For these Brownie Bites you will need:
Brownies
01. 4 whole 1-ounce Squares Unsweetened Chocolate, Melted And Cooled
02. 2 sticks Butter, Softened (but Not Room Temperature)
03. 2 cups Sugar
04. 4 whole Large Eggs
05. 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
06. 1-¼ cup All-purpose Flour
07. 1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
08. 1 cup Semi-sweet Chocolate Chunks
09. ICING/GLAZE
10. 8 whole 1-ounce Squares Semi-sweet Chocolate, Chopped
11. 1 cup Cream, Heated
12. 2 Tablespoons Light Corn Syrup
13. 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Okay, begin by melting four ounces of unsweetened chocolate in a microwave-proof bowl. Do this a good 15 minutes ahead of time because it has to have time to cool! If you add the chocolate when it’s too warm, your brownie bites will be totally weird and your life will spiral downward into a series of unfortunate events that you’ll definitely be able to trace back to the fact that you didn’t let your chocolate cool enough.
Don’t do it to yourself!
When the chocolate is cool (but obviously still stirrable), combine butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Mix it till it’s light and fluffy.
Add four eggs, two at a time, mixing gently after each addition.
And there you have it. Brownies!
Just kidding.
With the mixer on low, add the melted but cooled but still warm enough for it to be stirrable but not so warm it’ll mess up your brownies and your life chocolate.
This looks right. I like that you can see the tiny particles of chocolate—a result of the chocolate hitting the relatively cool butter and egg mixture.
Next, add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Then eat this entire bowl of batter!
Thank you for your cooperation.
Oh, wait. I forgot. You’re a reasonable, logical person.
In that case, please proceed with the remaining instructions.
To this, add in all-purpose flour, mixing just until combined.
You definitely don’t want to overmix the batter! At every stage (except creaming the butter and sugar) just mix until combined.
Next, add in a cup of milk chocolate chips.
Milk chocolate…because it’s the right thing to do!
Next, add a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chunks. I bought these in the bag as is, but you can also just chop up chocolate yourself. Use semi-sweet or, if you’re adventurous, bittersweet.
Mix it gently until just combined. Then just stand there and look at it for a minute.
Spray mini-muffin pans GENEROUSLY with baking spray.
I’m sorry to scream. But just when you think you’ve sprayed enough…spray a little more.
Scoop or spoon just a small amount of batter into each muffin tin. What we’re trying to avoid here is a big muffin top; you want the tops to remain below the surface of the tins.
And there you have it! Brownies!
Sorry. I’m trying to stop.
Now bake the little suckers for about 10 to 12 minutes on 325, or until no longer jiggly.
If you adequately greased the pan, they should pop right out of the pan. Turn them out, face down, on a cooling rack.
Let them cool down for a good twenty minutes or so before you start with the next round of mischief.
To begin, measure a cup of cream.
Not milk.
Not half and half.
Add two tablespoons of light corn syrup.
Nuke this for about a minute, then add in some vanilla.
Lay 8 ounces (8 squares) semi-sweet chocolate onto a cutting board.
Chop it up with a sharp knife.
Throw it into a bowl…
Then pour the warm cream mixture over the chocolate.
Stir it together until the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes smooth and silky.
Now, pick up a brownie bite and blow on it just to get rid of any superficial crumbs. (I know, I know. Gross and all. You can use a neat little pastry brush if you prefer.) Then dunk it, face down, into the chocolate mixture.
Push it down to submerge it a bit…
Then spoon chocolate over the top.
Then lift it out of the chocolate with a fork so the chocolate will run between the tines.
Lightly tap it so it will sheet down the sides of the brownie and result in a nice, thin coating. (This’ll also prevent it from pooling at the bottom of the brownie.) I tapped forty to fifty times (really quick pace)!
Carefully let the brownie slide off the fork and onto a baking mat or a sheet of waxed paper. You can see the nice cone shape here. This is why you don’t want big muffin tops on the brownie bites.
Repeat until they’re all coated…then you can start having some fun decorating them! These are just regular chocolate sprinkles.
A single milk chocolate chip.
Cocoa nibs! Yummy.
Slivers of almonds.
Colorful confetti.
And if a couple go astray…
Just use a toothpick to fix.
A blackberry. Why not?
A single M&M…
How about finely chopped pecans?
Yes, please.
A pecan half. Simple!
Or you can really be adventurous and grab some sea salt. (This comes from
The Herb Farm…thank you,
Alice, for introducing me to this salt.)
I love, love, love chocolate treats with a sprinkling of sea salt.
And how about this? It’s sea salt infused with Raspberry and Chipotle!
A blueberry. Cute!
Just keep going, grabbing whatever you can find from your cabinet. I found some sanding sugar from 1999 that I was sure I’d used the last of a few years ago.
I love finding sanding sugar from 1999 and using it without hesitation.
Note: You’ll want to refrigerate them for a bit before you start decorating, and along the way if you think the icing needs it.
These are so much fun. You can just leave them plain, of course. I think it would be fun to serve a plain one (nuke it for about 8 seconds first) in a pretty teacup with a miniature scoop of vanilla ice cream and topped with a little hot fudge. Mini chocolate brownie sundaes! Or you can go crazy and decorate them like this for a birthday party or shower. Let your kids help you! Sometimes they’ll come up with ideas you might not have thought of.
The icing is a little on the sticky side, so you’ll definitely want to let them set for a little while. Refrigerating them for a bit will help with this. But if you’re serving them as a finger food, have some little napkins nearby.
Oh! I almost forgot. They’re totally delicious, too.
Enjoy!
