Mint Chocolate Brownie Crumb Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease and line an 8×8 inch square pan.

Make the crumb topping first: Place butter, flour, sugar and cocoa powder into a medium sized bowl and rub together until combined and you have coarse crumbs with some large and some small lumps! Leave to one side.

For the brownies: Place dark chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments, stirring in between, and continuing until melted. You can also place the bowl over a simmering saucepan of water and stir until melted. Leave to cool whilst you mix the rest of the batter.

Place eggs, sugar and peppermint extract into a large bowl and whisk until smooth and combined, about 1 minute.

Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together in a medium sized bowl and stir until combined.

Pour melted chocolate mix into your sugar and egg mixture and whisk until combined. Tip in your flour mix and fold in gently with a spatula/wooden spoon—just until there are no lumps of flour visible.

Tip brownie mixture into your greased pan and spread until level with a spoon/spatula. Sprinkle your crumb mixture all over the brownie mix and press it into the brownies ever so slightly with a clean hand.

Place in the oven for 23-27 minutes until they’ve risen slightly and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with just a few crumbs. The crumb topping will be firm to the touch and crisp. If your skewer comes out a little wet, give the brownies a few more minutes, but check them often. They can go from perfectly baked to overdone quickly! Remove from oven. Leave to cool completely in the pan.

Once cool, make the glaze: Place white chocolate into a heatproof bowl and microwave in 20 second increments, stirring in-between and continuing until melted. Add in the peppermint extract and stir.

Either spoon the chocolate over your brownies or place it in a piping/Ziploc bag. Snip the end off the bag and squeeze gently in lines over your brownies. Drizzle it any way you want! I did mine diagonally across! Sprinkle with holiday sugar pearls or sprinkles and dig in!

Slice into 9-12 bars. Brownies will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature for 4 days.