Gilding the (chocolate) lily

You know what’s great?

Brownies.

They’re so good. Some like them warm and gooey. Some like them moist and cakey. Some like them with a side of ice cream. And despite these differences in opinion, practically everyone loves brownies.

And as they should, too.

Brownies are an affirmation that life is good, that fun is good and that, yes, you do deserve something warm and fresh from the oven every now and then. Because whether or not those brownies came from a box or made completely from scratch, those brownies are going to get eaten and you can bet your sweet Aunt Margaret¹ those brownies are going to be enjoyed.

Damn skippy.

You know what’s even better though?

Brownies with stuff on ‘em.

Mmmm… stuff. Who doesn’t love stuff?

Here, the stuff in question is plain cake frosting and peppermint candies. So simple, right? In particular, the brownies pictured in this article were inspired by my then surplus of candy canes leftover from last Christmas. I merely unwrapped the whole lot of them, put them in a bag and hammered away at them. I then liberally sprinkled the candy cane debris onto some frosted slices of brownies and presto: Peppermint Iced Brownie Fingers.

When I tried this idea a second time, candy canes were no longer in stores. So, instead, I used starlites. You know, the standard peppermint candies you see that’re usually individually wrapped and found on your grandmother’s coffee table? Yah. Those. And even then, I used two different kinds of starlites: the standard red and white peppermint ones for the first batch and the less common green and white spearmint ones for another. I even went and added the teensiest bit of peppermint extract to the brownie batter for the red one. Despite the lack of candy canes they still wound up looking Christmasy because of their colors but rest assured, o reader, they were tasty all the same.

So, should you want to take your brownies (store bought, box-made or whatever) to the next level and think that good isn’t good enough, try icing them and layering them with some crushed peppermint candies.

I mean, come on. That lily isn’t going to gild itself, you know?

¹ Way of the Spatula does not condone nor encourage the use of relatives as gambling currency or their monetization thereof.