Christmas Brownies (Christmas Tree Brownies)
These Christmas brownies are easy to make with the best from-scratch fudgy brownies and homemade vanilla frosting. Cut the brownies into triangles, then decorate them as Christmas tree brownies or Santa hats for a fun and festive Christmas dessert!
Servings: 8 Brownies
Cost: $6
Equipment
Ingredients
Brownies
- ½ cup salted butter
- 6 oz 1 cup semisweet chocolate*
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2-5 drops red gel food coloring
- 2 drops green gel food coloring
Instructions
Make the Brownies
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (177℃), line a 9x9” (23 cm) baking dish with parchment paper and lightly grease, set aside.
- Melt chocolate and butter together in a microwave safe bowl, or on the stovetop over low heat. Stir until smooth and glossy. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat eggs for 1 minute or until pale and thick.
- Add sugar and beat for an additional 1 minute.
- Add melted chocolate/butter mixture and vanilla and stir on low speed until batter is smooth.
- Add flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix on low speed until just incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the edges are set and the center is barley jiggly.
- Remove from the oven, put on a wire rack and let cool completely.
Make the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Once the brownies are cooled, make the buttercream frosting.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter, vanilla and sea salt for 1 minute.
- Add 2 cups of the powered sugar and beat until incorporated.
- Then, add the milk and the rest of the powdered sugar, beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Divide the frosting into three bowls, one small portion (to keep white) and two bowls with equal amounts.
- Make one of the larger bowls red by adding the red food coloring, and make one green.
- Put into piping bags fitted with a round tip or star tip.
Cut the Christmas Brownies
- Start by cutting the brownies in half horizontally to make two rectangles.
- On one end of the first rectangle, make adiagonal cut to remove a small right triangle. Then, make another diagonal cutin the opposite direction to create your first full triangle brownie.
- Make three more diagonal cuts in alternating directions to cut the rest of the brownies into triangles.
- When you reach the other end, you'll have one more small right triangle to trim off.
- Repeat the process with the second rectangle.
Decorate the Brownies - Christmas Tree Brownies
- To make Christmas tree brownies, place the brownie triangles with the wide side at the bottom.
- Pipe green frosting back and forth across each brownie,starting at the bottom and gradually making the lines shorter as you worktoward the top to create the shape of a Christmas tree
- Decorate with Christmas sprinkles that look like ornaments. Add a star sprinkle or candy to the top, if desired.
Decorate the Brownies - Santa Hat Brownies
- To make Santa hat brownies, pipe red frosting back and forth over the brownie triangle, leaving space at the top and bottom to pipe on a white ball and white trim. Then add sprinkles if you want to.
Harden & Serve
- Let the frosting harden before serving the brownies at room temperature.
Video
Notes
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Brownies
I use my favorite homemade brownies for this recipe. You can use a box mix if you prefer.
- Chocolate. Use high-quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate. Chocolate chips, bars or discs all work well because it's being melted.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter works well too. So does vegan butter.
- Granulated sugar. Regular granulated sugar or organic cane sugar both work well.
- All-purpose flour. A 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour can be used to make gluten-free Christmas brownies.
- Cocoa powder. Regular unsweetened cocoa powder is the best choice, but dark cocoa powder can be used for an even richer chocolate flavor.
- Vanilla buttercream frosting. I use my homemade vanilla frosting because it's easy to pipe and tastes delicious. See this post for substitution ideas.
- Food coloring. You'll need red gel food coloring and green gel food coloring to make both designs. I suggest gel food coloring because it creates vibrant colors without thinning the frosting.
- Sprinkles. Use your favorite Christmas sprinkles to decorate the Christmas tree brownies.
- You can also use small candy decorations to make ornaments and stars on top of the trees.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Brownie | Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 73mg | Sodium: 182mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 425IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 2mg