When Lydia sent me her guest-blog post on ‘Mother of a 3-month old’ Brownies, it reminded me of the treats I made for her baby shower back in November. I guess these are the homemade version, but I won’t get too smug about it 😉 Way back when my sister-in-law Debbie was preggo with Johnny Mac  in 2005, I made cupcakes for her baby shower and decorated them the same way, pink and blue icing with matching sprinkles. Since the theme of Lydia’s shower was afternoon tea, I decided to make something a little more dainty, as we can all admit it’s not very graceful trying to cram a huge cupcake in your grill in mixed company.

Me & Lydia (& Ethan)

This recipe for mini brownies is ripped out of a Canadian Living magazing from 1989. My mom usually makes them around Christmastime, and just tops them with a chocolate chip (although in the original recipe, I think they used chocolate rosebuds). So wow, we’ve actually been making these forever. The recipe is quick, uses one saucepan, doubles easily and bakes up quickly. You don’t even need a mini muffin tin, just the liners. I’ve tinkered with the recipe over the years, turning into a white chocolate version, and you could do so much more, like adding peppermint extract instead of vanilla, or topping with different kinds of Hershey Kisses, like I did on the Chocolate Financiers.

For Lyd’s shower, I made a white chocolate ganache to go on top. I tried piping it on, which failed for the pinks because the ganache was too thin, and barely worked for the blues. I actually think it looks better just flooded on, and of course really cute with the little jelly beans. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found the recipe, but you can always google to find a bunch of options.

Mini Brownies

Source: Canadian Living, ’89, old school

Ingredients:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3 oz semisweet chocolate (we have always just used Baker’s, but you could definitely use something fancier)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup flour

Directions:

  1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt sugar, butter and chocolate, stirring until chocolate is just melted.
  2. Remove from heat and let cool for 1 minute, then blend in vanilla and egg.
  3. Gently fold in flour until just blended.
  4. Spoon into mini-muffin liners and bake in a 350 oven for 10-12 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and place a chocolate chip, rosebud or other candy on top.