Spooky WITCH CAULDRON BROWNIE BITES! Be sure to check out my VIDEO at the bottom of the post, showing you step-by-step how I make these brownies!If you prefer a different kind of frosting other than cream cheese, check out my simple vanilla buttercream.
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 semisweet chocolate chips
Stir in cocoa powder and instant coffee (if using).
½ cup natural cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon instant coffee grounds
Add sugars and stir again until combined.
1 cup tightly packed light or dark brown sugar, ½ cup 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 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 1 stick salted butter, softened, 8 oz 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 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
Video
Notes
*Baking spray is not the same as standard cooking spray. Baking spray should have flour listed in the ingredients, this will keep your brownies from sticking. I've found that if I use regular cooking spray I can't get my brownies out of the tin.If you don't have baking spray you can lightly grease and flour the sides and bottom of each mini muffin well (make sure to shake out excess flour). **I like to use my favorite cream cheese frosting for this recipe because it's not overpoweringly sweet. However, you can use my simple vanilla buttercream frosting instead, if you do not like cream cheese. Just follow the instructions in that post to make the frosting and add food coloring as instructed here.***Mint green will work fine on its own, but to make the color a little more neon and (in my opinion) "witchy", I also added a tiny drop of lemon yellow color, too. Don't rush out to buy it if you don't have it because it's such a subtle difference, but if you have the color on hand already you may want to try this!****Please see my post for more information on the sprinkles that I used for this recipe