After Eight’s are a must at Christmas time in my house. The rich dark chocolate and creamy mint filling is perfect.
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It’s this scrumptious flavour combination that makes thin mints the perfect addition to gooey chocolate brownies. After Eight Brownies are fudgy, minty, and absolutely divine.
I always remember my dad having After Eights at Christmas when I was a kid.
So, to me, they will always be a Christmas treat even though I suspect you and buy them all year round.
I’m not generally a dark chocolate fan.
I use it in cakes, and dark chocolate undoubtedly makes a richer brownie.
But I don’t eat it on its own.
Dark chocolate with mint, though, is perfect.
The bitter chocolate and the sweet minty filling of a thin mint work really well together, and After Eight Brownies or loaf cake are pretty much perfect.
Sticky, sweet, rich, and so gooey that sticks to your teeth! Amazing, and a big hit with the kids.
For my easy mint Brownies, I stick to my basic brownies recipe but stir in some chunks of After Eights and then add some more to the top towards the end of the bake.
How Do I Make Sure My Brownies Are Gooey?
Getting the perfect gooey Mint Chocolate Brownies can be tricky.
Overbake, and they are too cakey.
Underbake, and they are too raw.
To be honest, the best way to ensure your Mint After Eight Brownies are gooey is practice. Keep making them, get to know your oven and the times and temperature it needs, and soon it becomes easy.
If you want beautifully gooey Mint Brownies make sure your eggs and sugar are well whisked, for 5 minutes, until the mixture has thickened and is very pale.
Then, take them out of the oven when the sides start to come away from the edge of the tin.
I don’t find that the skewer in the middle to see if it’s done thing works with brownies like it does cake.
I’d expect the skewer to be a little messy.
Mixing After Eights into Brownies
When making a Mint Brownies recipe, you’ve got options.
You could add some mint extract to your basic brownie mix.
Or, you can do what I do and break After Eight mints into quarters (ish, these don’t need to be neat or exact) and simply mix them carefully into your brownie mix.
I find this distributes the flavour really well and leaves you with a fabulously minty brownie.
Can You Melt After Eights?
You can melt After Eights.
But the mint cream centre is very sticky, so I wouldn’t ever recommend doing it in a pan.
Using a Bain Marie would be a better option.
But, for this recipe for after eight brownies, you don’t need to.
Tossed in the mixture, they melt in as they bake, and the flavour is well distributed.
Topping Brownies with After Eights
When I make my thin mint brownies, I like to save around 1/3 of the broken-up After Eights to top the brownies.
I just think it looks nice and gives you extra bursts of flavour.
I also drizzle with dark chocolate.
This is totally optional.
You could simply toss all of your broken-up mints into the brownie mixture and bake.
They definitely don’t need decorating at all.
Should You Freeze the After Eights
When I add chocolate to brownies or other sweet treats, I often freeze them first so that they hold their shape as they bake.
I don’t do that for my easy after eight brownies. For these, I want the After Eights to melt, so there’s really no need.
However, I save adding the mints to the tops of the brownies until the last 5 minutes of baking so that they hold a little and don’t just completely spread or sink into the brownies.
You could even place them on top once your After Eight Mint Brownies have finished baking and are out of the oven to cool.
The brownies would still be hot enough for them to gently melt onto the tops, securing them in place and allowing some of the centre to seep out.
How Long Will Mint Brownies Last?
How fast can you eat them?
You can keep them in a sealed tub or covered bowl for five days.
They are so moist and gooey that they don’t really go stale as such.
Can You Freeze Mint Brownies?
Yes.
My recipe for mint brownies is a pretty large batch. I slice them into 24 squares, which is quite a lot.
So, I often freeze half.
To freeze your homemade mint brownies, leave them to cool fully and slice them into squares.
Then, wrap individually in cling film or another tight wrap.
I’d then advise putting them in a sealed tub too, to avoid freezer burn.
When you want to eat them, take them out of the freezer and thaw them thoroughly in the fridge. You can take them out altogether or one at a time.
Tips for Making After Eight Brownies
Brownies with After Eight Mints are easy when you get the hang of them.
But there is a knack to getting the bake just right, so they aren’t too raw or too cakey.
Here are my top tips to help.
- I use a hand whisk to beat my eggs and sugar for 5 minutes. They are ready when they are pale and noticeably thicker.
- Don’t over-mix. Stir together until the mints are evenly distributed and there are no lumps of flour, but try not to over-mix. If unsure, it’s best to be undermixed than over.
- The skewer test doesn’t work with brownies. They are done when they start to come away from the sides of the tin slightly.
- My tin is 15 inches by 10 inches (affiliate link), so my brownies are fairly thin. They take 20 minutes to bake. If your tin is smaller, this recipe will still work, but yours will be thicker, and they make take a little longer to bake.
- If your brownies are coming away from the sides, but the middle is still a little wobbly, take them out of the oven and leave them to cool in the tin before placing them (still in the tin) in the fridge for an hour. They kinda set.
- If they are more than a little bit wobbly, give them another 5 minutes. It’s often a case of getting to know your oven and your tins.
- I always use reusable baking paper (affiliate link). They are very sticky, and greasing a tin never seems enough.
- Leave them in the tin to cool completely.
- Once totally cool, take them out of the tin and remove the baking paper. I tip them out onto a chopping board to do this and peel my baking paper off before using another chopping board to tip them over again so they are top up. If you are using disposable baking paper, you can just leave them on the paper. But don’t leave them on the reusable paper and slice right through it. Like I do. All the time.
- Because the middles are gooey, they can be messy to slice. I find that wiping the knife clean after every few cuts stops it from sticking and give you cleaner cuts.
- You don’t have to use branded After Eights. Any chocolate-thin mint will do.
Other Brownie Recipes to Try
If you love brownies, you might also want to try:
After Eight Brownies
Ingredients
- 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 (to decorate – optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan assisted) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave or over a Bain Marie and leave to one side.
- Whisk together the sugar and eggs until the mixture has thickened and is pale.
- Pour the melted chocolate and butter into the eggs and sugar and stir together until the mixture is smooth and even.
- Sift in the flour and cocoa and fold together.
- Add around 2/3s of the broken up After Eight Mints into the mix and stir until well distributed.
- Pour into the lined tin and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle over the remaining After Eights before returning to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave in the tin to cool completely.
- Melt dark chocolate and drizzle over with a spoon or piping to decorate (optional).
Notes
- If your tin is smaller and your brownies are thicker, they may take longer to bake.
- Brownies are ready when the outsides are starting to come away from the edge of the tin.
- If you are unsure of the bake time, check every 5 minutes after 15, and you may prefer to add the After Eights to top when the bake is finished, they’ll still melt on as your brownies cool.
- If your brownies seem slightly underdone cool, and then leave in the fridge in the tin to set.
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
These look great, I can’t wait to try them.
My Dad designed the original After Eight clock logo, so they hold a special place in my heart too.
wow that’s so cool! I really hope you enjoy them.
Just an outstanding brownie recipe and a super way to use up that box of After Eights that you get for Christmas :-). I made 1/2 the recipe and used an 8X8″ pan – I am not used to weighing ingredients (I live in Canada) but I have a new scale and it worked like a charm. These are delectable and it’s hard not to eat a row at a time. Thanks for the recipe, Donna.
Aww, Barb that’s lovely to hear! Thank you so much for letting me know :)
Great Recipe to use if you get After Eights for Christmas every year and need a new way to enjoy them. These Brownies are delicious, and as long as you follow her recipe, they will come out perfectly!
Thank you, Hannah. I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Love these! Made for a team meeting at work…went down a storm!
Can you tell me, do they freeze?
To be honest, Lin, I’ve never tried freezing them. I would probably leave the After Eights off the top if you did try.