sift flour with salt. Add to batter. Then toss in the nuts. Mix thoroughly.
4. Pour into an 8-inch square pan and bake for 20 -25 minutes.
5. Cool the brownie base entirely before icing it with mint filling.
6. To make the mint filling: Cream butter. Add icing sugar bit by bit and then cream and peppermint extract. Add more cream if the filling is too stiff.
7. Spread filling over cooled base. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
8. Make the glaze: melt chocolate and butter again over a double boiler. Drizzle glaze over the cooled filling. Tilt the pan back and forth to cover the base. Stick it back in the fridge for a few hours. The top will have a gorgeous shine.
9. Cut into squares. The top will break a bit as you cut, so use a sharp knife for clean cuts.

Weekend Reading links :

(Because it looks to be another grey one with clouds and rain. Perfect for snuggling. Don’t get the chocolate on the sheets)

• Why Sting might not be the best choice for the NBA all-star halftime show, according to this Globe and Mail sports writer.
• Why the rise of Silicon Valley North is fuelling a massive Canadian condo boom
• Is it a desperate claw at the sinking ship that is network television? CBC is promising a look at Justin Trudeau that has never been done before.
• For all my dog-loving readers and those who have endured a family portrait session or two: Portrait of a Lady
• How tolerant are you of picky eaters? Would you buy them this?
• Warning: this short video is not for kids or those easily offended by the F-bomb. It is for anyone or everyone involved in a car accident at one point or another in their lifetime: The Answers

Here’s my parting shot…because I’m grateful for life today. And that my kid in the back seat is okay. She’s almost 18. Like most parents, she’s still this kid to me.

Hug everyone you love today. Happy Weekend.

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

Rumi