Chocolate Fantasy Brownie Bites
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Author Notes: OK, admit it. You’re at the party. You’ve had your crostini and cheeses, your seafood, your meatballs. You sampled the olives and nuts; the caviar and pate; you ate way too much prosciutto. Aren’t you dying for something sweet? Decadent, chocolate, rich. So delicious that one small bite satisfies.
Here you are: Chocolate.
I’m going to give you some suggestions for customizing these, but really, the beauty of this recipe is that you can make it your own. Enjoy them with an espresso or a glass of champagne. It’s a party! Have fun!
- drbabs
Makes about 24
- 4 ounces (1 stick) butter (plus more for pan)
- 5 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon powdered espresso
- 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional ingredients: crushed peppermints (or Altoids), peppermint extract, chocolate chips, cinnamon, nuts, almond extract, orange zest and juice, cardamom, powdered sugar, flaky sea salt
- Heat oven to 350. Butter the wells of a non-stick mini muffin pan. You may be tempted to use canola oil spray instead, but I ask that you not do so. These are small, decadent, chocolatey, delicious--you don't really want to muck them up with the taste of canola oil, do you?
- Melt butter and chocolate in a large heavy pot over low heat, stirring until smooth. Whisk together flour, espresso powder, cocoa, and salt. Remove pan from heat and whisk in granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, whisking after each addition until incorporated, then add vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just blended.
- If desired, divide batter into 3 or 4 batches, depending on how many different types of brownies you want to make. Into each group stir in: 1. 1/8 tsp. peppermint extract and 2-3 TB crushed peppermints. 2. 1/4 c. chocolate chips and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. 3. 1/8 tsp. almond extract and 1/4 c. chopped nuts. 4. 1 TB orange zest, 1 tsp. orange juice and 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom. (Amounts are approximate--feel free to play with the proportions to your taste. It's your chocolate fantasy!)
- To make them pretty and evenly shaped, place the batter in a ziploc bag, cut off one corner, and squeeze the batter evenly into the wells. (This works with smooth batters; is more challenging with the chunky ones. You can use a tablespoon.) Fill just below the top of the wells. (Refrigerate unused batter till ready to use. It may make the batter a little difficult to squeeze or scoop, but if the butter gets too soft, it sort of melts in the wells while baking and the brownie bites are difficult to remove.)
- Bake in the middle of the oven for ~12-15 minutes, until a tester comes out with moist crumbs still adhering (if you like soft chewy brownies). If you prefer cakelike brownies, bake an extra minute or two. Better to underbake these--they will continue to bake when you take them out and they are very small.
- As soon as they are cool enough to handle, carefully remove them from the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. To serve, you may dust with powdered sugar and/or sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Holiday Confection
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Open House Dish
Tags: Jennifer Steinhauer, Jenny, Jenny's in the Kitchen, jestei
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3 months ago ayesha
Can i substitute unsweet chocolate with cocoa powder? The place where i live the baking chocolate is very bad in taste.
3 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Yes. You'll need one more cup of cocoa powder, and 5 more tablespoons of butter.
3 months ago mitchlund
Baked tonight for the oscars. Half dozen w sea salt, half doz w walnuts doz plain. Easy and rich.
3 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thanks for letting me know. I'm so glad you enjoyed them.
5 months ago AllieB917
SO DELICIOUS! I especially loved the peppermint ones. I found they came out a little prettier and were easier to pipe into the tins when the batter cooled a little. Thanks for the recipe!
5 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Good tip! So glad you liked them!
8 months ago BavarianCook
These were amazing! I added crushed up chocolate covered espresso beans to my batter and they were a big hit.
5 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Just saw this. I bet that was great.
10 months ago Socks
These are in the oven now. No mini muffin tin so I'm using a standard, half filled. I only had 90% and 85% chocolate so I mixed those, and I added a splash of Patron Tequila Coffee Liqueur in place of the powdered espresso. Going to be good! Thanks
10 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Yum! I hope you enjoyed them.
11 months ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
I had a question that I posted to the Hotline related to the adaptation of this recipe to use for cookies. Many knowledgeable people chimed in, and I posted a detailed report of the results of my further playing with the conversion. Here's a link, for anyone who is interested. http://tinyurl.com/Food52HotlineQ... ;o)
11 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Sounds like you came up with a great solution! Thanks so much for posting the feedback.
11 months ago Ruthie L
Just finished baking these delishious little yummies, didn't change a thing! Dropped a little
chopped carmel on top and some Hawiian Sea salt, yum!
11 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Hi Ruthie. I'm so happy that they turned out well for you. Thanks for letting me know.
12 months ago Megan Glor
I made these last night with gluten free flour and they are just perfect. I used Ahern's GF mix, which is (as far as I know) not a brand, but a recipe (you can google it to find combination of ingredients), and my favorite to date. The GF flour might have made them a bit harder, but not much. They are very chewy 14 hours later!
12 months ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Hi Megan. Thanks so much for commenting. I'm glad that a gluten free version worked well.
about 1 year ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Another outstanding recipe, drbabs! I had a bit of extra dough, which I scooped directly onto a parchment lined biking sheet, then baked as cookies. They turned out really well. Definitely a keeper. ;o)
about 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I'm so happy that you enjoyed them! (and hope they didn't stick to the pan!)
about 1 year ago AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
Thanks; only a couple didn't release right away, most likely because I didn't butter those spots thoroughly . I plan to get a non-stick pan before making these again, to speed up the clean-up I was pleased though at how well this batter worked to make ciookies. There is something magical about biting into what looks like a cookie, but has the texture and unmistakable flavor of a dark chocolate brownie, ; o)
about 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Yes, cookies! That's really good to know.
about 1 year ago Dr. Smokey
Mmmmmmmm... LOVED these! I especially enjoyed cleaning out my cupboards to create my chocolate fantasies. Fantasy #1: Creme de menthe and Andes mint pieces; Fantasy #2: Reese's peanut butter chips and fleur de sel; Fantasy #3: Mini chocolate chips and an ancho chili-cinnamon spice mix (from a recipe for chocolate bark, also on this site). All were fantastic. Thanks for the recipe!
about 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
You have great chocolate fantasies! Thanks for sharing your take on these.
about 1 year ago gasec25
2nd time making them today..I omitted the espresso powered, didn't have any. used a regular size muffin tin and semi sweet chips .My husband said the best "brownie "he ever had. Yum...
about 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Oh, I bet that was good. Thanks for letting me know!
over 1 year ago AnnP
These are amazing! Didn't have espresso powder so I added one shot of espresso when melting the chocolate. I needed to cook them about 5 minutes longer. I mustn't have buttered the pan well enough because they stuck a bit. Next time I'd go for the mini muffin liners and remove them before serving. My friends said they had thought about skipping the brownie bite because, after all, they were just brownie bites. With once the first bite, and ensuing "OMG's" were heard round the room, the plate was quickly emptied. Thanks for sharing!
about 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thanks for letting me know. And you know what you said about your friends skipping the brownie bites? that's exactly why I created this recipe. I had been to one too many parties where someone brought brownie bites from Costco and I thought, there has to be a better way. I'm so glad you and your friends enjoyed them.
over 1 year ago eisenstar
I'm sorry for asking, Dr Babs, but you don't specify...are these made in a cupcake pan????
over 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
See step 1. I used a non-stick mini-muffin pan. I hope you enjoy them! Have fun!
over 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
See step 1. I used a non-stick mini muffin pan. Have fun!
over 1 year ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Perfect GIFT from the kitchen!!! I'd forgotten about these - I've meaning to make them, and now's the time!I
over 1 year ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thanks! I love this about the new website--they keep cycling through all these recipes that I've wanted to make but forgot about.
over 1 year ago TheWimpyVegetarian
I totally agree!!
over 1 year ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Perfect five from the kitchen!!! I'd forgotten about these - I've meaning to make them, and now's the time!
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Really yummy and perfect for a box of holiday goodies. I like them as they are but think the addition of any of your suggested ingredients would be fantastic.
about 2 years ago Carol Sacks
drbabs, these are wonderful! Made them for my daughter's end-of-season basketball party later today. Heading over to tweet this with a photo now.
Loving your recipes -- have made your ginger-apple torte a few times as well. thanks.
carol
about 2 years ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Wow--thanks so much! They're a much requested dessert at my house, too.
about 2 years ago JenniferF
These were insanely delicious and really quite easy! The coffee/salt combo really enhances the deep chocolate taste. My daughter loves mint so we took a suggestion from a comment on the Jenny's in the Kitchen thread and pressed a Junior Mint into a trayful and that was a huge hit.
I will definitely be making these again!
about 2 years ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Hi Jennifer--I just saw this--I so happy you liked them! I'm going to try the Junior Mint idea, too.
about 2 years ago Chelsea
I just made three mini-batches: cardamom, cinnamon nutmeg, and vanilla sea salt. I am definitely a brownie lover, and these are by far some of the best brownies I have ever made!
about 2 years ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Wow--I love your spice combinations! Thanks so much for letting me know!
about 2 years ago gwennw
I just whipped up a batch of these and all I can say is YUM! I made one batch plain, one batch I topped with sea salt and the final batch I added in butterscotch chips. I honestly could have eaten the entire batch. Plus, it was so easy to make, and they look adorable when baked in the mini-muffin tin.
about 2 years ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thanks for letting me know--I'm so happy you enjoyed them!