1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. Line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper, overlapping each side - this makes it much easier to pull out to cool and cut.

3. Take your butter, cocoa and sugar and put them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds, or until butter is melted.

4. Mix everything together until smooth. Batter will be very gritty but will smooth out once eggs are added.

5. Add in eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.

6. Pour in the flour and mix until just combined. Then, mix some more until smooth and somewhat glossy. The batter will be very thick.

7. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan and smooth out.

8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out slightly moist with a little bit of batter left on it - this is what makes them fudgy!!

9. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then pull out using the parchment paper and set on counter to finish cooling completely.

--While brownies are baking, start preparing your peppermint layer and ganache!--

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter, cream, oil, vanilla and peppermint extract until smooth.

2. Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix on low until completely smooth.

3. Once smooth, beat for another minute on medium-high until light and fluffy.

4. Once your brownies are out of the oven, let them cool completely then spoon this mixture on top and make sure the surface is level.

1. Melt chocolate chips in microwave at 30 second intervals until you can mix them smooth. Be careful not to scorch!

2. Mix the cream into the hot melted chocolate until completely smooth.

3. Pour mixture into a decorating bottle (or just use a spoon) and pour over your finished brownies.

4. Cut them up and enjoy!