Grasshopper Brownies

So perhaps you're wondering why I'm blogging about brownies in the middle of my Chocolate (deprivation) Challenge. Well, before I dreamed up the Challenge, I volunteered to make these terrific Grasshopper brownies (thanks for the recipe Holly) for our YW in Excellence Night.

Now, I like to experiment with my recipes sometimes (in a methodical, scientific way of course). So I heard that you could totally replace the butter in a recipe with applesauce, and since I was making three pans of these and covering them up with delicious frosting, I thought why not? Why not?

So one pan I made with all oil, one pan I made with 3/4 oil 1/4 applesauce, and the last pan I made with all applesauce. Sorry YW and your parents, but no one ever died from applesauce in their brownies. And the mint (89% alcohol, the mint not the frosting) frosting fixes everything anyway.
And for some reason people feel really happy after they eat these brownies. I can't figure it out.

So, if I were really on top of things and all scientific I would have done a blind taste test, but Mike wasn't home and these brownies were sending out siren calls of love, and I had to taste them to see if they were alright. Because I couldn't take yucky brownies to a night of Excellence, now could I? So I tasted them and here are my observations:

Applesauce brownies are dense and don't leave that delicious awesome chocolate taste in your mouth. They remove very easily from the pan (that is not sprayed).


Oil brownies are light and sticky and moist and AWESOME. AWESOME. AWESOME. And they don't come out of the pan very easily. You have to lick the knife when you cut them (unless you're cutting them for people you're not related to and then you have to pretend you didn't lick the knife). And you have to scrape the pan to get all of the brownie out, but it's worth it. You scrape the pan, and then you scrape it again because it was so good.

(Maybe you can't see the difference in texture in these pictures. I'm sorry. I have a really nice camera, but no ability to use it.)

3/4 oil, 1/4 applesauce are just like oil brownies! I couldn't tell a difference.

If I ever make these brownies again (not until January at least, when the Challenge is over), then I will have to see where the breaking point is on the applesauce. When do they become dense and not so awesomely good? 1/2 oil 1/2 applesauce?
And yes, I lost a point. But I had to. I'm pretty sure it's against the law to take food to a party that you haven't tasted yourself.

So here's the recipe:
Grasshopper Brownies:
2 boxes brownie mix

Mint Frosting:
4 c. powdered sugar
1 c. soft butter
2 Tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
4 drops green food coloring

Chocolate topping:
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. butter
1-2 tsp. peppermint extract

1. To make the brownies follow the recipe for "cake-like" brownies. Or if their isn't one, add 3 more eggs. Pour into a large, greased cookie sheet, bake and let cool completely.
2. To make the mint frosting, combine powdered sugar, butter, water, peppermint extract and food coloring. Mix. Spread over cooled brownies and refrigerate until hard on top.
3. To make chocolate topping microwave chocolate chips and butter for 2 minutes. Stir until all chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Add 1-2 tsp. peppermint extract. As soon as this mixture thickens and is no longer hot, spread over mint topping on brownies. Put back into the refrigerator until hard.
4. This makes like 60 brownies. Seriously. Too many to not have a party if you make them.