Chewy, crispy round the edge, laced with chocolate chips and topped with a dreamy sweet matcha and mint infused cream cheese frosting. These brownies are my one of my favourites, my foolproof brownies, crowd pleasing and family approved. I whipped them up for a family gathering recently and they went down a storm so I decided to bring them into the festive season with a bit of gold sparkle and minty notes.
Mint and chocolate is a matcha made in heaven… pun intended, I just couldn’t help myself with that one!
The matcha is definitely more involved for it’s beautiful punchy natural green colour. I love finding alternative food based “colourings” meaning you can keep your baking looking super duper vibrant and exciting without the need for artificial ingredients!
This post is sponsored by Joseph and Joseph, a company whose products I’ve used for a long time and have also been found to browse through in shops, exclaiming about how much I need X gadget in my life. They kindly sent me out some of their nest measuring cups which stack just beautifully and clip together. I’m a terrible woman for losing measuring cups so this simple feature is a winner in my books!
A handy dandy twist whisk which can be used in your pots and pans without worrying about it scratching the surface, quite literally. You can use it as a flat whisk for whisking sauces or gravies in a shallow pan, or simply twist it to create a traditional whisk, most commonly used in my kitchen for pancakes batters a plenty!
A fold up digital scales, perfect for stashing in your cutlery drawer or packing away when travelling and precise baking is potentially on the cards, and not forgetting a stand on its own bowl scraper because who wants to leave any remnants of a cookie dough or cake batter in the bottom of a bowl, every scrap counts.
Back to the brownies… clearly I made use of all my handy gadgets, from weighing and measuring ingredients, depending on how precise I felt they needed to be, whipping the brownie batter out of my mighty bowl with ease using the scraper and of course whisking together the wet ingredients before folding in the dry to create a smooth glossy batter…aka the key to a beautiful brownie.
These brownies are one bowl, made in minutes and baked in no time at all. A classic brownie without the need for melted chocolate which for me just proves to be a hassle sometimes when I’m short on time. If you prefer a red cream cheese frosting you could use some red beet powder to colour it up and may add some orange oil to give it a zingy chocolate complimenting flavour.
Post Sponsored by Joseph and Joseph
Christmas Matcha Brownies
Print RecipeIngredients
- **Brownies**
- 250g light brown sugar
- 200g butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 60g cocoa powder
- 90g plain white flour, gluten free if necessary or cassava flour for a grain free option!
- ½ tsp salt
- 200g mini dark chocolate chips
- **Frosting**
- 45g butter, softened
- 160g plain cream cheese
- 150g icing sugar
- 2 - 3 tsp matcha powder (or red beet powder if you are making red frosting)
- 1 tsp peppermint extract or 5 drops of peppermint essential oil (or you can use an orange extract or orange oil)
Instructions
Line and lightly grease a 10 * 7 inch baking tray (or an 8 * 8 inch tray) with baking paper and butter. I prefer using the 10 * 7 as it makes it easier to slice the brownies into 12!
Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
Mix butter and sugar together in a bowl. Once creamy add the eggs, one at a time and incorporate using a whisk.
Add in the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
Sift in the cocoa powder and fold to combine with the wet ingredients.
Sift in the flour and salt and once again fold to combine.
Once you have a smooth batter fold in the chocolate chips.
Transfer your brownie batter to the prepared tin and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. I cooked mine for 20 minutes. If you are cooking them in the square tin they will most likely take 25 minutes.
Allow to cool fully, ideally overnight or for at least a few hours before slicing. I prefer to keep the brownies unfrosted and frost before serving. I also prefer the consistency of the brownies themselves the next day. If you do frost them you will need to keep them refrigerated.
Blend together the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar using a hand blender. I find this so much easier than trying to whisk together the ingredients.
Add matcha powder, or red beet powder, and either your peppermint oil, extract or orange alternative, and blend to combine.
Store in the fridge until ready to serve. It will actually firm up a bit if you stick it into the fridge for at least an hour.
Slice brownies before topping with cream cheese for a more clean cut and to prevent the cream cheese reach down into the brownie layer.
Top with gold dust or sprinkles if desired!
