Adapted from Weelicious*
Every winter break, my family makes these delicious brookies. We would make the brownie-cookie-candy cane hybrids early in the break to enjoy them all winter. The smell of chocolate and peppermint would float through the house. To me, candy cane brookies are synonymous with a cozy winter.
*This recipe is largely the same as the weelicious version. I have made a few changes, though. I omitted the peppermint extract, chose coconut oil over canola oil, used dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, and made them gluten-free.
The Recipe
Gather your ingredients and materials! We will be baking with approximately 1 and 1/2 cups of candy canes (I would recommend the mini ones because they are easier to break); 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 1 tablespoon coconut oil; 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks; 1/2 cup 1-to-1 ratio gluten-free flour*(I recommend Cup4Cup or Bob’s Red Mill); 1/4 tablespoon baking powder; 1/4 tablespoon salt (I recommend finely ground pink Himalayan salt); 2 eggs; and 3/4 cup dark brown sugar.
*if gluten does not bother you, feel free to use all-purpose flour instead.
The materials you need on your brookie journey are a meat tenderizer; a gallon-sized Ziploc bag; a cutting board; measuring spoons and measuring cups; a microwave-safe bowl; a whisk; medium and large mixing bowls; a spoonula; a 1-tablespoon spoon ice cream scooper; parchment paper; a baking sheet; a cookie scoop (between 1 and 3 tablespoons, depending on how big you want your brookies); a cooling rack; and a cookie sheet. Now let’s start baking our candy cane brookies!!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the candy canes and place them in the bag. With the bag on the cutting board, hit the candy canes with the poky part of your meat tenderizer until the candy cane pieces are around a centimeter long, maximum. Don’t bash them too much; you don’t want peppermint dust. You should have around a cup of crushed candy canes in your ziploc.
Place the butter, oil, and 1 cup of chocolate in the microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 1-minute intervals, stirring each time with a spoonula until the chocolate is completely melted.
In your larger bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the smaller bowl, whisk the brown sugar and egg until combined. Add the melted chocolate-butter-oil mixture and stir with the spoonula until fully mixed.
Now, scrape the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix the ingredients using the spoonula until no flour pockets remain.
Fold in the other cup of chocolate chips and the smashed candy canes until evenly distributed.
Freeze the dough in the bowl for 10 minutes so it can cool and harden a little before baking.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Then, using the slightly cooler dough, scoop the dough with the cookie scooper onto the baking sheet. I recommend 9 to 12 brookies per sheet to accommodate spreading, so you may have to make multiple batches. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops look dry and cracked.
Place the baking sheet on the cooling rack and then cool for around 15 minutes. Then, use a spatula to transfer the brookies off the baking sheet and onto the cooling rack. Continue to cool for at least 15 more minutes.
Finally, enjoy your brookies!
