These Halloween brownie bites are a cute, spooky treat for your next Halloween party! Made completely from scratch with homemade brownies and a simple cream frosting!
Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the post to watch my video and see all my tips for making these sweet spooky treats!
These Witch Cauldron Brownie Bites are a fun and easy Halloween dessert. They’re also just appropriately creepy enough that one of my siblings wouldn’t even eat them, but tasty enough that the rest of my family devoured them and asked for more.
I was inspired to make these when I saw Brianne’s Witches Brew Halloween Cupcakes on Pinterest, and decided to make a mini version, only in brownie form! To make these Halloween desserts, I started with a super easy brownie batter (adapted from my homemade brownie recipe) that’s baked in a mini muffin tin.
This is then filled with your favorite variety of frosting — I used cream cheese frosting for these because I find that it’s not overpoweringly sweet, but if you’re not a cream cheese fan you can use my vanilla frosting recipe instead.
Next, let’s talk sprinkles.
Tips for Choosing your Sprinkles
I am a sprinkles-addict and have at least 20 lbs of various sprinkles in my house at all times. I took full advantage of this for today’s recipe, but you do not have to go all out and buy all of the same sprinkles I used.
If you want to use the same sprinkles I did, here’s what I used:
- Large sugar pearls (white, green, and purple)
- Medium-sized sugar pearls (light green)
- Nonpareils (purple)
- Confetti sprinkles (green and purple ones, these are the flat disc-shaped sprinkles, I used Chocomaker brand)
- Small candy eyes — I used Wilton brand and bought mine at Walmart, Amazon also sells them (affiliate) but I paid a fraction of the price at Walmart.
The sugar pearls, nonpareils, and confetti sprinkles I purchased through Country Kitchen SweetArt’s online store, but the confetti sprinkles are also available at Walmart.
If you can only buy two types of sprinkles, I’d recommend going with the confetti sprinkles and candy eyes, both of which should be available at Walmart, but feel free to play around and use your own favorite sprinkles!
Enjoy!
If you like Halloween Desserts, make sure to check out my Spooky Spider Cookies and my Ghost in the Graveyard Dessert Shooters, too!
Recipe video at the bottom of the post! If you enjoy watching my cooking videos, I’d love it if you would consider subscribing to my YouTube channel <3
Witch's Cauldron Halloween Brownie Bites
Ingredients
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces
- ½ cup (100 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds optional
- 1 cup (200 g) tightly packed light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (140 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Frosting**
- ½ cup (113 g) 1 stick salted butter, softened
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened brick-style, not spreadable
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar
- Food coloring -- I used Americolor gel "mint green"*** and "regal purple"
Additional Decorations****
- colored sprinkles
- candy eyeballs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and spray a 24-count mini muffin tin with baking spray*
- Combine butter and chocolate chips in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well, microwave for another 15 seconds and then stir well again. Repeat for 15 seconds until chocolate and butter are completely melted and well-combined.12 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into Tablespoon-sized pieces, ½ cup (100 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- Stir in cocoa powder and instant coffee (if using).½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds
- Add sugars and stir again until combined.1 cup (200 g) tightly packed light or dark brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract.2 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.1 cup + 2 Tablespoons (140 g) all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until well-combined.
- Drop batter by 1 ½ Tablespoon into prepared mini muffin tin (I like to use a cookie dough scoop to do this).
- Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few fudgy crumbs (not wet batter!).
- Immediately take a rounded teaspoon or Tablespoon and press into each brownie bite to make a well (see photo in post for example).
- Allow brownies to cool completely before filling with frosting and decorating.
- While your brownie bites are cooling, prepare your frosting.
Frosting
- Combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy, well-combined, and lump-free.½ cup (113 g) 1 stick salted butter, softened, 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened
- Add vanilla extract and stir well to combine.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- With mixer on low-speed, gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.4 cups (500 g) powdered sugar
- If using just one color of frosting add it to your bowl until desired color intensity is reached (a little goes a long way with gel colorings! Start with less and add more as needed!). If using two colors, divide the frosting in half and mix the different colors in different bowls. Be sure to stir well so there are no streaks.Food coloring -- I used Americolor gel "mint green"*** and "regal purple"
To Decorate
- Spoon or pipe frosting into completely cooled brownie bites and decorate using sprinkles. Serve and enjoy!colored sprinkles, candy eyeballs
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Brittany
Do these need to be refrigerated if making the day before?
Sam
Hi Brittany! Since the filling is made with cream cheese I would recommend refrigerating that until ready to serve. 🙂
annemarie collins
can you make these a day before
Sam
That will work just fine. I hope everyone loves them! 🙂
Alaina
These were so yummy! We made them on a regular cupcake tin with paper cups and they came out great. Kiddos had a blast decorating.
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Alaina! 🙂
Kim
I made these for my kid’s Halloween party at school. They were a huge hit! Your recipes are always consistently good!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed them Kim. Thanks for letting me know. 😊
jan
Do these brownie bites have issues with sticking to the pan? I’ve tried sooooo many recipes and they have always stuck to the pan. Excited to try this recipe.
Sam
Hi Jan! I used to have this problem, here’s my advice to keep your brownie bites from sticking:
Use either a baking spray (not a cooking spray, make sure it says “baking” on it and make sure that it includes flour in the ingredients) and grease all of the muffin cavities well (I like to generously spray the pan and then go around with a paper towel to make sure each cup is well greased) or thoroughly grease and flour each cup.
When you grease your muffin pan also make sure you grease a little around the top of each cup because if the brownie bite rises high enough it can get stuck there (that shouldn’t happen with this recipe, but it won’t hurt to do this anyway).
Also, when I’m removing my brownie bites from the pan, rather than try to lift them straight up, I wait for them to cool and then lightly grip the edges and twist them to loosen them from the pan and then pop them right up. That helps them come out more easily and they’re less likely to break than if you use a knife to pry them out.
I hope that helps!
Nanyonjo Dorah
Thanks Sam, this is a must try. can I use tiny sprinkles and can I do these muffins without using instant coffee
Sam
You can leave out the instant coffee and you can use any sprinkles you’d like 🙂 I hope you love them!! <3