December Cookie of the Month: Christmas Tree Brownies

ARE brownies a cookie? Do we care? Their wonderful chocolaty deliciousness could win over even the harshest critic and that’s why they are our December Cookie-of-the-Month. Well, that and the fact that I was craving a really good brownie.

Today, we’re going to turn brownies into Christmas trees.

We’re sharing a yummy from-scratch recipe in case you want a truly decadent brownie. This recipe originally came from Martha Stewart. She had very precise measurements. I tweaked some of the ingredients to make things easier. Could you use a brownie mix instead? Of course! You do you.

CHRISTMAS TREE BROWNIES

PC: Ann Kirsten

7 Tablespoons butter,
8 ounces UNSWEETENED chocolate (2 packages of Baker’s bars) chopped as fine as you can.
3 Tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil
¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour (Oh, Martha)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs at room temperature
Optional: ½ cup nuts or chocolate chips
Decorations: Straws, a can of frosting (green or white), sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spray the bottom of a 9 x 13” pan (just to hold the parchment down). Press parchment paper into the pan and spray it too. Set aside.

In a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, melt the chocolate, butter, and oil together until smooth. You could certainly do this in the microwave but be careful not to overheat the mixture.

Let it cool while you continue with the recipe.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.

Put both sugars into your mixing bowl with a whisk attachment. Sprinkle a teaspoon of vanilla extract over the top.

Pour your chocolate mixture on top of the sugars and mix until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Add in the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the nuts, if using.

Bake for 20 – 22 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with moist crumbs. Don’t overbake.

Let the brownies cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once they are cool, lift them out using the sides of the parchment paper. Place them on a cutting board and cut them like this:

PC: Ann Kirsten

I cut mine into four long slices and then cut them diagonally to the left and then to the right to make triangles.

Cut straws into smaller pieces and push them into the bottom of the trees to make the trunks. You could also use small candy canes, cinnamon sticks, or lollipop sticks.

They actually make green frosting now, but if you can’t find it, just add food coloring to vanilla frosting. I softened my frosting in the microwave for a few seconds to make it easier to color and pipe. Spoon some frosting into a sandwich bag and snip the corner to make a piping bag. Pipe a zigzag of frosting onto each brownie.

Use mini M&M’s, sprinkles, etc. to add color to your trees.

I made the brownies ahead of time and had them cooled before my grandkids came over. They had a blast decorating (and eating) these.

These would be great for a cookie exchange or just to pop into school lunches.