Christmas Tree Brownies
You know the prepackaged the brownie mixture from the store where all you need to add is eggs and water and boom, you have brownies that taste very processed and unnatural? Yeah, these are the opposite of that.
These are the richest, moistest brownies I’ve ever had in my life. They’re better than the brownies in elementary school, they’re better than the brownies from Starbucks, ugh, they’re just pure perfection.
My momma has had this brownie recipe in her back pocket for as long as I can remember. Thank you momma for sharing it with me because they’re so freakin easy to make and they’re absolutely delicious!! ?
Almost everyday in high school, I would come home, make a batch of brownie batter, never actually bake the brownies but would eat the batter straight out of the pan instead. Thank goodness we were forced to do P.E. everyday. Oh how I miss those daily workouts in school.
I use something in this recipe that I haven’t used in any other recipe-unsweetened German chocolate squares. These squares are where the pure, rich chocolate flavor comes from. Once the sugar is added to the melted chocolate squares and butter, this batter becomes instantly sweet. But there’s a reason we are using unsweetened chocolate squares instead of already sweetened German chocolate squares. The unsweetened chocolate squares allow the brownies to be a bit fudgier and firmer, which is exactly why these brownies are so rich once they’re baked!
One word of caution: don’t over mix the flour into the batter… once the streaks of flour disappear completely, stop! Over mixing will cause the brownies to be tough.
To make these Christmas tree brownies, I used a Christmas tree cookie cutter. I’ve also simply cut the brownies in triangles and they still turned out looking fantastic! No Christmas tree cookie cutter, no problem!
Alright Pretty Little Bakers, let’s head into the kitchen and start baking!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 4 ounces of unsweetened chocolate
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and set aside. Make sure the baking sheet has walls (so that the brownies can be lifted up from the baking sheet after they’ve cooled completely). Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Melt butter and chocolate in saucepan over low heat. Once completely melted, remove from heat.
- Add in the sugar and stir. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- Quickly stir in the flour and salt until the flour streaks have disappeared.
- Pour batter onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Evenly spread out the batter so it covers every crevice within the baking sheet.
- Bake the brownie batter for 35 minutes. Test the batter with a toothpick in the center upon completion-if the toothpick comes up clean, the brownies are done. If the toothpick comes up with brownie batter, the brownies need a few more minutes to bake.
- Let cool completely.
- Pull up parchment paper from the baking pan and transfer the rectangle brownie to a hard surface. Using a Christmas tree cookie cutter, gently cut out brownie Christmas trees.
- Melt green chocolate melting chocolates in the microwave in 30 second increments at half power until completely melted. Transfer green melted chocolate to a sandwich sized baggie, cut a hole in the corner, and gently drizzle what looks like green tinsel on top of each Christmas tree brownie. Top with sprinkles to act as lights and with a larger sprinkle at the top to act as the angel on top of the tree!
- Add half of a stick pretzel to the base of the Christmas tree to act as the trunk of the tree.
- Let chocolate cool on top of brownie completely before serving.
- Bob appétit!
