Easy Christmas Brownies recipe
This Christmas brownies recipe is super easy to make. The brownies have a super fudgy texture and a rich chocolate flavor.
The Christmas trees and snowflakes were made using royal icing, along with some silver and gold sprinkles.
It’s perfect for the holiday season and the perfect addition to any holiday party dessert table.
Ingredients needed for these festive treats
To make these homemade brownies, you need just a handful of ingredients, found in any grocery store:
- Cocoa Powder: It adds a rich chocolate flavor and dark color to the brownies.
- Baking Soda: This helps brownies rise and become lighter in texture by releasing carbon dioxide when mixed with acidic ingredients like cocoa or coffee.
- Unsalted Butter: Butter provides moisture, flavor, and a creamy texture to brownies. It’s a key ingredient for achieving that melt-in-your-mouth brownie.
- Coffee: Coffee enhances the chocolate flavor in the brownies.
- Granulated Sugar: It sweetens the brownies and helps create a nice, crackly top when it melts and crystallizes during baking.
- Eggs: Eggs act as a binding agent, holding the brownies together. They also contribute to the structure and tenderness of the brownies.
- Flour: Gives structure and body to the brownies.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a pleasant aroma and enhances the rest of the flavors.
- Salt: Salt enhances the overall flavor by balancing the sweetness and intensifying the chocolate taste.
- Chocolate Chips: Chocolate chips are additional pockets of chocolate that melt and create gooey, chocolatey bites throughout the brownies.
- Walnuts: Provide a crunchy texture and a nutty flavor that contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the brownie.
- Powdered sugar. Powdered sugar is the main ingredient in royal icing, and it provides sweetness and a smooth, powdery texture.
- Meringue powder. It helps the royal icing harden as it sets.
Take a look at the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
How to make Easy Christmas Brownies Recipe
Brownies:
Pre-heat oven to 350 F and grease and dust with cocoa powder a 13x9x2 in pan. Alternatively, line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper.
Using a large bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Add to the dry ingredients half of the butter, and coffee, and stir until thickened.
Mix in sugar, eggs, and remaining butter. Add flour, vanilla extract, and salt, and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!
Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the middle of your oven for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs and the edges are set. Let cool completely.
Using a very sharp knife, cut your completely cooled brownies into 16 squares.
Royal Icing:
In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until no lumps are visible.
Fill a piping bag with frosting, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag, and pipe the top of your brownies with Christmas tree shapes and snowflakes.
Let the icing set before stacking them.
Add-ins for these festive Christmas brownies
Personalize these brownies by adding your preferred extras:
- Candy cane brownies: Instead of using walnuts, mix in 1/2 cup of crushed candy cane into the batter. Follow the baking instructions and, once done, sprinkle more crushed candy canes on top of the brownies.
- Gingerbread brownies: To infuse a gingerbread flavor, simply add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger to your brownie batter before baking. After baking, decorate the top of your brownies with gingerbread men for a festive touch.
- Orange brownies: To give your brownies an orange twist, incorporate 1 tablespoon of orange zest into the batter. This will infuse your brownies with a delicious orange flavor.
- M&M brownies: For a festive twist, substitute the walnuts with some green and red M&M candies in your batter.
How to Store these chewy Christmas brownies
To keep your brownies fresh, place them in an airtight container at room temperature. Be sure they’ve cooled down entirely before storing them to avoid any moisture that might make them soggy.
Can I freeze my brownies?
Because Christmas time is hectic, I like to bake in advance, freeze and then use when needed, and these brownies can be frozen and still stay fresh!
There are two ways to freeze these: freezing them individually or freezing the whole pan. For any of these two, you will need to bake them and let them cool completely.
Freeze the whole Pan
If you would like to freeze the whole pan you will need to bake them over parchment paper to remove them from the pan more easily, then wrap them with plastic wrap very tightly and completely.
To thaw, unwrap them completely, I would suggest cutting them when they’re still cold for cleaner cuts, let them come at room temperature, and then decorate with royal icing.
Freeze Individually
To freeze them individually, cut them into squares after letting them cool completely, and place them in an air-tight container in a single layer.
Place some parchment paper on top and add your second layer of brownies. Keep adding layers until you run out of brownies. I like to add a layer of plastic wrap between the container and the lid to keep them as fresh as possible.
To thaw just unwrap them and let them come at room temperature, then decorate.
Expert tips for the best brownies
- Choose good quality ingredients: Using high-quality ingredients will make your brownies taste way better.
- Room temperature eggs: Mixing in eggs at room temperature helps blend everything smoothly, so your batter turns out nice and even.
- Measure dry ingredients correctly: When you measure flour and powdered sugar, use the spoon-and-level method. It’ll make sure you get the right amounts and keep things from getting too dry and clumpy.
- Don’t overmix: Mixing too long can make your brownies tough and dry. Once you add the flour, mix until everything’s just combined, and then stop.
- Don’t overbake: Overbaking can make brownies dry and crumbly. Bake them until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. That’ll give you super fudgy brownies.
Click here to see more brownies & bar recipes, or check out the links below for some of my favorite Christmas recipes:
Easy Candy Cane Ice Cream Recipe
Dark Chocolate Peppermint Bark
Crescent Roll Christmas Tree dessert
Follow me on Instagram and tag #sweetfixbaker to see all the recipes you make!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to give it a star rating and leave a comment!
Christmas Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
- 3/4 Cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 Cup unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 Cup boiling water + 1 teaspoon granulated coffee diluted
- 2 Cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 Cup walnuts
Royal Icing
- 2 Cups confectioners sugar sifter
- 3 Tablespoons meringue powder
- 6 Tablespoons water room temperature
Instructions
Brownies
- Pre heat oven to 350 F and grease and dust with cocoa powder a 13x9x2 in pan. Alternatively, line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper.
- Using a large bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Add half of the butter, and coffee, and stir until thickened.3/4 Cup cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 Cup unsalted butter, 1/2 Cup boiling water + 1 teaspoon granulated coffee
- Mix in sugar, eggs, and remaining butter. Add flour, vanilla extract, and salt, and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!2 Cups granulated sugar, 2 eggs, 1 1/3 Cup all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the middle of your oven for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs and the edges are set.Let cool completely.1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 Cup walnuts
- Using a very sharp knife, cut your completely cooled brownies into 16 squares.
Royal Icing
- In a small bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until no lumps are visible. Fill a piping bag with frosting, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag, and pipe the top of your brownies with Christmas tree shapes and snowflakes. Let the icing set before stacking them.2 Cups confectioners sugar, 3 Tablespoons meringue powder, 6 Tablespoons water
Notes
- Choose good quality ingredients: Using high-quality ingredients will make your brownies taste way better.
- Room temperature eggs: Mixing in eggs at room temperature helps blend everything smoothly, so your batter turns out nice and even.
- Measure dry ingredients correctly: When you measure flour and powdered sugar, use the spoon-and-level method. It’ll make sure you get the right amounts and keep things from getting too dry and clumpy.
- Don’t overmix: Mixing too long can make your brownies tough and dry. Once you add the flour, mix until everything’s just combined, and then stop.
- Don’t overbake: Overbaking can make brownies dry and crumbly. Bake them until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter. That’ll give you super fudgy brownies.
