Cool Mt. Crumpit Peppermint Patty Brownies

I love holiday traditions.  : )  One in particular that my mom and I have always had is our "decorating night".  It's usually the day after Thanksgiving, and we spend all night getting the dozens of boxes of Christmas decorations out of the attic, drag them into the house, and begin spreading Christmas joy over the house.  During the decorating time, we either have Christmas music playing or old Christmas movies (like Rudolph or Frosty) on in the background. 

After we've done all the decorating we can manage for one night, THEN comes my favorite part...watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas!!  Not the old one...the one with Jim Carrey!!  It's my favorite Christmas movie and it never fails that I put it in the DVD player at least once a Christmas season.

Welll, with a Mama who's 18 hours away, guess who had to participate in my Christmas tradition this year with me?  That's right- my better half!  He was such a trooper though!  He has now officially heard me recite the Grinch's lines as he shouts hate messages off his mountaintop to the Who's down below, or deal with a bunch of rotten kids in school as he's harboring a love for Martha May Whovier (pronounced Who-vee-ay).

Anywho ; ), after the movie was over and we'd danced around our tiny living room to "Where Are You Christmas", Jordan decided to flip through the bonus material.  Low and behold, there was a section for 'Recipes'!  I was stunned - why hadn't I seen this before??!  These Cool Mt. Crumpit Peppermint Patty brownies were the recipe that shouted "MAKE ME HOLLY!".  We won't even discuss what Martha May Whovier's recipe on there was....shudder.

Upon further Internet investigation, I discovered that this is actually a Hershey's recipe.  These brownies are minty, fudgy, and very satisfying!  If you love York peppermint patties, you'll love these.  Chocolate and peppermint tastes just like Christmas.  : )

Cool Mt. Crumpit Peppermint Patty Brownies
Recipe from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" DVD; originally from Hershey's

*Due to the alarming amounts of butter & sugar in this recipe, I opted to half this recipe and (making only 1/2 a pan) and share most of the brownies with others.  If you make a whole pan, don't fret!  Share them with friends and family - they'll love it, and you won't be eating all the calories by yourself! 

24 small York peppermint patties, unwrapped
3 sticks melted butter (1 1/2 cup)  (I used half salted and half unsalted because it's what I had on hand.)
3 cups sugar
1 TB vanilla
5 eggs
2 cups AP flour
1 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for a glass dish).  Grease 13 x 9 dish.  Unwrap peppermint patties.
In large bowl, stir butter, sugar, and vanilla together.  Add eggs and beat until well blended.  Add in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and blend well. 
Reserve 2 cups of batter.  Spread remaining batter in the bottom of the baking dish.  Arrange peppermint patties on top evenly.  Pour reserved batter on top and spread over the patties evenly. 
Bake 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  (My half-pan only baked 40 minutes!!)