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Chewy, chocolatey, and adorable! These frosted Christmas brownies are everything you’d want in a brownie, and cute enough for everyone to ask you to make them again next year!
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Easy Iced Christmas Brownies
I like brownies any time of the year! These hyper cute brownies are a great way to add a little holiday cheer to your favorite dessert. While you can make any designs you want, I love to make my kids favorites: reindeer, snowmen, and Christmas trees.
There is a debate in my family about whether brownies should be dense or cake-like. These brownies reflect my preference for a dense, chewy, ooey gooey, and moist brownie that has a strong chocolate flavor. These are milk’s favorite brownies!
How to make Christmas Brownies:
Ingredients
- Butter – I use salted butter for this recipe. It gives it a lot of richness and is the perfect binder for this brownie. If you use unsalted butter be sure to add about ½ tsp of salt to the dry ingredients.
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips – chocolate chips give the richest chocolate flavor. You can use bitter chocolate chips if you don’t want a very sweet brownie.
- Vanilla Extract – vanilla extract gives a floral lift to these brownies and a strong flavor.
- Milk – I use whole milk for this recipe, I love the creaminess and moisture it brings to the brownies.
- White Sugar – you need sugar to make the brownie sweet. I always use granular sugar because it creates a great texture.
- Flour – all purpose flour has the perfect protein content to make a chewy brownie. You can substitute with cake flour for a lighter brownie.
- Cocoa Powder – cocoa powder gives the brownies a nice dark color. It also adds a rich flavor and gives the mixture a good consistency.
- Baking Powder – baking powder will give these brownies a lift. They will remain dense but you want some air bubbles in your brownies to lighten them a bit.
- Twisted Pretzels – pretzels are for the reindeer’s antler, the salt on them is a nice contrast to the sweet brownies.
- Chocolate Frosting – I use premade frosting to keep things simple but you can use homemade.
- Vanilla Frosting – I use premade frosting for this, it makes decorating a breeze.
- Eyeball Sprinkles – these are for the eyes of the reindeer and snowman. You can find them at Hobby Lobby or online around the holidays.
- Green Food Dye – this is for trees, alternatively you could use white frosting and green sugar sprinkles.
- Long Orange Sprinkles – these are sometimes called “jimmies” and are the ‘carrot nose’ for snowmen.
- Large and small sphere sprinkles – these are also called “sugar pearls”, they should be black for coal eyes/mouth on snowmen. Get other colors for ‘buttons’ and ‘ornaments.’
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following method:
- Mix brownie batter – Melt the butter and chocolate chips on the stove or in the microwave. Mix all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl then add the melted chocolate butter, vanilla, and milk stirring constantly.
- Bake – Pour the mixture into a parchment lined baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Insert a toothpick, it should come out clean when done.
- Cool & Frost – Let the brownies cool completely then cut into 8 triangles. Frost the slices based on whatever pattern you prefer.
- Enjoy
Tips and Tricks To Perfect Christmas Brownies:
Check out these tips and tricks for unforgettable Christmas brownies.
Make it your own. Decorating the brownies is completely up to you! You can make them all one character, or all different. Use the decorations in the pictures as inspiration, not a requirement!
Use a spatula. The melted butter and chocolate mixture is often a pain to pour. I find it’s easiest to use a flexible silicone spatula to make sure you get as much melted butter and chocolate out of the pot as you can.
Sift Your Sugar: For icings that require powdered sugar, always sift the sugar to avoid lumps. This ensures a smooth, velvety finish.
Apply Gently: Use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the icing gently over the brownies. Start in the center and work your way to the edges with smooth, even strokes.
Chill to Set: Once iced, chill the brownies in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to help the icing set. This makes cutting cleaner and easier.
Heat the Knife for Clean Cuts: Before cutting, dip a sharp knife in hot water and wipe it dry. This heats the blade and helps make smooth, clean cuts through the icing without dragging.
Decorate with Toppings: After icing, but before it sets completely, sprinkle toppings like chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, or sea salt for added texture and flavor.
Flavor Your Icing: Infuse your icing with extracts like vanilla, almond, or mint to complement the chocolatey richness of the brownies.
Use a Piping Bag for Designs: For a more decorative approach, use a piping bag with a tip of your choice to create designs or write messages with the icing on the brownies.
Control the Sweetness: If you prefer less sweet desserts, opt for a dark chocolate ganache or a glaze with a lower sugar content to balance the sweetness of the brownies.
Layer for Effect: Consider applying a thin layer of icing, chilling it to set, and then adding another layer. This technique can create a more substantial, layered effect that looks and tastes luxurious.
FAQ’s:
Unfortunately, they do, otherwise you run the risk of brownies falling apart or the frosting melting while decorating. To help speed up the cooling time, it’s recommended to place it in the refrigerator. Wait, at the very least, until the bottom of the dish is completely cool and the top of the brownies is no longer warm before removing from the dish.
Many grocery stores, or craft stores with a baking section, have edible eyeball sprinkles, as well as websites such as Amazon. If you don’t want to buy edible eyeballs, you can certainly use a dab of white frosting and then a smaller dab of chocolate or colored frosting to make eyeballs.
These brownies will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
What can I enjoy these Christmas brownies with?
We love to enjoy these Christmas brownies with, white chocolate peppermint latte, horchata spiked latte, pumpkin spice latte, or slow cooker hot chocolate.
If you enjoyed these brownies check out, magic pumpkin bars, pumpkin bundt cake, mint hot chocolate bombs, or chocolate pudding.
Check out other favorite Sweet C’s Christmas Recipes by clicking here!
Try these delicious Christmas cookies:
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Christmas Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
Brownies
- ½ cup Butter
- ½ cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ? cup Milk
- 1 ¼ cup White Sugar
- 1 ¼ cup Flour
- ½ cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
Toppings
- Twisted Pretzels broken in half (for ‘antlers’)
- Chocolate Frosting
- Vanilla Frosting
- Eyeball Sprinkles
- Optional Green Food Dye
- Long Orange Sprinkles jimmies
- Optional Large and small sphere sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350? and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter and chocolate chips on medium to low heat on the stove, or melt in the microwave in 15-30 second increments. Stir constantly.
- Mix together all dry brownie ingredients in a bowl, then add the butter and chocolate mixture, vanilla, and milk. Stir well.
- Pour the mixture into the lined baking dish and bake for about 45 minutes, using a toothpick to check when done.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting the brownies.
- Cut the brownies in half vertically, then horizontally, and then diagonally both ways; you should end up with 8 triangle slices.
- Frost each slice based on which Christmas symbol you would like it to be. (White/vanilla for snowmen, brown/chocolate for reindeer, green (mix green food dye in with white frosting) or white for Christmas trees (then add green sugar sprinkles to the trees if desired).
- Decorate the brownies to make them look more like the Christmas symbols you chose. Example, add ‘coal’ (black sugar pearls to the snowmen for eyes, mouth, and possibly buttons, add a different colored frosting to the snowmen as hats and scarves, etc.
