Description
These festive Christmas Tree Brownies are rich and fudgy brownies shaped like Christmas trees, decorated with a vibrant green buttercream, candy cane trunks, and colorful sprinkles to bring holiday cheer to your dessert table. Perfect for gifting or a sweet treat during the festive season.
Ingredients
Scale
Brownies
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 4 medium eggs
- 275 g caster sugar
- 100 g plain flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 100 g milk chocolate chips
- 100 g white chocolate chips
Decorations
- 10 candy canes
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 200 g icing sugar
- Green food colouring
- Sprinkles
- Sweets (such as M&Ms for stars)
Instructions
- Prepare oven and tray: Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line a 9-inch square baking tray with parchment paper for easy removal of the brownies.
- Melt butter and chocolate: In a heatproof bowl over boiling water or in the microwave, melt together the 200 g unsalted butter and 200 g dark chocolate for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Whisk eggs and sugar: Using an electric whisk or stand mixer, whisk 4 medium eggs and 275 g caster sugar together until pale, mousse-like, and doubled in volume. The batter should leave a trail when the whisk is lifted.
- Combine chocolate and egg mixture: Fold the cooled melted chocolate mixture gently into the egg and sugar mixture carefully to preserve the air whipped in.
- Add dry ingredients: Sift 50 g cocoa powder and 100 g plain flour over the chocolate mixture and fold in gently without knocking out air.
- Fold in chocolate chips and bake: Fold in 100 g milk chocolate chips and 100 g white chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared tray and bake for 30 minutes until just set but fudgy.
- Cool and cut shapes: Allow the brownies to cool completely in the tray. Once cooled, cut the brownies in half, then cut each half into triangles to resemble Christmas trees. Eat any offcuts.
- Insert candy cane trunks: Carefully insert the straight parts of the candy canes into the base of each brownie triangle to form the tree trunks.
- Make green buttercream: Cream together 100 g unsalted butter and 200 g icing sugar to make buttercream. Add green food colouring until desired shade is reached.
- Pipe decorations: Transfer the green buttercream to a piping bag fitted with a 2D closed star tip and pipe zigzag lines on the brownie trees to resemble tree branches.
- Add final decorations: Decorate with sprinkles, sweets like M&Ms for stars atop the trees, and any other desired festive decorations. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use regular candy canes and snap the curved tops off to just use the straight parts for tree trunks; leftover pieces work great in Christmas bark.
- Store the brownies in an airtight container up to one week and they make excellent Christmas gifts.
- This recipe is adapted from BBC Good Food with custom decoration ideas.
- Green food colouring, piping bags, and piping tips used are recommended for best results but can be substituted.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 brownie
- Calories: 320 kcal
- Sugar: 30 g
- Sodium: 45 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 85 mg
