christmas brownies

Homemade fudgy brownies topped with a silky-smooth cocoa buttercream frosting come to life as Reindeer Brownies with sugar eyes and a bright red candy nose!

Reindeer Brownies

butter

sugar

eggs

vanilla extract

flour

cocoa powder

salt

butter (,at room temperature)

confectioners’ sugar

milk

edible candy eyes

red candy

mini candy canes (or chocolate covered mini pretzels

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13-inch x 9-inch baking pan with foil leaving a 2-inch overhang. Coat with non-stick cooking spray.

In microwave-safe bowl, melt 1 cup butter. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Add eggs and vanilla, stirring until blended.

Stir in flour, 1 cup cocoa powder and salt until a batter forms.

Spread evenly in prepared baking pan and bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 15 minutes in pan. Using foil overhang transfer brownie to wire rack and cool completely.

Brownie:

&nbsp;Meanwhile, beat 1/2 cup butter until creamy. Combine confectioners' sugar and 2/3 cup cocoa powder in bowl and whisk until blended. Reduce mixer speed and gradually add confectioners’ sugar mixture until blended. Add milk and beat until creamy and smooth. Spread frosting over top of cooled brownie.

Cut brownie horizontally into three sections. Cut each section into 8 triangles as shown above. There will be small brownie scraps on ends of each sections. Feel free to snack on those!

Cocoa Buttercream Frosting:

Decorate each triangle with two candy eyes, two antlers and a red nose and watch as Rudolph comes to life!

Reindeer Candy:

Turn my viral cosmic brownie recipe into these adorable &amp; easy Christmas tree brownies, inspired by the Little Debbie version! Bake in a 9x13 pan and cut in triangles to make the perfect bite-sized brownies that are perfect for holiday dessert platters.

Cosmic Christmas Tree Brownies

unsalted butter ((i.e 1 ½ sticks; you will be melting this))

brown sugar

eggs egg yolk

baking soda

cornstarch

Hershey's cocoa powder (100% cacao natural unsweetened)

all-purpose flour

vegetable oil

white chocolate chips (i.e 11

heavy cream

green food coloring

Rainbow chip sprinkles (see tips

Before you start, be sure to read through the tips &amp; tricks in the post above for ingredient notes, step-by-step photos, and FAQ&#39;s!

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, add unsalted butter (¾ cup, i.e. 1 ½ sticks), granulated sugar (1 ½ cups), and light brown sugar (½ cup). Microwave for 2 minutes, stir, then micowave for 30 more seconds. Carefully remove bowl from microwave and stir until smooth. Let cool for 2-3 minutes.

To the butter and sugar mixture, stir in the 3 whole eggs, 1 extra egg yolk, vanilla extract (1 tablespoon), salt (1 teaspoon), baking soda (¼ teaspoon), and cornstarch (2 tablespoons). Once combined, mix in cocoa powder (1 ½ cups) and all-purpose flour (1 cup) until just combined (I recommend mixing by hand to prevent overmixing). Stir in vegetable oil (¼ cup).

Spray a light metal 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray, then press on a piece of parchment paper to cover the bottom and long sides to create a parchment sling (photo in faq section above!). This will help you lift the brownies out of the pan so that you can cut them nicely. Spread brownie batter into the prepared pan until smooth.Note: baking these in glass or dark metal pans may cause them to overbake and become bitter. If that&#39;s the only pan you have, lining with parchment on all sides becomes more crucial. You will also likely need to bake them for less time to prevent overbaking.

Bake at 350° F for 24-26 minutes or until center looks set and no longer jiggles when you gently shake the pan (do not overbake). Let cool completely in pan (once the pan is no longer hot to the touch, you can speed up cooling by placing pan in refrigerator.

To Make Brownies:

In a medium-sized, heat-safe bowl, place white chocolate chips (2 cups; i.e. 11 or 12oz bag).

In a separate medium-sized bowl or large liquid measuring cup, heat heavy cream (⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons) in the microwave for 1 ½ minutes, or until it begins to bubble (it’s important that your measuring cup or bowl is at least 4x taller than the milk line, as it will expand when it’s heating and can easily overflow). You can also heat this on the stove; remove it once it begins to steam.

Use a hot pad to carefully remove milk from the microwave and pour over the white chocolate chips (do not stir yet!). Use a fork to press down the chips so that they&#39;re fully covered with the cream.Allow to sit for about 1 minute, then use a fork to stir; it will be thick and will likely look like it&#39;s going to mix together but keep at it for at least 30 seconds. At this point, the mixture will likely be thick and look a little grainy. Microwave in 15-second increments on 50% power, stirring in between each until smooth and pourable (I did four rounds of this). Stir in green food coloring, then pour over cooled brownies and spread until smooth. Tap the pan on the counter to help smooth out any bumps.

Immediately top with rainbow chip sprinkles (or any other sprinkles you have!). Place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours to help the ganache harden (you can speed this up by putting in the freezer!).Use a large knife to slice bars into trees, as shown in the photo instructions in the blog post above. I highly recommend that your bars are chilled before slicing to ensure a clean cut.

Storage: I recommend refrigerate the frosted bars, as they get even better &amp; fudgier on Day 2! You can also keep them at room temperature for up to 2 days, if desired.

To Make White Chocolate Ganache:

Chewy Christmas tree brownies whip up in minutes and are perfectly delightful to decorate for kids of all ages.

Top 3 christmas brownies recipes from across the web

The most viewed christmas brownies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Reindeer Brownies

Cosmic Christmas Tree Brownies

Christmas Tree Brownies Recipe

Top 3 christmas brownies recipes from across the web

The most viewed christmas brownies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Reindeer Brownies

Cosmic Christmas Tree Brownies

Christmas Tree Brownies Recipe

The most viewed christmas brownies recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine