Christmas Tree Brownie Cupcakes - Sweetie Pie and Cupcakes

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Of course it’s Christmas time and everywhere I look I see families shopping for Christmas trees and that’s when I had the thought, “How could I make a Christmas tree on top of a cupcake?” Well, with a little surprise inside the icing, these Christmas tree cupcakes came to life!

And what is that delightful surprise inside the Christmas tree? It’s a strawberry of course!!! With a star tip and some green cream cheese icing, you simply pipe the icing starting at the base of the strawberry and draw delicious little branches of the tree. All of this is done on top of one of my all-time favorite brownie recipes! This recipe calls for three, yes count them three, dark chocolate candy bars! I love the dark chocolate called Valrhona Le Noir Amer from Trader Joes, and for this brownie recipe, most of the ingredients came from Trader Joes.

That’s a full package of unsalted butter and THREE dark chocolate candy bars along with a dash of espresso powder of course! You melt this beautiful concoction in a bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. It becomes a scrumptious chocolate soup!

I baked up these chocolate brownies in cute cupcake liners because I like to hand out the cupcakes during the holidays, and it’s so much nicer to have a little paper liner to protect the delightful treat inside. So simply spray your cupcake liners with some non-stick spray like Pam, and then use an ice cream scoop to fill the liners with just the right amount of batter for the brownies.

I used star sprinkles for the ornaments on the trees and used number #18 tip from the Wilton Course 1 Basic Decorating Kit to make the branches of the tree. You can watch the youtube video to learn how to create the Christmas trees on top of the brownies below:

https://youtu.be/LLxCKFts7-U

The combination of the cream cheese butter icing with the strawberry and chocolate brownie is absolutely divine. And these are fun to make as an activity for kids. They also make a great treat to hand out to family and friends during the holiday season! Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder

3 dark chocolate bars, coarsely chopped

1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1½ cups granulated sugar

½ cup packed light brown sugar

5 eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pan with liners and spray with non-stick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

4. Add the eggs and vanilla to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Do not over beat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

6. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners (you can also use a ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into each liner. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely before decorating.

Makes about 20 brownies.

FOR THE FROSTING

INGREDIENTS

½ cups Butter, Softened

8 ounces Cream Cheese

1 pound Confectioners Sugar

½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Green Food Coloring

Yellow Fondant Or Star Sprinkles, To Decorate

Small Sprinkle Candies, To Decorate

DIRECTIONS

As the brownies are baking and cooling, put together your frosting by combining the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Dye it green.Once baked and cooled, secure the strawberries to the brownies with a dab of frosting. Put frosting in a piping bag fit with a small star tip (I used Wilton #18), and cover the entire strawberry by starting at the base of the strawberry, applying a bit of pressure, and pulling away gently to a nice point. Decorate as desired.