York Sensation Brownies

York Sensation (or Sensational) Brownies have been around since at least the late 1980’s, gaining popularity throughout the 1990’s (which coincides with my memories of mom first making these brownies when I was in high school) and continuing to appear all around the internet today, including ‘official’ versions on the Hersheyland and Hersheyland Canada websites (the Hersheyland Canada recipe is precisely the same one mom used, the only ‘difference’ being that theirs explicitly calls for Hershey’s cocoa).

I’ll be honest, these are not one of my personal favorites (having never been a big fan of mint). In fact, when I was still receiving a tray of holiday goodies from mom, one of the first things I would do is sort out the tray into a variety of airtight containers so all the sweet treats would stay fresh longer. For the most part I wasn’t too picky about how they were divvied up, except when it came to the mint brownies and cookies – they always got a container of their very own so they didn’t impart the flavor of mint into everything else. But, my own personal feelings and prejudices aside, these brownies were another family favorite on mom’s holiday trays. And for all you mint lovers out there (my husband and kids among you) these are fantastic, encasing soft, intensely minty York peppermint patties between two layers of rich fudgy brownies.

I may not have cared much for the original mint version of these brownies, but mom also made a caramel version by layering Caramello candy bars in the middle instead of the York peppermint patties. Now those were definitely my favorite! Mom made a note on the recipe that you could sub in any “soft filled chocolate” in place of the peppermint patties, specifically calling out peanut butter cups and Caramellos. Neither my father nor I could recall her actually making the peanut butter cup variation – every Christmas it was the peppermint patty and caramel versions – but it sounded too good to pass up, so I decided to make all three variations when recreating the recipe to share with you.

It’s possible that these brownies and the variations my mom recommended were the subconscious inspiration for my Easter Candy Brownies, creating a layered brownie that incorporates popular chocolate candy. It wasn’t until I was preparing to recreate this recipe that I realized that it was probably fond memories of these brownies that inspired my own layered brownie and candy recipe. I hope you enjoy these brownies (or whichever variation calls to you) as much as my family and I have over the years.

York Sensation Brownies

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The perfect brownie for any chocolate and mint lover – layers of fudgy brownie sandwich a layer of soft, intensely minty peppermint patties.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Cooling Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Servings: 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 323

Equipment Ingredients Method Notes Nutrition

Equipment

• ▢
  9"x13" brownie pan
• ▢
  large mixing bowl
• ▢
  medium mixing bowl
• ▢
  measuring cups (or kitchen scale)
• ▢
  measuring spoons

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x4x

• ▢ 2 cups flour
• ▢ 1 cup cocoa
• ▢ 1 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ 1 ½ cup butter melted, and still hot
• ▢ 3 cups sugar
• ▢ 1 tbsp vanilla
• ▢ 5 eggs
• ▢ 40 peppermint patties

Method

 

Cook Mode Cook Mode

 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease (or line with non-stick foil) a 9"x13" brownie pan.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
   2 cups (264 g) flour, 1 cup (96 g) cocoa, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until well combined and the sugar begins to dissolve.
   1 1/2 cup (336 g) butter, 3 cups (600 g) sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla
4. Add in the eggs and stir until well blended, the sugar should be completely dissolved the mixture will have a syrupy texture.
   5 eggs
5. Add the flour mixture, mix just until combined. All dry ingredients should disappear into the mixture, but avoid over mixing. Reserve 2 cups of the batter (or about 1/3 the total batter), set aside for later use. Spread the remaining batter in the prepared pan.
6. Unwrap the peppermint patties and arrange of the surface of the batter with the edges just barely touching.
   40 peppermint patties
7. Spread the reserved batter over the peppermint patties. Bake for 50 minutes or until the surface is glossy and set, the edges puffed and there may be some cracks, especially near the edges. The peppermint patties will be very melty and soft so most traditional doneness tests will not work.
8. Cool completely before cutting into squares (40 small or 24 large).

Notes

Mom’s Note:

Any type of soft filled chocolate can be used in place of the peppermint patties, such as peanut butter cups or Caramellos.

My Note:

My preferred brownie pan is a 9″x13″ aluminized steel pan with sharp square corners. In that pan, I found that the 50 min bake time was too long by about 10-15 minutes. I recommend checking your brownies at about 35 minutes – you can always add more time, but there’s no way to roll back the clock if you bake them too long. 

The original recipe calls for 24 small peppermint patties and tells you to space them about 1/2″ apart. As I recall, mom did not leave any space between the candy when she made these. She would but the peppermint patties right up against each other (when I did that, it took about 40 of them instead of 24) or use whole Caramello candy bars in a solid layer. So, I adjusted the recipe ingredients and instructions to reflect how mom made these. 

Private Notes

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Nutrition

Serving: 1brownieCalories: 323kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 3gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.5gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 145mgPotassium: 98mgFiber: 2gSugar: 43gVitamin A: 249IUCalcium: 20mgIron: 1mg

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