Christmas Tree Chocolate Brownies!
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Chocolatey & delicious triple chocolate brownies in the shape of Christmas trees – perfect for the festive season!
Christmas baking
As it’s 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.
Brownies
I based the recipe around the base recipe of my triple chocolate brownies & chocolate orange brownies as they are both so lovely – making it simply chocolatey was easy enough – and the recipe is still yet to fail me. Don’t fix what isn’t broken, right?
- Butter – For brownies I can float between block butter or a baking spread, depends what I have in the fridge
- Chocolate – Always use dark chocolate for a brownie mixture – you need the cocoa content for best results. I use and recommend 70%+ cocoa content. I use this dark chocolate
- Eggs – I tend to use medium eggs, so I use four, but if you have large, use three.
- Sugar – I like using light brown soft sugar, as well as caster sugar, and either work well here.
- Flour – ALWAYS use plain flour, you don’t want any raising agents in brownies.
- Cocoa – I use strong cocoa powder (100%!) but you can use any good quality cocoa powder. Try to avoid hot chocolate powder
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.
I find it easier to get the tray out of the tin once it has baked, set and cooled and onto a large chopping board. I cut the tray in half, and then I cut 10 triangles out of the traybake. There are four little off cuts, but they are chef perks and you should basically just eat them.
I tend to push the base of the candy cane in first, and then pipe the green on top. I used a 2d closed star piping tip for the green and then some more bauble like sprinkles as they are cute and colourful. You can buy some moulds that will make a triangle shape for your brownie anyway, but using a square tray works for me.
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!
You can also flavour the bake in different ways by using orange, almond, lemon, or whatever you fancy – it’s up to you!
Tips & Tricks
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.
- I use this 2d closed star piping tip
- I use this green food colouring
- I use this 9″ square tin
- I use these large piping bags
- These will last for 3-4+ days in the fridge or room temp
- These will freeze for 3+ months
Christmas Tree Brownies!
Ingredients
Brownies
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 4 medium eggs (or 3 large)
- 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
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!
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J x
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Hi Jane. I’m using foil trays for this recipe. How would you recommend working out the ingredents please? The trays are 12inch x 7inch and 1.5 deep. I’m also using large eggs. Thankyou.
I found a mikado biscuit stick perfect for the trunks of the trees
Hi Jane, I wanted to make a round brownie, would a10 inch round tin work with this recipe?
Many thanks
Yes! A 10″ round is perfect for a 9″ square x
Where did you all get your multicoloured chocolate pearls from?
Can i freeze the baked brownie?