Black Forest Brownies

I was thinking about brownies the other day, and what kinds of things I could add to them to make them even more amazing. Then I started thinking about the dark chocolate, cream and cherry deliciousness of black forest cake. So then it clicked--- black forest brownies :). I took a simple brownie base (courtesy of Melanie from My Kitchen Cafe) and added pieces of oreo cookies and some maraschino cherries, plus a little bit of peppermint extract for a little extra flavor. The end result: crunchy, sweet, creamy fudgy wonder-brownies. Here's the recipe :)

Black Forest Brownies

Makes one 9X13 pan (~16 brownies depending on size)

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
~6 broken up oreo cookies, plus 3 more for later
1 small jar maraschino cherries (~25 cherries)

Directions:
1. Cover your 9X13 pan with foil and spray it with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Break up 6 oreo cookies in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Slice the cherries in half and blot them with a paper towel, and put them in a bowl. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 350.
5. Mix flour, cocoa and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
6. Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan.
7. When melted, pour it into a large bowl and mix in the sugar, eggs and peppermint extract.
8. Add flour, cocoa and salt mixture to buttery mixture, whisk together, then mix in cookie pieces and cherries. Pour and spread into pan with a spatula.
9. Break up 3 more cookies and sprinkle evenly over the top.
10. Put in oven and bake for 32-35 minutes, until brownies are set in the middle but not overbaked.
11. Let cool completely, slice into squares and serve.