After Eight Brownies
At Christmas, After Eight’s are non-negotiable in my home. The deep, dark chocolate paired with a velvety mint filling is just right.
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It’s that delicious flavour pairing that makes thin mints an ideal match for gooey chocolate brownies. After Eight Brownies are rich, minty, and completely heavenly.
When I was younger, I always think back to my dad having After Eights at Christmas.
For me, they’ll always be a Christmas treat, even though I’m pretty sure you’ll be the same—and I pick them up all through the year.
I’m not usually drawn to dark chocolate.
I use it in cakes, and dark chocolate, without a doubt, makes for a deeper brownie flavour.
Still, I don’t have it plain on its own.
However, dark chocolate with mint is spot on.
The sharp chocolate taste and the sweet, minty filling in a thin mint blend together brilliantly, and After Eight Brownies or loaf cake are basically perfect.
Luscious, sweet, indulgent, and so gooey it grabs onto your teeth! Brilliant, and a real favourite with the kids.
For my simple mint Brownies, I follow my usual brownie recipe, fold in some After Eights chunks, then scatter a bit more on top near the end of baking.
How Do I Make Sure My Brownies Are Gooey?
Getting the perfect gooeyMint Chocolate Brownies can be a bit of a challenge.
If you bake them too long, they turn out too much like cake.
Bake them too little, and they’re underdone.
Honestly, the easiest way to guarantee yourMint After Eight Brownies stay wonderfully gooey is repetition. Keep making them, learn how your oven behaves, and note the timing and temperature it needs—then it starts to feel straightforward.
If you want beautifully gooey Mint Brownies, make sure your eggs and sugar are beaten well, for 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes thicker and looks very pale.
After that, remove them from the oven once the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the tin.
I don’t think the skewer test in the middle works for brownies the way it does for cake.
I’d actually expect the skewer to come out a little untidy.
Mixing After Eights into Brownies
When preparing a Mint Brownies recipe, you have a few routes you can take.
You can stir some mint extract into your basic brownie batter.
Alternatively, you can follow my approach: split After Eight mints into smaller sections (roughly—there’s no need for them to be perfectly tidy or precise) and then fold them in carefully throughout your brownie batter.
I’ve noticed this method spreads the taste exceptionally well and results in a wonderfully mint-flavoured brownie.
Can You Melt After Eights?
Yes, you can melt After Eights.
However, the mint cream core is extremely tacky, so I’d never suggest melting it directly in a baking tin.
Using a Bain Marie is a far better choice.
But for this after eight brownies recipe, you don’t need to.
Added to the mixture, they soften as they bake, and the flavour is distributed evenly.
Topping Brownies with After Eights
When I prepare my thin mint brownies, I like to keep about 1/3 of the chopped After Eights aside to decorate the tops.
To me, it looks great and also gives you extra flavourful bursts.
I also drizzle over dark chocolate.
That part is completely optional.
You could simply mix all of your broken-up mints into the brownie batter and bake.
They really don’t require any decorating whatsoever.
Should You Freeze the After Eights
When I add chocolate to brownies or other sweet bites, I often freeze it beforehand so it holds its shape while baking.
I don’t bother doing that for my easy after eight brownies. With these, I want the After Eights to melt, so you can skip it.
That said, I wait to put the mints on top until the final 5 minutes of baking, so they firm up a little and don’t just spread out or sink completely into the brownies.
You can even arrange them on the surface after your After Eight Mint Brownies have finished baking and are taken out of the oven to cool.
The brownies will still be hot enough to let them melt softly over the top, keeping them in place and letting some of the centre ooze out.
How Long Will Mint Brownies Last?
How quickly can you eat them?
Store them in a sealed container or covered bowl for five days.
Because they’re so moist and gooey, they don’t really go stale in the usual way.
Can You Freeze Mint Brownies?
Yes.
My mint brownies recipe makes a fairly generous batch. I cut it into 24 squares, which is quite a lot.
Because of that, I often freeze half.
To freeze your homemade mint brownies, allow them to cool completely, then slice into squares.
Next, wrap each piece separately in cling film or another tight wrap.
I’d also recommend placing them in a sealed tub, which helps prevent freezer burn.
When you’re ready to enjoy them, remove the brownies from the freezer and thaw them thoroughly in the fridge. You can take them out all at once or one portion at a time.
Tips for Making After Eight Brownies
After Eight mint brownies are simple once you get the hang of them.
That said, there’s a bit of a skill involved in getting the bake just right, so they come out neither underdone nor overly cake-like.
Here are my favourite pointers.
- I whisk my eggs and sugar by hand for 5 minutes. They’re ready when they look pale and noticeably thicker.
- Don’t overmix. Combine everything until the mints are evenly distributed and there are no flour pockets, but don’t keep mixing. If you’re unsure, it’s safer to stop sooner and leave it slightly undermixed than to overdo it.
- The skewer method doesn’t really apply to brownies. They’re ready once they begin to pull away from the edges of the tin a little.
- My tin measures 15 inches by 10 inches (affiliate link), so my brownies are quite thin. Bake time is about 20 minutes. If your tin is smaller, this recipe should still work, but your brownies will be thicker and may take a little longer to bake.
- If your brownies are pulling away from the sides but the centre still looks a bit wobbly, take them out of the oven and let them cool in the tin before transferring (still in the tin) to the fridge for an hour. They will firm up.
- If they’re still wobbly beyond just a little, bake for another 5 minutes. Usually, it’s about learning how your oven and your tins behave.
- I always use reusable baking paper (affiliate link). Since it’s very sticky, greasing a tin never seems to be enough.
- Let them cool fully in the tin.
- Once they’re completely cool, remove them from the tin and peel off the baking paper. I tip them onto a chopping board to do this, then remove the baking paper before using a second chopping board to turn them back over so they’re right-side up. If you’re using disposable baking paper, you can leave them on it. But don’t leave them on reusable paper and slice straight through it—like I sometimes do. Constantly.
- Because the centres are gooey, slicing can get a little messy. I find that cleaning the knife after every few cuts helps stop it sticking and gives you neater slices.
- You don’t need to use branded After Eights. Any chocolate-thin mint variety will work.
Other Brownie Recipes to Try
If you’re a brownie fan, you might also want to try:
After Eight Brownies
Author Name
The deep dark chocolate flavour along with the smooth mint filling in After Eights makes them an ideal match for gooey chocolate brownies. After Eight Brownies are rich in texture, pleasantly minty, and simply heavenly.
- 200 g Butter
- 200 g Dark Chocolate (broken into squares)
- 250 g Caster Sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 125 g Plain Flour
- 50 g Cocoa
- 200 g After Eights (broken roughly into 1/4s)
- 50 g Dark Chocolate (for topping – optional)
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Get the oven up to 170 degrees (with fan assistance) and cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
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Warm the chocolate and butter together in the microwave or using a Bain Marie, then set aside.
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Beat the sugar and eggs until the batter thickens and turns a lighter shade.
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Tip the melted chocolate and butter into the eggs and sugar, then mix until the mixture looks glossy, smooth, and uniform.
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Add the flour and cocoa and gently combine.
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Stir in about 2/3s of the After Eight Mints that have been broken up, mixing until everything is evenly spread.
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Tip the mixture into the lined tin and bake for 15 minutes.
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Take it out of the oven and scatter the remaining After Eights on top, then return to the oven for 5 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and let it stay in the tin until fully cooled.
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Melt the dark chocolate and drizzle it over using a spoon or piping for decoration (optional).
- If your tin is smaller and your brownies turn out deeper, they might need extra time in the oven.
- Brownies are done when the edges have begun to pull slightly away from the sides of the tin.
- If you’re not sure how long to bake, inspect them every 5 minutes after 15 minutes, and you might prefer to add the After Eights right at the end— they’ll still melt as the brownies cool.
- If the brownies look a little underbaked when they cool, place them in the fridge while still in the tin to firm up.
Any nutritional information is provided purely as a general reference and might not be completely accurate. The figures are calculated through an online tool and are tailored to the ingredients I use. If you want exact details, please do your own calculations.
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