A Recipe for Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing

A Recipe: Crispy Mint M&M's Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing (A Variation on David Lebovitz's Fudgy Brownies) 

I found a picture of these on M&M's Facebook page and since then I've been itching to make them. Not fussed with looking for the recipe, I just used an older and reliable recipe for Brownies and decided that the icing would be a Cream Cheese version. And of course you must add the Crispy Mint M&M's.
These are so fun and easy to make, it took me about an hour (yet you need to think about cooling the brownies first so overnight refrigeration is recommended).

I used David Lebovitz's Fudgy Brownie Recipe and added my own Cream Cheese Icing:

Total Time: 60mins (cooling period not included)
Serves Approx: 16

Ingredients (Brownies):
6 tablespoons Butter (approx. 85g)
8 ounces Bittersweet Cooking Chocolate (approx. 250g)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons

Ingredients (Icing and Decorations):
3 ounces light cream cheese (approx. 85g)
1 cup pure icing sugar
Green food colouring
One Bag Crispy Mint M&M's (160g bag)

Directions:
1. Preheat Oven to 350*F (or 175*C)
2. Lightly butter a sheet of baking paper and line the paper into a 8x8inch baking pan (try to line the sides of pan as well). Set Aside.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cooking chocolate, stirring as you go. When chocolate is melted, remove from heat. Add in the sugar and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the flour and stir in vigorously by hand for a full minute. The batter should become smoother and glossier, and start to pull away from the side of the saucepan.
4. Pour the batter gently into the baking pan, spreading it evenly. Bake for 30 minutes. Do not overbake - for brownies it's better to undercook than to overcook. Remove from Oven and let to cool completely (I advise overnight refrigeration to make the brownies firm enough to cut neatly).
5. Prepare the Icing. Combine cream cheese and icing sugar into a bowl. Beat with an electrical beater until mixture is light and fluffy. (To mix by hand, sift the sugar first before adding to the cream cheese to smooth out lumps.) Add 2-3 drops of Food colouring to get a Green Mint Colour; continue mixing until the colour is mixed through nicely. The Icing can be stored overnight in the fridge if need be.
6. Once the Brownies are completely cooled, cut into small squares or rectangles. Gently add icing and spread evenly over the top of brownies, using a knife. Now for the fun part, using clean hands, decorate the Brownies with M&M's! The chocolates stick to the icing well. Patterns are encouraged :)

Happy Baking :)