No Bake Aero Mint Squares

The airy, bubbly, chocolatey popular confection known as the Aero Bar, is paired with crushed cookies, cocoa powder, sweetened condensed milk, and melted milk chocolate in this No Bake Aero Mint Squares recipe. These are absolutely delicious, which makes sharing very difficult!

Using store-bought chocolate bars to make holiday confections has been popular in my family home since the 1980s. I can remember my mom using Aero Chocolate Bars to make these Newfoundland Five Star Bars and I’ve used the mint version to make these No Bake Aero Mint Squares! Speaking of store-bought bars in homemade Christmas confections, if you love the Mirage Bar as much as I do, try these Pretzel Nutella Bars too!

In our home, Christmas cannot come and pass us by without a good dose of treats flavoured with mint. Those treats are even more welcomed and enjoyed if they have melted chocolate of any type! Seriously, we can’t get enough of it! I’m not a huge lover of sweets, but every Christmas I have to get my mint fix and that usually comes in the form of simple treats just like this one.

I’m going to tell you all about this recipe and how you can make it in your home this holiday season, but first, I want to tell you about what you can expect from Lord Byron’s Kitchen this Christmas. I know we’re getting closer to the big day, so it’s time to get to the bars and squares recipes! Before I get into today’s recipe, let me make mention of the previous holiday confection countdowns that I just finished up this year.

Back in October, I kicked off the holiday season with a holiday recipe series called Lord Byron’s 12 Holiday Trifle Series and followed that up with a second series called Lord Byron’s 12 Holiday Breads and Loaves. My third series this year is the second volume of my 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas! You can find the first bars and squares series here! Before we get to a list of ingredients and instructions for today’s recipe, let me tell you about this series and more!

LORD BYRON’S 12 BARS AND SQUARES OF CHRISTMAS – Volume 2

Another holiday series, Lord Byron? Yes – why not!? Welcome, Dear Reader, to the third of my annual holiday recipe series for this season! This one is called Lord Byron’s 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas – Volume 2! I will try to keep the recipes in this series quick and easy, just like in previous years. Even if a recipe looks complex, I promise you that it is not! My goal, as always, is to share recipes with you that are not too complex to whip up as a holiday treat for your family.

Like every other holiday series I’ve shared over the years, this series will share a new recipe every day for the next 24 days – even on Saturday and Sunday! You might be asking yourself, how many Christmas recipes could one possibly have or need? Well, I say you can never have too much of a good thing. And, I love having lots of choices. Who wants to prepare the same holiday recipes year after year?

SUBSCRIBE NOW SO THAT YOU NEVER MISS OUT ON NEW RECIPES!

So, welcome, Dear Reader, to Lord Byron’s 12 Bars and Squares of Christmas series! Even though this is the third series for this holiday season, you can always look back at previous years if you just cannot wait until the next recipe is published. Also, some of my favourite recipe collections from previous years are my 75 Homemade Gifts from Your Kitchen, my 50 Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Christmas Recipes, and my 30 No-Bake Christmas Recipes post.

You really don’t want to miss one of these recipes, so if you have not yet subscribed to Lord Byron’s Kitchen, I encourage you to do so. That way, a new recipe will be emailed to you every day. You won’t have to bother to come looking for it! Like in previous holiday recipe countdowns, I like to mix up the recipes in the series so that there is something for everyone. Are you ready!!??

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Aero Mint Bars – These store-bought bars are bubbly and delicious! Just in case you’re not familiar with them, these are the bars I’m referring to.
• Canned Sweetened Condensed Milk – This recipe has not been tested with low-fat condensed milk.  Depending on where you live, the size of the can may differ. 
• Butter
• Cocoa Powder – Cocoa powder is an unsweetened chocolate product which adds deep chocolate flavour to desserts and beverages.  Use a good quality cocoa powder, not the kind we used to stir into milk as kids!
• Digestive Biscuits – You can find these almost anywhere these days. If you cannot, you can substitute them with graham crackers or Marie Biscuits.
• Vegetable Oil

HOW TO MAKE NO BAKE AERO MINT SQUARES

Line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Fold the parchment paper so that it fits snugly in the pan. I use two sheets – one folded to fit the length of the pan and another folded to fit across the pan. Allow the excess parchment paper to hang out over the side of the pan. Once the confection is firm, use the excess parchment to lift the whole block out of the pan to make it easy to cut into squares.

Transfer the digestive biscuits to a food processor and pulse until you are left with some crumbs, but some larger pieces too. The larger pieces should be about the size of a pea or pencil eraser. Transfer the crumbs to a mixing bowl. Add the butter, sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder, and one of the Aero Mint Chocolate Bars to a large saucepan. Over low heat, stir and melt these ingredients together until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

While the chocolate mixture cools, roughly chop two of the Aero Mint Chocolate Bars. Transfer them into the mixing bowl with the crushed biscuits. Stir to combine. Once the chocolate mixture is cooled, pour it into the mixing bowl with the biscuits and chopped chocolate. Use a spatula to stir, combining well. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press it in so that you have a very flat, firm layer. Set it in your fridge to set for 15 minutes. While the squares chill, roughly chop the remaining two bars of Aero Mint Chocolates. Set aside.

Once the squares are chilled, place the milk chocolate chips and vegetable oil into a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30-second increments, stirring well between each increment until the mixture is melted and smooth. Pour the melted milk chocolate over the chilled base and spread it out to an even layer. Top with the chopped Aero Mint Chocolate Bars. Transfer to the fridge for one hour before cutting into squares. Package and a food-safe container and keep refrigerated.

NO-BAKE RECIPES

I used to think that the term no-bake meant that a recipe was more of an assembly-type recipe. Something like a salad, for example. It sounds simple enough, right? Toss the lettuce and any other veggies you want into a bowl. Top it with cheese, croutons, avocado, hard-boiled egg, etc. Add some dressing and you’re all done! But, no-bake actually just means no baking. There still might be some stove-top cooking needed – or even a microwave, for that matter. To prepare these No Bake Aero Mint Squares, you will not need to use your stovetop or microwave!

Some other no-bake-type holiday recipes you might enjoy are these Rudolph’s Red Nose Cookies. Hairy Moose Droppings are delicious and always quite the conversation starter! Just like these Caramel Peanut Slices were a favourite of my mom’s so were these Marshmallow Coconut Balls and so were these Christmas Crunch Cookies. You can find many more no-bake cookie recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen by using the search field at the top of this page.

SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK

I have a lot of recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen with sweetened condensed milk as one of the ingredients. (Click here to see them!) Growing up in Newfoundland, it was always something I’ve been aware of. But, that’s not the case for everyone. I get many questions from readers about it. For someone not familiar with the gooey, sticky canned milk, it might be easily confused with canned Carnation condensed milk, for instance. Let me explain what it is here.

So, first of all, it’s condensed. The milk is condensed by removing water. This can be accomplished by applying heat. The water will evaporate causing the milk to condense, which thickens the milk. Sugar is added to sweeten the condensed milk. The main purpose of adding sugar is to prolong the shelf life of condensed milk, which can sit on room-temperature shelves for years. Sugar prevents microorganisms from growing in the milk and helps to thicken it even further—it’s added after the milk has been boiled, reduced, and pasteurized.

If you find unsweetened condensed milk, it’s most likely that it’s simply evaporated milk or condensed milk, which is thick, but not gooey and sticky. Evaporated milk is often used as a cream added to tea or coffee. If you are unfamiliar with it, please read the can carefully. Also, shake it – can you feel the liquid splashing about inside the can? If so, it’s not sweetened condensed milk; it’s evaporated or condensed milk only!

STORING, PACKAGING, & FREEZING

Most no-bake confections are made without the need to freeze them for long periods of time, but they can be frozen. For this recipe, I have tested whether or not they can be frozen, and they certainly can! Once they are completely firm, pile them into a clean, food-safe container. The container must be freezer-friendly! You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. I use these quite often when freezing baked goods. I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in!  You can freeze these for up to three months.

If you plan to give previously frozen bars or squares as a gift, I would lay them out on a wire cooling rack to thaw completely. Once thawed, pile into cellophane bags and tie with a ribbon, or stack in a cookie tin/box.

CHOCOLATE AND MINT

If you love the combination of chocolate and mint, there are several recipes here at Lord Byron’s Kitchen that you should take advantage of! You will have to try my No Bake Mint Squares. I shared this one with my readers a few weeks ago as a part of my 12 Bars & Squares of Christmas series. It was quite the hit!

How about these Mint Candy Melts? They are so delicious and addicting too! I also have these Mint Patty Thumbprint Cookies. There’s a whole mint patty pushed right into the center of the cookie! Also, don’t forget to check out my Mint Oreo Cookies and Cream Cookies, as well as my Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Scoop Cookies!

QUESTIONS?

If I have not answered all of your questions in the text above, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! You can contact me by sending me a message in the comments section further down the page. I will try my best to answer as soon as possible! You might reach me even faster by following me on Facebook and sending me a private message. Scroll down below the recipe card to find my Follow Me on Social Media box and never miss another recipe!

Finally, as I stated previously, every day I will be posting a new recipe. If you miss one, don’t fret. You can find my entire collection of Christmas Recipes right here! There are over 200 Christmas recipes and counting. There’s something for everyone! Cheers!