Reindeer Chocolate Brownies

Fudgey chocolate brownies cut into triangles, with whipped chocolate ganache, decorated to look like Christmas reindeer

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Brownies, christmas

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Servings

Calories 579kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the brownies

350 g Dark chocolate
250 g Butter
250 g Light brown soft sugar
3 Eggs large
1 tsp Vanilla extract optional
120 g Plain flour

For the ganache

250 ml Double cream
25 g Butter
250 g Dark chocolate chopped or broken up

For decoration

28 Candy eyes see notes
14 Red M&Ms or other small red sweets
28 Pretzels

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 12" x 9" traybake tin
Melt the dark chocolate and butter together in a pan on a low heat, stirring regularly. When fully melted, remove from the heat. Set it aside to cool
In a mixing bowl use an electric mixer to whisk together the eggs, light brown soft sugar and vanilla extract for 5 minutes until thicker and paler in colour. You can also do this in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment
Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly as you pour it in
Add the plain flour and whisk in gently with a hand whisk until you can't see any more flour
Pour the batter into your lined tin. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a cocktail stick poked into the centre comes out with moist crumbs on it, but is not wet. Leave them to cool fully in the tin and chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours
To make the ganache, warm the double cream and butter together in a pan on a low heat. Add the dark chocolate and stir until it is fully melted. Set aside to fully cool to room temperature
Remove the brownies from the tin and slice into triangle shapes. There will be some off cuts for snacking
Use an electric mixer, or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment to whip up the ganache for 1-2 minutes, until it is lighter in colour and holds it's shape
Pipe or spread the ganache onto the brownies, decorate with the pretzels, candy eyes and red M&Ms
Store leftovers in a cool place in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Notes

Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you start baking. The butter can be cold for this recipe, as you are going to melt it anyway. It will just take slightly longer to melt.
I used unsalted butter for this recipe.
I used light brown soft sugar for the brownies, which I do recommend using as it makes them extra fudgey, but you can also use caster sugar.
I topped these brownies with whipped ganache. You could swap this for chocolate buttercream, or use melted chocolate to stick the reindeer bits onto the brownies instead.
For the reindeer noses I used red M&Ms. Any small red sweet will work like Smarties or Jelly Tots. You could also use red fondant or some red buttercream.
For the reindeer's eyes I used candy eyes, which are available in larger supermarkets and online. Instead, you could use some white fondant - roll it into a small ball and flatten it out a little. Then dip a cocktail stick into black food colouring and dot it into the middle of the fondant.
For all of the answers to more questions about brownies, check out my Chocolate Brownies guide!
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50).
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results,

Nutrition