Chocolate Christmas Tree Brownies Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 13x9-in. baking pan with foil, letting ends extend up sides; grease foil. In a microwave, melt butter and chocolate; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar and salt. Stir in vanilla and chocolate mixture. Gradually add flour, mixing well., Spread into prepared pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack., Lifting with foil, remove brownie from pan. Cut brownie to form a tree (save trimmings for another use). If desired, tint frosting green. Frost tree; decorate as desired. Store in an airtight container.

Steps:

• For the brownies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of two 8-inch round cake pans. Cut two 8-inch circles out of parchment and line the bottoms of the cake pans with the parchment.
• Stir together the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla and eggs in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and divide the batter between the prepared pans, smoothing the tops. Bake until the brownies begin to gain a crust around the edges, pull away from the edge and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Let the brownies cool fully in the pans on cooling racks, about 1 hour. Cut each circle into 8 equal triangles with a knife. Use a small offset spatula or pie server to lift each triangle out of the pan.
• For the American buttercream frosting: Combine the confectioners' sugar, butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer). Mix on low speed until mostly incorporated. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to medium-high and mix until smooth. Loosen the consistency with milk as desired. Add 24 drops green food coloring and 1 drop red food coloring and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Set aside.
• To assemble: Using the tip of a paring knife or a skewer, poke a small hole along the bottom edge of each brownie. Insert a candy cane "trunk" into each hole.
• Fill the piping bag with the frosting and cut 1/4 inch off the tip. Using a zig-zag motion, pipe the frosting from the base to the tip of each tree. Decorate the trees with the sanding sugars and candy-covered chocolate, as desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile cream shortening for frosting until fluffy. Gradually add confectioner's sugar and continue beating until creamy and well blended. Add 3 ounces cream, vanilla, and salt and blend on low speed until moistened. Add up to 1 more ounce cream if necessary. Beat on high speed until frosting is fluffy.
• Transfer 1/2 of the frosting into another bowl and mix in green gel food coloring to get your preferred shade of green.
• Use a tree-shaped cookie cutter to cut out 8 Christmas trees from the pan of cooled brownies.
• Pipe green and white frostings onto cooled brownies to look like snow-covered trees. Decorate with candies.