Andes Peppermint Crunch Cakies

I succumbed to the Christmas candy on clearance section of the local drugstore. Among my, ahem, "few" purchases, were a box of Andes Peppermint Crunch Thins. As you can see from the photo, the packaging was barely salvageable  for documentation purposes. :) I found the following quick and easy recipe for throwing together some cookies cake mix and the Andes candies. The original recipe used traditional Andes mints, but I think it worked well with the peppermint ones too.

Andes Peppermint Crunch Cakies

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 package of Andes Mints

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-9 minutes. Don't cook any longer than that! You don't want them to be overdone!

Take sheet out of oven and while the cookies are still very hot, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted. Take a spoon and smooth out each mint like frosting.

Mint Filled Brownies

Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes - from Martha Stewart Cupcakes

Yield: 12 cupcakes

8 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
¾ tsp salt
3 large eggs
½ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
12 small chocolate covered peppermint patties, such as York

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners. Place chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until just melted, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Whisk in the sugar and salt until mixture is smooth, whisk in eggs to combine. Gently whisk in flour and cocoa just until smooth.

Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each lined cup. Place 1 peppermint patty on top, gently pressing into batter. Top with two tablespoons batter, covering patty completely. Bake, rotating tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted halfway into centers (above mint patty) comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes (ALWAYS start checking sooner!). Transfer tin to a wire rack to cool completely before removing cupcakes.