Chocolate Mint Triangles

CHOCOLATE! There is absolutely nothing bad associated with that word in my mind. I am a HUGE fan. It runs in my family- my mother used to keep chocolate chips or M & M's in her desk at work and in the fridge at our house to eat whenever.  The majority of the recipes we made together involved chocolate. So today I am talking about how to make a chocolate dessert with a flavor compliment- mint.

The original recipe uses Hersey chocolate, which I deem as non-chocolate in my book. Yes, I am a chocolate snob. Hersey's chocolate has just always tasted odd to me so I have avoided it mostly. No offense Hersey; I like your recipe, but I consider eating your chocolate 'slumming it.'

I tweaked the recipe a bit, because I always say that your key ingredients should be the very best you can afford. I switched out the Hersey's syrup for Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Syrup, which is AMAZING! You can get it at your local health food store, usually. I couldn't find creme de menthe, so I used food coloring and peppermint flavoring. Finally, I switched out the Hersey Chocolate Chips for Guittard Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips.

Here's the recipe, modified from Hersey's Kitchen:
Chocolate Mint Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 4 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Syrup (Believe me, it DOES make a big flavor difference!)
 

• MINT CREAM CENTER (recipe follows)
• 2 C powdered sugar
• 1/2 C (1 stick) softened butter or margerine
• 2 Tbsp creme de menthe ( OR 1 Tbsp water + 3/4 tsp mint extract and 3 drops green food coloring)

• CHOCOLATE GLAZE (recipe follows)
• 6 Tbsp butter/margarine
• 1 C Guittard Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350° F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. 2 Combine flour, sugar, butter, eggs and the whole bottle of syrup in large bowl; beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool completely (I mean completely because you don't want your cream center or glaze to melt when you put it on) in pan on wire rack. 
4. Spread MINT CREAM CENTER on cake. Cover; refrigerate. 
5. Pour CHOCOLATE GLAZE over chilled dessert. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Cover; refrigerate leftover dessert. About 12 servings.
6. Cut dessert into about twelve 3-inch squares; cut each square diagonally into halves. About 24 triangles.
   
   MINT CREAM CENTER: Combine all ingredients in medium bowl; beat until smooth.
   
   CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt 6 tablespoons butter or margarine and 1 cup Guittard Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips in small saucepan over very low heat. Remove from heat; stir until smooth. Cool slightly.
   

People were over-the-moon for this dessert! It was a big hit. I would make it over and over again! No complaints here. :-)