Brownies

Mini Brownie Bites with Cream Cheese Frosting

October 29, 2020 by Marisa 46 Comments

These Mini Brownie Bites with Cream Cheese Frosting are a two bite marvel and an absolute delicious treat for Halloween. The swirl of orange tinted cream cheese frosting is dipped in a chocolate glaze and topped with sprinkles.

When it comes to Halloween baking, I’m not really much into the creepy, spooky or ghoulish treats. I’m more into something that has the cutesy factor.

These adorable mini brownie bites sure do and some! They’re rich, chocolaty and dense in texture without being overly sweet.

If you are fairly new to baking, you will find them delightfully easy to make. And if piping the frosting seems somewhat intimidating to you, simply give it a try by practicing first.

Set a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper on a counter. Fit any piping tip of your choice into a pastry bag and fill the bag with frosting.

Start piping directly onto your parchment lined cookie sheet. Then simply scrape off the frosting back into the pastry bag and you’re good to go. Easy right!

The brownie recipe comes from one of my favourite magazines, Better Homes and Garden.

I tweaked it somewhat, simply for personal taste, by using a luscious cream cheese frosting.

Then, I tinted the frosting with orange icing colour and switched it up to give it a Halloween flare. I just adore the chocolate and cream cheese combination!

You’ll need 3, 12 hole mini muffin pans to make this recipe. It’s a worthy investment as this recipe is one you’ll be making over and over again.

It’s super easy to make and totally fun! You can also adapt this recipe to suit any occasion of your choice!

How to make mini brownie bites

Place the flour and cocoa powder in a small mixing bowl.
Stir together and set aside while you beat the sugar with the eggs.

In a separate medium sized mixing bowl, add in the sugar and eggs.
Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until thick and pale yellow in colour, about 2 minutes.

Mix in the flour and cocoa mixture, just until smooth.
Add in 1/2 cup of melted butter and stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared mini muffin tins. I used a 1 and a half inch cookie scoop but you can just as easily use teaspoons to measure out the batter.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F, for about 10 to 12 minutes.
Test for doneness by inserting a wooden skewer in the middle. If it comes out clean, then the brownies are ready.

Place the brownies on a cooling rack.
Allow the brownies to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes before gently releasing them.
Once removed from the baking tins, transfer them back to the rack to cool completely before frosting.

How to make coloured cream cheese frosting

To make the frosting you’ll need:

cream cheese
butter
powdered sugar
vanilla extract
Orange icing colour

Combine the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until combined.

Alternately, you can also use a food processor to mix the frosting ingredients together.

Tint the icing with orange icing colour. Colouring for frostings are sold in a gel form. Don’t use the liquid colourings as those are for cake batters.

A little goes a long way so start with a little bit at a time or, until you get the desired colour. I used approximately 1/8 of a teaspoon.

Use a large pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the frosting onto each brownie. (I used the 1M tip from Wilton, not sponsored).

You’ll need to refrigerate the frosted brownies for 30 minutes. This will set the frosting and makes it easier to dip into the chocolate glaze which also helps set the glaze.

How to make chocolate dipping glaze

For the chocolate glaze, place 1/4 cup of cubed butter, 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate in a small sauce pot over low heat and stir until melted and smooth.

Then simply remove it from the heat and stir in the corn syrup.

Set it aside and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Once cooled dip the top of each brownie, about 3 quarters in, into the chocolate glaze.

Sprinkle the mini brownies with nonpareils and refrigerate till the chocolate is set, for about 15 minutes.

These mini brownie bites with cream cheese frosting store very well in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 5 days.

They’re adorable, fun and oh so yummy!

Happy Baking!

Other Halloween treats you’ll love:

Ossi Di Morto Bones of the Dead

Chocolate Popcorn Halloween Cupcakes

This post was originally published Oct 29 2015 and republished Oct 29, 2020 with updated photos and content.

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5 from 1 vote

Mini Brownie Bites with Cream Cheese Frosting

These mini chocolate brownies topped with orange tinted cream cheese and dipped in melted chocolate are a delicious two bite marvel. They make a perfect Halloween treat topped with festive sprinkles.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time12 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Mini Brownie Bites with Cream Cheese Frosting

Servings: Mini Brownies

Calories: 150kcal

Equipment

Mini muffin tins

Ingredients

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter melted

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

125 grams cream cheese
1/2 cup cold butter
2½ cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon orange icing colour (optional) I used Wilton's gel colour

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

1/4 cup butter cubbed
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
4 teaspoons corn syrup light coloured
Halloween sprinkles optional

Instructions

MINI BROWNIES

Preheat ove to 350 degrees F.
Grease mini muffin pans or line with mini paper cups.
Place the flour and cocoa powder in a small bowl, stir and set aside.
Beat the sugar and eggs together in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes or until thick and pale yellow in colour.
Beat in the flour mixture just until smooth.
Add in 1/2 cup of melted butter and stir until combined.
Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tins.
Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Let the brownies cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then carefully remove the brownies from the baking pan and transfer on a wire rack to cool completely.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Combine all the frosting ingredients in a medium bowl and beat until well combined.
Tint the frosting with the orange icing colour. A little goes a long way so start with a little bit at a time and stir till you get the desired shade of orange. I barley used 1/8 of a teaspoon.
Use a large pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the frosting onto each brownie. I use the 1M tip from Wilton.
Refrigerate the frosted brownies for 30 minutes. This will set the frosting making it much easier to dip in the chocolate.

ChOCOLATE GLAZE

Place 1/4 cup of cubed butter and 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate in a small sauce pot.
On low heat, stir until the butter is melted and the chocolate mixture is smooth.
Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the corn syrup.
Ste the glaze aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
Once cooled, dip the top of each brownie into the chocolate glaze.
Top with the Halloween sprinkles and refrigerate until the chocolate sets. For about 15 minutes before serving.

Notes

These mini brownie bites with cream cheese frosting store very well in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Slow Cooker Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

February 12, 2020 by Marisa 34 Comments

These Slow Cooker Chocolate Raspberry Brownies are ridiculously easy to make. They’re ever so moist and fudgy, and with all the attributes of a great brownie! All you’ll need is 15 minutes of prep time to make these homemade treats and your slow cooker does the rest!

These chocolate raspberry brownies came to be purely by mishap and all because, a while back, my gas oven refused to ignite. But, that’s a whole other story.

And yet here I am, years later, with the exact same issue and around Valentine’s Day no less.

I had never before used my slow cooker in baking. I’ve always associated it with savoury meals and never would have thought it could produce such a delightful treat.

And so without question, I knew these Chocolate Raspberry Brownies were just begging to be made again!

After one blissful bite of these moist fudgy brownies with that burst of sweet raspberry goodness, I kind of wondered why it took me so long to make again!

But make no mistake, I’ll definitely be making them more often as I’d love to experiment with different flavoured chocolates. Although I must say, the raspberry flavoured variety is tops for me.

As you can see from these Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cheese Cookies. I simply adore the chocolate and raspberry combo!

So much so that I also use raspberry flavoured chocolate when I bake this pretty Triple Chocolate Brookie Tart.

For this recipe I used dark chocolate raspberry bars from Lindt Chocolates but feel free to use any brand you like!

I’m not sponsoring this brand here, but do use a good quality dark chocolate of your choice.

You can also use other favourite flavours of yours.

You will find that these brownies are not on very cake-like but rather more dense in texture and will satisfy any chocolate cravings you may have.

With crispy outer edges and soft fudgy middles, they are sure to please any palette.

As an added bonus, prep time is fairly quick and easy and the slow cooker slowly and surely wins the race here.

How to Make Chocolate Raspberry Brownies in a Slow Cooker

You’ll want to first start by preparing your slow cooker.

Grease the inside with butter or margarine and line the bottom with parchment paper while over extending along the sides of the slow cooker. This facilitates the removal of the brownies.

Mine extended about an inch and a half along the sides. You can smooth out any air pockets with your hands and press down on the parchment paper to fold pleats up along the sides. This way the parchment paper will cling to the side of the greased slow cooker.

Melt the butter and chocolate together. You can do this in a microwave or over a double boiler. Either will do just fine.

Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool while you chop the pecans or walnuts. Whichever you use is fine but you can also omit the nuts if you prefer.

Once cooled, whisk in the sugar and then the eggs, vanilla and salt.

Add the flour to the chocolate mixture and stir very well for 2 minutes.

Finely, stir in the chopped nuts if using.

Transfer the chocolate brownie batter to the prepared slow cooker and cook on low heat for 2 hours and 15 minutes approximately.

Slow cookers vary from one model to another therefore use the estimated cooking time as a guideline. I increased mine by 10 minutes.

You’ll know they’re ready when the edges are thoroughly cooked while the centres are somewhat softer.

Remove the inside container from the slow cooker and allow to cool for 1 hour.

The brownies are easier to remove from the slow cooker when they are sufficiently cooled.

I find it easier to tilt the slow cooker slightly on its side while holding on the parchment paper and sliding the brownies out in one fluid motion.

How to serve slow cooker brownies

These Chocolate Raspberry Brownies are rather lovely on their own but a scoop of ice-cream certainly makes them a little more indulgent!

You can also go sweet and simple with a drizzle of melted chocolate and a sprinkle of chopped pecans.

Or serve alongside some fresh raspberries for an even simpler plating.

Whichever way you serve them, they’ll definitely disappear in a flash!

Happy baking dear friends!

This recipe was originally published Feb 8, 2017 and republished Feb 12, 2020 with updated content and photos.

If you make this recipe remember to tag @marisasitaliankitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation!

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0 from 0 votes

Slow Cooker Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

These Slow Cooker Chocolate Raspberry Brownies are ridiculously easy to make. They're ever so moist and fudgy, and with all the attributes of a great brownie! All you'll need is 15 minutes of prep time to make these homemade treats and your slow cooker does the rest!

Course: Dessert

Servings:

Calories: 272kcal

Author: Marisa

Equipment

Slow Cooker, standard size of a 5.4 Litre capacity.

Ingredients

150 grams dark raspberry chocolate or any dark chocolate of your choice
3/4 cup unsalted butter cubed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup roasted chopped pecans

Garnish for Brownies

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup melted chocolate pieces for drizzling over the top of the brownies.

Instructions

Use butter or margarine to butter the inside of your slow cooker.
Cut out a piece of parchment paper large enough to line the bottom while extending up the sides of the slow cooker.
Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl.
Next, melt the butter and chocolate together on high while stirring at 30 second intervals.
Once melted allow the chocolate and butter mixture to cool.
When cooled whisk in the sugar.
Next, whisk in the eggs, vanilla and the salt.
Add the flour to the mixture and stir well for about 2 minutes.
Stir in the chopped walnuts and pour the mixture into the prepared slow cooker.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on low heat for about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Not all slow cookers are made equally and the cooking times can vary. I added 10 extra minutes to the cooking time.
You will want to look for edges that are thoroughly cooked while the center is somewhat softer.
When the brownies are ready, remove the inside container from the slow cooker and allow to cool for about 1 hour with the lid on.
Once cooled run a rubber spatula around the brownies.
For easy removal, hold on to the excess parchment paper and pull up then out onto a cutting board. (This is easier if brownies are completely cooled)
Slice the brownies into squares or use a 2 or 3 inch heart shaped cookie cutter to form the hearts. (you can also do a combo of small and bigger hearts)
Drizzle the brownie pieces with melted chocolate and top with sprinkled pecans.

Notes

This recipe is adapted from Ricardo Magazine, Fall issue.

I've substituted the dark chocolate for a raspberry flavoured dark chocolate and used a tad more in quantity.

To serve, I drizzled the brownies with melted chocolate pieces and sprinkled the tops with finely chopped pecans.

They're simply amazing!

Nutrition