Moms Christmas Brownies Recipes

CHRISTMAS BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile cream shortening for frosting until fluffy. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and continue beating until creamy and well blended. Add 3 ounces cream, vanilla, and salt and blend on low speed until moistened. Add up to 1 more ounce cream if necessary. Beat on high speed until frosting is fluffy.
• Transfer 1/2 of the frosting into another bowl and mix in green gel food coloring to get your preferred shade of green.
• Use a tree-shaped cookie cutter to cut out 8 Christmas trees from the pan of cooled brownies.
• Pipe green and white frostings onto cooled brownies to look like snow-covered trees. Decorate with candies.

CHRISTMAS BROWNIE TREES

Steps:

• For the brownies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 8-inch round cake pans. Cut two 8-inch circles out of parchment and line the bottoms of the cake pans with the parchment.
• Stir together the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing the tops. Bake until the brownies begin to gain a crust around the edges, pull away from the edge and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Let the brownies cool fully in the pans on cooling racks, about 1 hour. Cut each circle into 8 equal triangles with a knife. Use a small offset spatula or pie server to lift each triangle out of the pan.
• For the American buttercream frosting: Combine the confectioners' sugar, butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer). Mix on low speed until mostly incorporated. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to medium-high and mix until smooth. Loosen the consistency with milk as desired. Add 24 drops green food coloring and 1 drop red food coloring and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Set aside.
• To assemble: Using the tip of a paring knife or a skewer, poke a small hole along the bottom edge of each brownie. Insert a candy cane "trunk" into each hole.
• Fill the piping bag with the frosting and cut 1/4 inch off the tip. Using a zig-zag motion, pipe the frosting from the base to the tip of each tree. Decorate the trees with the sanding sugars and candy-covered chocolate, as desired.

MOM'S BEST BROWNIES

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients together (mixture will be thick) and then spread in a jelly roll pan that has been greased and floured.
• Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until brownies are done.
• Frost with favorite frosting.

MOM'S BEST FRIEND BROWNIES

Steps:

• Position rack in the lower third of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Use an 8 by 8-inch silicone baking pan or line a similar sized metal or glass baking dish with foil or parchment paper so it hangs over the edges by about 1 inch. For mini brownie bites, line mini muffin tins with 36 mini muffin liners. Spray the prepared pan.
• Put the butter, oil and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat at 75 percent power for 2 minutes. Stir, and microwave again until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. (Alternatively put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, not touching, the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)
• Stir the brown and white sugars, vanilla and salt into the chocolate mixture with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs and beat vigorously until fully incorporated and the batter is thick and glossy. Add the cocoa, flour and baking soda and stir just until it disappears.
• Pour the batter into the pan and bake until the top is crispy and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with a few crumbs, about 30 minutes (40 minutes if not using silicone) for pan brownies, and 14 to 15 minutes for mini brownie bites.
• Cool the brownies in the pan on the counter. Lift brownies out of the pan by the foil, if needed. Peel off the foil and cut into squares, sticks or shapes using a cookie cutter. Serve. Store extra brownies in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

MOM'S BEST BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and 'flour' 9x13" pan, using cocoa powder instead of flour. (This will eliminate any white spots on bottom of brownies).
• In a large bowl, stir together cocoa, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
• Add oil, eggs, vanilla, and any optional ingredients. Mix well, stopping as soon as all ingredients are incorporated - excessive mixing will cause a cake-like texture.
• Pour into prepared 9x13" pan.
• Bake at 350 for 27-30 minutes. Test with toothpick, the brownies are done when no batter clings to it. Remove slightly earlier if you like a gooey, eat with a fork brownie.