I am admittedly a chocoholic. On a perfect day I would have hot chocolate for breakfast, some Lindt chocolates with lunch, a little chocolate pudding as an afternoon snack, and brownies with ice cream for dessert. Thank goodness every day isn’t perfect for me, or else my waist line might be a size or two larger. Last week I read an article saying that a survey found that people should have a daily amount of chocolate equivalent to 1.5 Hershey’s Kisses to reap the benefit of the healthy antioxidants found in chocolate. All of this is well and good, but who really eats 1.5 Hersey’s Kisses? When I sit down to have some chocolate we’re looking at a serving of at least four Hershey’s kisses… at least.
A couple weeks ago I set off on a quest to find the best brownie recipe online. This was no small task being that there were numerous recipes purporting to make the best brownies ever. When thinking about brownies you have one thing to consider. Are you the type of person that enjoys cake-like or fudge-like brownies? One reason I enjoy this recipe is because it meets somewhere in the middle between the two extremes. I also like this recipe because as opposed to the typical brownie bar, you get tiny brownie bites. The little bites are really easy to transport to a party or a picnic in a plastic container.
Chocolate Brownie Bites
Makes approximately 16 brownie bites
Brownie Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
Frosting Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup confectioners' sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center. Generously grease and flour a mini muffin pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together ⅓ cup cocoa, ½ cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large saucepan, melt ½ cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients. Drop batter into muffin tins, filling halfway. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
To make frosting, melt butter in a glass bowl in the microwave. Combine 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm. Decorate brownies as desired.
Heather’s Helpful Hints
It’s important that you don’t over-mix your batter. To help with this, make sure you beat your eggs before adding them to the mixture. This way they will combine easily with butter and sugar without requiring you to mix more than needed.
MOM
I'm a!fudge-like-brownie person. This recipe looks grand. I plan to eat 1.5 pieces upon baking
Heather @ Sweet Precision
They are truly spectacular! You can't stop at only one!!
tableofcolors
Oh, goodness! Yes, I think I would have a hard time stopping at 1.5 hershey kisses as well! Your mini brownie bites look perfect!
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I'm so glad I'm not the only one! The brownie bites are actually the perfect size for moderation without guilt :)
Tracy Lee Karner
Yep, chocolate is the right stuff. And brownies are at the top of my list of treats. I love the idea of little bites.
P.S. If you ate 3 kisses every other day, it would average out to 1.5 per day. ;)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
I love this idea! Usually I have to hide chocolate away from myself or not even have it in the house because I have such weak willpower. However, knowing that I could eat three kisses a couple days a week might be able to keep my chocolate monster under control!
Tracy Lee Karner
Everything is allowable, even chocolate, in moderation.
I've found that giving in to my cravings, with limitations, controls my cravings. It might work for you...
<3
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Excellent advice Tracy! I read an article that said we only have a certain supply of willpower and I'm pretty sure I free with it. Sometime you have to indulge :)
Stefano
What a very nice recipe, Heather: as a "consumer", I have to say that finding good brownies is not an easy task. I have been unimpressed so many times, but yours look amazing and, since I tend to prefer the fudge kind, yours look very tempting! :-) Another beautiful creation of yours and nice presentation. Thank you! :-)
PS: how is it going with your adorable puppy? Are things slowly falling into place? :-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thank you Stefano! I've tried so many different brownie recipes that it was nice to finally find one that I really like. Now I can finally stick with it :) And YES things are slowly starting to fall into place with Maya! She's still a handful and a big responsibility but she has definitely come a long way from those first few weeks. She started her puppy obedience class a couple weeks ago and now even knows how to "sit" :)
Francesca
I think that when God was creating opposites he was thinking of us! ;-) I go entire weeks, even months, without eating chocolate. It's not that I don't like chocolate. I do really. The point is that you can commit a culinary sin only once a day and I always go for a savory one. ;-)
Your brownie bite looks wonderful as always! :-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Oh my gosh, I'm so envious Francesca! What I wouldn't give to be able to go months without chocolate! Although I do love the savory treats, I'll admit they aren't my first choice if I feel like being "bad". Matt on the other hand loves everything savory! I guess opposites do attract :-)
Just Add Attitude
I too am a chocoholic, I love the stuff. My recent chocolate crush is chocolate covered dried cherries! Your chocolate brownie bites look lovely, your presentation is always so good.
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Chocolate covered cherries sound delicious! I'm addicted to chocolate covered cranberries... well probably anything covered in chocolate for that matter!!
Jess
They look great Heather- good job :-)
Heather @ Sweet Precision
Thanks Jess!!
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