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Chocolatey & delicious triple chocolate brownies in the shape of Christmas trees – perfect for the festive season!

Christmas baking

As its soooo close to Christmas this year now I am SUPER excited. All my presents are wrapped, the house is decorated, and everyone is in such a lovely mood (apart from drivers.) and my Christmas baking is no closer to stopping!!

Honestly, I pretty much bake from the first day of November, up until New Years Eve with all things festive and delicious. I decided to post a Christmas brownie recipe, but decided that a simple triple chocolate brownie would be ideal – one that EVERYONE will love and adore – and then make it Christmassy of course.

Based on…

I based the recipe around the base recipe of my cookie butter brownieschocolate orange brownies as they are both so lovely – making it simply chocolatey was easy enough – and the recipe is still yet to fail me.

Decoration 

I have seen decorations like these all over the place recently – so no, I didn’t think this idea up! I like to think I put my own twist on it, especially using my deliciously yummy recipe!

I used some deliciously smooth buttercream coloured green as the colour against the brownies contrasts perfectly! I then used some Christmassy sprinkles that remind me off Christmas tree baubles finished off with a yellow M&M (or a Smartie) to resemble a star – all cute and festive and perfect! 

Adaptations

After having a look on Pinterest recently, I have seen people use Cadburys chocolate fingers as the stumps/trunks, or anything else tasty. I use candy canes because I adore the mintiness, but this isn’t to everyone’s tastes.

Something such as Cadbury’s Flakes would probably be a smidge too delicate, but anything else you fancy will do. With one batch, I even used a liquorice flyer style sweet as the trunk part – I am not joking when I say you can really make these your own! 

A popular bake!

Christmas is literally my favourite time of the year, and this year it has been coming round so quickly that I have been a little behind on my baking – so I really hope this recipe makes up for it!

My family, friends and my trusty team of taste testers utterly adored these brownies – and the kids LOVED the decorations But seriously – they are so yummy, so delicious, and the perfect bake for the festive season! 

Other Christmas recipes 

For me, baking at Christmas time is a must. However, I completely understand its a very stressful time of year for a lot of families be it with work, family, or just because you love a last minute panic. Check out some of my other Christmas recipes for a stress free but yummy festive period. enjoy! 

Christmas Tree Brownies!

Chocolatey & delicious triple chocolate brownies in the shape of Christmas trees - perfect for the festive season!
Print Pin Rate
Category: Traybakes
Type: Brownies
Keyword: Christmas
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Decorating: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 10 Brownies
Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Brownies

  • 195 g unsalted butter
  • 195 g dark chocolate
  • 4 medium eggs (or 3 large)
  • 275 g caster sugar
  • 90 g plain flour
  • 35 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

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line a 9″ Square baking tray with parchment paper.
  • Melt together the butter, and dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water, on the microwave for 1-2 minutes until melted. Leave to the side to cool to room temperature!
  • Using an electric whisk/stand mixer, whisk together the eggs & caster sugar for a few minutes until the colour has turned pale, is very mousse-like, and is double the original volume of the amount of eggs + sugar! You will know it's done because when you lift the whisk up out of the mix it should leave a trail for a couple of seconds before disappearing!
  • When whisked, pour the cooled chocolate mixture over eggs and fold together carefully. It might take some time, but be patient – you don’t want to knock out the air you made up on the previous step!
  • Once completely combined, sift the cocoa powder and plain flour on top of the chocolate mix and then fold together again – still be careful to not knock out the air!
  • Once combined well, fold through the chocolate chips and pour into the prepared tin – bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes! Once baked, leave to cool in the tin completely.
  • Once cooled, cut the brownies into the tree shapes – I cut the tray in half, and then triangle the two halves – and eat all the offcuts. Carefully insert the candy cane sticks into the base of the brownies (like shown!)
  • Cream together the butter and icing sugar to create a delicious buttercream
  • Add some green food colouring until you get to your desired decoration colour!
  • Transfer to a large piping bag with your chosen piping tip (I used a 2D closed star tip!) and pipe some zigzag lines on to your brownies
  • Add some bauble sprinkles and sweets or whatever you are using and dont forget your yellow star (I used an M&M) at the top of the brownie. Enjoy!

Notes

  • I used regular candy canes and snapped the tops off so that I just used the straight part – I used the off cuts of the candy canes in my Christmas bark
  • These will last in an airtight container for 1 week, but will make excellent little gifts this Christmas!
  • This recipe was originally based on BBC Good Food recipe with my own changes and decoration!
  • I used this green food colouring!
  • I used these piping bags!
  • I used this piping tip

ENJOY!

Find my other recipes on my Recipes Page!

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J x

© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.

72 Comments

  1. Catherine on January 10, 2024 at 11:29 am

    5 stars
    Hi Jane, I wanted to make a round brownie, would a10 inch round tin work with this recipe?
    Many thanks

    • Jane's Patisserie on January 12, 2024 at 1:28 pm

      Yes! A 10″ round is perfect for a 9″ square x



  2. Fiona Smith on December 9, 2023 at 1:52 pm

    Where did you all get your multicoloured chocolate pearls from?

  3. nicky on October 11, 2023 at 4:19 pm

    Can i freeze the baked brownie?

  4. Maria on December 20, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    Hi Jane,
    I made these last week and they came out lovely! If I wanted to make them less sweet, would it be as simple as reducing the amount of sugar? I’m only just getting into baking, thank you x

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 23, 2022 at 12:24 pm

      Hiya! Sadly you need the sugar for the recipe to work – try using a higher % cocoa chocolate! Hope this helps! x



  5. Ruth Sara Mason on March 18, 2022 at 9:30 am

    Hello, I have a tin 7 x 7 inches – would the above ingredients list work in this tin or should I half the ingredients?

    Looking forward to trying this recipe.

  6. Nicola on December 13, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    Hi Jane!
    How would I make 12 brownies? Would they be quite skinny in a 9” square tin?
    Or What size circular tin would you recommend so that I could cut into 12 please?
    Thank you!

  7. Joel on November 14, 2021 at 10:17 am

    Hi Jane if you wanted to make a double batch of this would it be as simple as doubling the recipe ?

  8. Natalie on December 20, 2020 at 4:23 pm

    5 stars
    This was my first attempt at brownies and they went down a treat. Gorgeous texture and the triple chocolate really does make the difference. I could not source the green candy melts mentioned due to being out of stock but I used green icing from Sainsbury’s instead which worked really well. I baked these for 28 minutes which was just perfect. I’ve made many of your recipes and these are one of my favourites! Thank you 🙂

    • Joanne Mullett on December 7, 2022 at 8:33 pm

      Hi, I have read Jane’s receipe over several times but don’t see any reference to candy melts you mention, am I missing something

      Many thanks in advance for your reply



    • Jane's Patisserie on December 15, 2022 at 12:21 pm

      Hiya! The recipe no longer included any melts – I did use them for the decoration! Hope this helps! x



  9. Fiona Burns on December 16, 2020 at 11:54 pm

    Hi Jane
    I just made these for the first time tonight, unfortunately once cooled they were very crumbly, no way I could cut them into trees…. Due to reading other comments about them being gooey I did leave them on for slightly longer… Did i overbake them???
    Thanks

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 17, 2020 at 6:31 pm

      If they were crumbly then yes I think you did – brownies can vary so much with timings annoyingly!



  10. Niamh Mullen on December 12, 2020 at 10:16 am

    Hi if I’m using an 8×8 tin would the ingredients be less or can I use the same amount?
    Thanks!

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 13, 2020 at 9:18 am

      The volume difference is about 1/5 so it’s hard to reduce the recipe by that amount. The brownies may take longer to bake and be a little gooey in the middle in the smaller tin!



  11. David Drislane on December 8, 2020 at 3:52 am

    5 stars
    I baked these today and they were absolutely delicious. For anyone who loves chocolate you are going to love them. They are wonderfully moist, soft and chewy as a brownie should be. I think I may make more and give them as gifts this year to spread the joy.

  12. Caroline on December 7, 2020 at 8:37 pm

    5 stars
    I use this as my go to brownie recipe. I’ve baked it numerous times and it never fails. Whenever I take the brownies in to work or for an event I am asked to share the recipe.

  13. Natalie Ann on December 7, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    5 stars
    Baked these over the weekend and have been told by everyone who had one that they are the best brownies ever!! Thank you Jane! 🙂

  14. M on December 5, 2020 at 2:11 pm

    Hi Jane! Made these this morning, cooked them for 30 minutes (didn’t do them any longer because I didn’t want to overcook them)… they look really gooey, did I bake them for long enough? x

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 5, 2020 at 5:16 pm

      That means they needed slightly longer x



  15. Katie on December 1, 2020 at 11:31 am

    5 stars
    Hi Jane, I Love this recipe (in-fact I haven’t found a recipe of yours that isn’t good!) and these are such a fab idea. I was wondering if you have made a smaller batch and if so what amounts for ingredients did you use?
    Many thanks

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 1, 2020 at 12:59 pm

      A half batch (use two medium eggs) would fit a 7″ square, but I don’t ever make a half batch really!



  16. Jodie on November 28, 2020 at 11:47 am

    Hi Jane,
    I’m planning on making these next weekend, super excited – How do you get 10 triangles from the tray? I’ve been trying to suss it out following your instructions, but I just cant seem to get it right😆
    Thank you so much!

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 28, 2020 at 8:30 pm

      I cut the tray in half, and then just cut the triangles out! Had little off cuts at the ends x



    • Jodie on December 13, 2020 at 6:00 pm

      5 stars
      AMAZING! The most delicious brownie recipe ever – So delicious, a proper fudgey/not dry at all brownie. I did have to cook for around 45minutes , but it was so worth it!
      Thank you!! They were a hit with the family too!



    • Kendal on November 30, 2021 at 2:27 pm

      I used a 9″ cake round instead and sliced it like you would a pizza to get triangles. The bottoms of the “trees” come out slightly curved this way but if that bothers you, you can always level off the bottom and scoff the offcut! 😁



  17. Ruth on November 20, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    Hi Jane, can I use a round cake tin and cut them like you would a pizza to try this shape?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 20, 2020 at 2:13 pm

      You can do – typically a square tin is equal to a round tin, one inch bigger in size (so as this recipe uses a 9″ square tin, you would ideally use a 10″ round). Any smaller will cause the brownies to be deeper/change the baking time! x



  18. Diane on November 6, 2020 at 3:04 pm

    Could these be frozen? 🙂

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 6, 2020 at 3:08 pm

      Yes!!



    • Diane on November 6, 2020 at 3:24 pm

      Amazing thanks! Would i need to freeze without the decoration? Or would it freeze ok? 🙂



    • Jane's Patisserie on November 6, 2020 at 3:27 pm

      It should be fine with, but they might get knocked about a bit so without is better! x



  19. Nia on December 29, 2019 at 5:34 pm

    5 stars
    Used this in school with my 7 year olds to make togo home at Christmas and did numeracy work multiplying by 3 to make 30. They were easy to make and 3 lots came out great. Not sure what candy melts are, and none in supermarket in Bangor, North Wales! Used icing and mixed with green food colouring gel and used chocolate stars because getting 30 yellow sweets was also hard! Making them again for the kids for new years eve party. I left them in the tin to cool fully and even left one batch overnight which made them easy to cut. Left over bits were stunning warmed in micro with ice cream!!

  20. Delia on August 15, 2019 at 11:20 pm

    What dark chocolate do you use in your brownies please? Thank you!!

    • Jane's Patisserie on August 16, 2019 at 4:59 pm

      I use either Callebaut, or supermarket own dark chocolate if I’ve run out. At least 70%, but ideally 80%! x



  21. Alice on December 27, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    4 stars
    Hi Jane

    I love your recipes and if I need to bake anything or make a dessert I head straight over to your website to make something. I made these Christmas tree brownies as gifts for my friends and family this Christmas. I did not have any candy melts and tried to use while chocolate and green food colouring. I melted the white chocolate over a pan of boiling water and then let it cool a little and added some green food colouring. This made the shire chocolate go really stiff and ended up in a ball that I couldn’t pipe. I’m not sure if I did something wrong. In the end I ended up just making some green buttercream and piped that on but it didn’t really have the same effect. Would you have any advice for the next time I make them? (Probably next Christmas!)

    Thanks x

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 27, 2018 at 8:32 pm

      It depends entirely on what colouring you used – supermarket brands aren’t the best for mixing in with chocolate as they’re so watery and just not good quality at all so I recommend sugar flair or progel which you can buy online or at Hobbycraft!



  22. Leila on December 6, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    Hi Jane,

    I’ve been following and trying your recipes for a while now, and unfortunately this is the first one that hasn’t worked out 😞 I left them to cool and then tried cutting them and they are just mush in the middle, they will not hold their shape. They were put in for an extra 7 minutes than stated and I also tested the temperature in the middle, and they were definitely cooked. Any idea what’s happened? The outside tastes amazing BTW! 😉

    Thanks, Leila x

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 6, 2018 at 1:59 pm

      If they’re still gooey, they needed more baking in the oven. Best thing to do is chuck them in the fridge to solidify a bit before cutting, but if they needed extra time to bake in general, it just means the original mixture was either too thin (so not enough mixing), or you needed to be more careful when folding things together. x



    • Leila on December 7, 2018 at 7:39 pm

      Thanks for the quick reply Jane and the handy tips! 😊 I have made your mint candy cane brownies today and cooked them for longer with foil on top, they seem to have come out better, but they’re still cooling so the proof will be in the cutting… Eeek! I put yesterday’s ones in the fridge and then they were fine 👍 thanks again x



    • Jane's Patisserie on December 7, 2018 at 7:46 pm

      Awh I am so glad!! As long as you like the taste it’s all good!! x



  23. Priscilla on March 19, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    Wanting to try these for the longest and finally did. OMG, they turned out great and taste even better. But I’m trying to make these for a friend and not really a fan of dark chocolate, can I substitute with milk chocolate?

    • Jane's Patisserie on March 19, 2018 at 4:01 pm

      Hiya! Ah amazing! Do you mean for the chocolate chunks folded through, or the base of the brownies? For the base I would 100000% recommend still using dark chocolate as thats what makes it such a good brownie, milk chocolate doesn’t tend to work as well because its thinner, but for the chunks you fold through you can easily not use dark chunks and just use milk/white! X



  24. Amelia on March 9, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Hi I’ve just made your chocolate brownies they smell amazing, but I’ve put them in the oven for 40 mins and they are still gooey in the middle can you help please

    • Jane's Patisserie on March 10, 2018 at 9:44 am

      It might be that you overmixed them slightly, or you didn’t whip the eggs/sugar up enough before baking but they should firm up in the fridge if they are still gooey.



  25. […] BROWNIE CHRISTMAS TREES […]

  26. Vikky on September 30, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    I’m literally working my way through your entire recipe list ? Made these today without the choc chips just plain brownie and they seem to have turned out more like chocolate cake than a brownie consistency, any idea what I did wrong Jane? ☺️

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 1, 2017 at 12:54 pm

      Your oven might have dried it out a bit if it was over done / or it wasn’t mixed quite correctly.



  27. Samantha Rudd on March 14, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    Jane I’m following your recipe and whilst it tastes amazing I find I have a lot of trouble with the top of the brownie cracking. I’m careful not to knock out the air in the whipped eggs and sugar and the brownies are quite well risen when they come out of the oven but settle down a bit as they cool. This is fine but it leaves me with a hard and cracked surface which literally lefts away from the rest of the brownie and looks really unsightly when I try to slice them. Any advice? thanks

    • Jane's Patisserie on March 15, 2017 at 11:22 am

      Hey! Oh I’m sorry you’re having troubles… are you sure your oven is the correct temperature? It might be worth getting an oven thermometer to check as I haven’t personally experienced this, but i know my oven is the correct temperature. If it is the correct temp, it might be worth baking them for 25 minutes, compared to 30, and then leaving them to cool fully, and refrigerating to firm them up slightly before cutting. It sounds almost like a crust is forming on top? x



    • Samantha on March 15, 2017 at 10:37 pm

      Yes it is a crust. My ovens are both quite new and I’m a pretty experienced baker and the temp works for everything else I make. I did increase the quantities as I make them in larger foil trays. I think maybe I’m putting too much in the tin. Also tonight I base then again and I also made a point of knocking a bit of air out as I stirred them. They seem to have come out better. I’m leaving them to cool overnight before I try to cut them. Thanks for the response though. Love your stuff. X



    • Jane's Patisserie on March 16, 2017 at 5:52 pm

      Ah yeah maybe! Sorry you’ve had troubles anyway!! xx



  28. Adele on January 20, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    OMG !!! These are the most amazing brownies ever !! These are moist and chocolaty and very rich. I usually struggle to make brownies, I can never get them quite right but these are perfect ❤️ Xxx

    • Jane's Patisserie on January 20, 2017 at 4:34 pm

      Aaahhh yaaayyy! Haha I’m so so glad! I love these brownies for that reason! I used to struggle all the time as well. ? xx



  29. chris on December 17, 2016 at 8:47 am

    Hi if i were to halve this recipe. Should i use 1,5 egg or 1 egg +1 yolk? thank you!

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 17, 2016 at 10:52 am

      Use two small eggs!



    • chris on December 17, 2016 at 12:27 pm

      ok thank you!



    • Baking mad Mum on December 2, 2023 at 7:11 pm

      2x or 3x recipe, do I just double up on ingredients?



  30. […] Another creative and affordable do-it-yourself gift is to bake some yummy goodies. Here are a few recipes I came across and hope to try myself: Gingerbread Cupcakes Christmas Shortbread Stars Rice Krispie’s Christmas Puddings Christmas Tree Chocolate Brownies […]

  31. Ann Bradshaw on November 23, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    Just found your site and just found these! Will make great treat bag for my chocoholic nieces and their daddy.
    I’m looking for a fab Knickerbocker Glory recipe – to go with home made fish n’ chips Boxing Day. Any ideas Jane?

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 24, 2016 at 8:45 am

      Hiya! I don’t have one yet I’m afraid, sorry!



  32. Mely on December 12, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    I’ll look for any excuse to have a brownie! These look so festive and cute.

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 12, 2015 at 9:48 pm

      I like your style! Thank you so much! 🙂



    • Kom on December 4, 2020 at 1:26 pm

      Hi Jane

      Loved making these and they were so loved by all. I used match sticks for the stumps. Wish I could upload a pic:)
      I had halved the recipe.
      Today I want to make the full recipe but only have medium size eggs how many shall I use pls?



    • Jane's Patisserie on December 4, 2020 at 3:15 pm

      Ah amazing! And I would use 4 medium x



  33. Just Jo on December 12, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    Oh I love the look of these Jane – so flippin’ cute! I would actually leave the handles on the candy canes and make them look like christmas tree umbrellas lol 😀 Merry Christmas! xxx

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 12, 2015 at 5:08 pm

      Hahah that would be cute! Thank you! 🙂 and you too!! xx



  34. Callie | Flour and Fancy on December 12, 2015 at 2:54 pm

    These brownies are so cute! I love the inclusion of white chocolate chips. Thanks for sharing!

    • Jane's Patisserie on December 12, 2015 at 5:09 pm

      Thank you so much! And I couldnt resist – they’re my favourite!! x



  35. Marisa on December 12, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    Jane these Christmas tree brownies are so cute? great job!!!

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