Chocolate Mint Squares Tested Recipe

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Chocolate Mint Squares are a delicious mixture of textures and flavors. They are no bake, have three layers, and are actually a mint flavored Nanaimo Bar. They start with a crumb base, followed by a layer of buttercream, and the crowning glory is a smooth and glossy layer of semi sweet chocolate. Chocolate Mint Squares are perfect anytime of the year but chocolate and mint do seem to be a holiday favorite so you might want to include these in your holiday baking.

Chocolate Mint Squares start with a base layer, a wonderful combination of cocoa powder (regular unsweetened or Dutch-processed), chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts), coconut (sweetened or unsweetened) and graham cracker crumbs (or crushed Digestive Biscuits) held together with melted butter and a beaten egg. This layer does need to be chilled so it can be easily covered with a thick creamy icing made from butter, confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, custard powder (Bird's is the most popular brand), and pure peppermint extract. Now, although Bird's Custard Powder is found on most grocery store shelves in Canada, it can be hard to find in the States. I would make the effort to locate it (can be found on the web) but there is another solution, and that is to use vanilla instant pudding powder which only changes the taste of the squares slightly. I have colored this layer green to make it more festive looking and so everyone knows they are mint flavored. Again, this layer needs to be chilled so we can finish the squares off with a shiny coating of chocolate. I like to use a good quality dark chocolate, one that has a lovely shiny finish (a sign that the chocolate was cooked at the right temperature for the right amount of time) and wonderful 'snap' when you break it into pieces. The only point to remember is to bring the squares to room temperature before cutting into squares so the chocolate will not break into small pieces.