A NUTTY Give-Away with SUPER Special Brownies

Hooray for another weekend!  In celebration of the weekend and the 10th week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies I would like to share with all of you a fabulous GIVE-AWAY! Yes, a GIVE-AWAY!!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I attended a local Thanksgiving Farm Fair at Stonewall Farm (such an amazing facility/farm we have here in Southern NH!).  As I was filling my bags of locally made beautiful handmade gifts I came across a table that was laiden with some of the most delicious nuts I had ever tasted from yet another local company called, The True Nut.  I had sampled their nuts before and already knew how much my taste buds enjoyed them (SO yummy!) but then as I introduced myself and started chatting further the owner of the company (Steve Ryder) I knew I had come across a gem.  Not only did Steve hand me over a bag FULL of a variety of his fabulous nuts but he was super nice!  The fun part about his company is that it was started to show his daughter how a business could be started and ran successfully with the hopes that a little bit of money could be made.  Steve did this and more for now his treats are well known and full of positive outcomes.  I feel honored to be able to give away some of The True Nuts and I know you will enjoy them too!

Enter to win all FOUR packages of nuts that you see in the above picture just by leaving a comment at the end of this post or on my Facebook page for Baking and Creating with Avril.  To double your chances of winning visit The True Nut website and come back to tell me something that you enjoyed discovering from your visit to their website.  Winner will be chosen at random.  Contest will be closed 12 midnight on Monday 12/6/10.

And now without further delay here is a wonderful brownie recipe for the holidays.....York Peppermint Paddy Brownies  (rich in chocolate flavor with a peppermint paddy surprise in the middle)....in honor of the 10th Week of The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies....

York Peppermint Patty Brownies

(from the lovely Jaime Cook's It Up! blog...goodness do I adore her recipes!!!)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

8 - 1 oz. squares unsweetened chocolate

5 eggs

3 3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

1 2/3  cup flour

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 bags York Peppermint Patties (generic brand is not recommended from Jaime)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with tin foil and spray with non-stick spray.

2. Place unsweetened chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl.....

  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each cooking interval.  Continue to cook and stir until chocolate and butter are fully melted.  Set bowl aside.

3. In a mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, salt and almond extract (if desired).  Beat for 3-4 minutes until smooth and thick....

4. Add in the melted chocolate/butter mixture and flour.  Mix until incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips....

5. Spread  1/2 the brownie batter into prepared pan....a butter knife will help if need be....

6. Unwrap the peppermint patties and place them all over the brownie batter.....

  Carefully spread the remaining 1/2 of batter over the peppermint patty layer.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  This is the tricky part. You don't want to over-bake the brownies....I found that my brownies were done once the sides of the brownies came away from the side of the pan and my toothpick had just a few crumbs of brownie batter stick to it.

Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate for a good 6 hours or overnight.  Cut into squares (small squares are a good idea for these special brownies are RICH in flavor).

Enjoy your brownies along with browsing through all the other d'lish cookie, bar and candy recipes from the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies group.

Happy Peppermint Patty Brownie Baking!

Week 10 Twelve Weeks of Christmas: