Page 122 - Mint-filled Brownie Cupcakes

"Each of these chewy brownie cupcakes has a secret center; a chocolate covered peppermint patty. To ensure they have a dense, fudgy texture, be careful not to overbake (start checking at 30 minutes). " Martha

Oh, the photo in the book is so decadent looking, I had to make these, besides the fact that York Peppermint Patties are one of my favorite candies. But right off, I didn't have any bittersweet chocolate in bar form that one would have to coarsely chop, so I used my good 'ol standby, semi-sweet chocolate chips. (I never have a pantry without them!)

Also, if Hershey's unsweetened powdered cocoa is Dutch, then I guess I got that right, but as luck wouldn' t have it, I didn't have any York Peppermint Patties in the kitchen either! Really, I looked in all my good hiding places too! So, I used what I had which was a movie-size box of Junior Mints and I even shook things up a bit more by subbing Junior Caramels in a few.

You should place a bit of batter in the muffin cups, then add a few mints or caramels (I chose 4 in each brownie), and finally top the cup with more batter to fill. They rise to the top of the muffin cup but no higher...that was perfect!

I baked mine for the entire 35 minutes and should have heeded her words "check them at 30." I really should have checked them at 25 minutes as I had my convection working. My brownies (and do get this right, they are brownies not a cupcake) were very tasty but just a bit crusty. I would have preferred a softer top. And upon wanting to see the secret center, once cooled, I found the mints stayed in place, but the caramels sunk to the bottom.

In hindsight, I should have placed the caramels on top of all of the batter in the cup and had been sure the mints did not touch the edges of the cups. The paper pulled the entire mint with it when peeling away. I believe a mini York instead of Junior Mints probably would have been best as it wouldn't have pulled through the cake if it had touched a side. Nonetheless, I feel these were a success with the common substitutions I made.

The recipe says it makes 12, but I got 14 good-sized brownies out of it, and if I hadn't been so generous to let my son "clean the bowl" I would have had an easy 16.