Arguably Better Than a Pot of Gold

Pinterest has me salivating over hundreds and hundreds of recipes that look SO. GOOD. And also so, so bad for you. I try not to pin the worst offenders (waffle cakes! cinnamon roll pancakes! anything and everything red velvet! more macaroni and cheese recipes than you can shake a stick at!), but sometimes I'm weak. Such was the case with a brownie recipe that caught my eye about a week and a half ago - the "Triple Layer Fudgy Mint Oreo Brownies" from Averie Cooks.

Now, if there are more mac and cheese recipes than you can shake a stick at on Pinterest, there are more brownie recipes than you can shake a whole forest at. Or whatever. The point is, there are a lot. And they all look ricidulously delicious. But this particular brownie recipe had a few things going for it that put it in the "perfect storm of sinfulness" category. First, it involves Oreos. Lots of Oreos.

(There are Oreos on top. And there are Oreos inside.)

I love Oreos. Their trans-fatty goodness has been a favorite of mine since childhood (actually, I preferred the Hydrox over the Oreo, but since the Hydrox cookies are no longer available, I make do. Also, Wikipedia tells me that Oreos no longer contain any trans fat, so there's that, too), and as a child, my favorite ice cream flavor was always Cookies 'n Cream/Oreo, depending on what each ice cream venued chose to name it. With chocolate jimmies (NOT "sprinkles"), of course.

 I also love holiday-themed goodies, and these brownies involve lots of green and mint, perfect for the imminent St. Patrick's Day holiday. They are layered and gooey-looking and very, incredibly, not Weight Watchers-friendly. Or so I assume - I'm not crazy enough to attempt that math.

But I made them anyway, with the goal of providing a holiday-ish snack to share with my work colleagues (and M.'s). It's an excuse to make something I very much want to eat, but of which I very much don't want to have a whole pan sitting in my kitchen, tempting me.

I won't recreate the recipe instructions here - the original blog post does them far better justice than I could. But I will say that these were really easy to make. The only "shortcut" step I took was to use storebought vanilla frosting instead of homemade buttercream, but the brownies themselves I made from scratch, according to the recipe. It was easy, and I didn't have to dirty any kitchen appliances in the process (I mixed everything by hand).

I will also share some pictures, so YOU can salivate over these, too, just like I have been. See, don't these look festive and delish?

In other news, M. has decided that he is no longer "against" Pinterest. Hurrah!

And Slainte! Happy St. Patty's Day to all!