Amazing Mint Brownies

I usually don't like mint brownies. I think often they taste like they have toothpaste in them! However, at a bridal shower recently, I found a mint brownie that was amazingly good! I finally got the recipe and I'm posting it here.

When Alex made the brownie part of these, he got distracted and made two mistakes. He didn't put enough cocoa in it, so the brownie part isn't as chocolatey, and he added twice as many chopped nuts as the recipe called for. The kids said we should call them mint tannies, since they aren't dark brown. They were still amazingly good!

MINT BROWNIES

3/4 cup butter or margarine
3 squares unsweetened chocolate or 2 Tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mint Topping:
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup canned milk
4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
2-3 drops green food coloring

Chocolate Frosting:
6 Tablespoons butter
1 small package semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup), melted

Melt butter and chocolate squares or butter and cocoa in small sauce pan. Mix sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with melted butter and chocolate until well blended. Add flour, salt and nuts. Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool and frost with mint topping.

Mint Topping: Combine sugar, butter, milk, peppermint extract and food coloring in small bowl. Blend well. Spread on cooled brownies and chill. Frost with Chocolate Frosting.

Chocolate Frosting: Combine butter and melted chocolate chips in small bowl until well blended (I put both butter and chips in a bowl and microwaved them until melted, then stirred them together well). Spread on cooled brownies.