Perfect for festive baking fun, these adorable Christmas Tree brownies are fudgy, chocolately, so easy to make and ideal for little ones to decorate. Add a candy cane trunk, ribbons of icing and lots of sprinkles for a great Christmas party or movie night treat!
If you’re sat there thinking, do I really need another brownie recipe, then I have news for you.
You do! And you need this one…
I absolutely love this recipe!
After years of testing, tasting and failed attempts, this is THE one! The brownie recipe that gives me that perfect fudgy texture and the flakey, crackly top.
So what better way to give one of my favourite recipes a festive vibe than adding candy canes, sprinkles and making the best ever Christmas tree brownies.
What makes these brownies so good
Perfectly fudgy and beautifully chocolately, these brownies are fun and easy to make. But wait they’re also…
- Ideal for Christmas movie night treats
- Simple to make and great for kids to decorate
- Make ahead and freeze undecorated
- Easy to scale up or down for small or large batch options
If you want to skip the detailed recipe information and tips for making the best festive Christmas Tree brownies scroll down to the printable recipe card.
What you’ll need to make these brownies
View my Amazon shopping list with equipment and ingredients.
As with all my brownie recipes, there is absolutely no faffing with any fancy ingredients or equipment. Instead its straightforward, no fuss and if you don’t want to get the mixer out you can make these by hand with a balloon whisk.
The Ingredients
To make these brownies, you will need to grab the following ingredients:
- Dark Chocolate Bar – The darker the chocolate, the richer the brownie. For these brownies, I use 70% or higher cocoa chocolate. Green and Blacks or Lindt are great finds in the supermarket.
- Plain or All Purpose Flour – Will give your brownies the perfect texture while the eggs will provide the rise
- Caster or Superfine Sugar – Try and avoid regular granulated sugar is too coarse for brownies and will cause your brownie top to crack all over.
- Eggs – Make sure these are at room temperature before using, they will whisk up easier and become airy and fluffy
- Cocoa Powder – You can use either a regular cocoa powder or a dark intense cocoa powder for extra richness
- Butter – I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted if you prefer and add ¼tsp of fine salt
- Peppermint Candy Canes – You can use fruity flavoured ones as well, but the peppermint tastes better in my opinion with the chocolate brownies.
- Runout Icing – I tint my icing green using a green food colour gel, you can use difference colours or try writing icing tubes instead.
- Christmas Sugar Sprinkles – To finish off your Christmas tree decoration.
Recommended ingredients
The Equipment
So you know what to get out of the cupboard, let me tell you what you’ll need…
- 8-inch square brownie pan with deep sides, to bake the brownies in.
- Large mixing bowl and a hand mixer, or you can use a stand mixer or balloon whisk
- Offset spatula for smoothing everything over. If you don’t have one I highly recommend you invest in one; it’s so much easier.
Recommended equipment
How to make Christmas Tree brownies
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card
Baking the brownies
For a more detailed recipe breakdown check out my Rolo Brownies recipe. But stick around for a quick overview of what you need to do…
- Melt butter and chocolate – Add to a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. When melted, leave the mixture to cool down slightly.
- Whisk eggs and sugar – The eggs will double in size, and the mixture will become thick and foamy, with a pale colour.
- Combine everything together – Add the cooled melted butter and chocolate to the eggs and mix together.
- Fold in the dry ingredients – Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and fold in until you have a thick but smooth batter.
- Pour into a lined brownie pan – Level off the brownie batter with a rubber spatula then bake!
Decorating the brownies
Once the brownies are completely cooled, use a smooth sharp knife and divide up into tree-style triangles.
- For the tree trunk – Break the candy canes into 1-2 inch lengths. Use a cocktail stick to make a hole in the side of the brownie that represents the base of the Christmas tree, then insert a candy cane into the hole. Push the cocktail stick in about 1-inch; this helps prevent the brownie from cracking when you add the candy cane.
- For the decorations – Use runout icing coloured green and pipe over the brownie to represent branches or tinsel. Scatter sprinkles over the wet icing before it dries and add a star on top if you want to.
TOP TIP: If you’re not a fan of peppermint, switch the candy canes for Cadbury chocolate finger biscuits instead.
Step by step live video
Frequently asked questions
I prefer to use an 8-inch square pan for this recipe to get the most servings. You can also use a 10×8-inch rectangle pan instead.
Depending on how large you cut the Christmas trees, the recipe will make 12-16 portions.
The brownies are best stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.
The brownies will keep up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
Yes you can! Once the brownies are full cooled, slice them and then wrap in baking parchment before placing in a freezer-proof container. They will keep for 1-2 months. Before decorating or eating the brownies, make sure to full defrost them.
Tips to make the best festive brownies
Brownies are one of those bakes that seem to have an elusive technique to getting spot-on. In fact it’s not that tricky at all. Check out these tips for getting the best brownies…
- Test the brownies with a toothpick – Rather than testing the centre test about about 1-inch in from the edge of the brownies. If the toothpick comes out with a few crumbs and a smear of batter, they’re done. If you wait until your skewer comes out of the centre of the brownie clean, you have gone too far and the brownies will be more cake-like.
- Let the brownies fully cool – It’s tempting to dive straight in but wait and let the brownies cool. Let them cool in the pan for 15 minutes, before lifting out onto a wire rack to fully cool.
- Chill the brownies before slicing – To get a perfect cut on your brownies, when they are cooled pop them in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour to chill. The Christmas trees will be easier to cut and will not tear.
- Decorate while th icing is still wet – If you are decorating with sprinkles, make sure you do this as soon as you have added the icing to the brownies. This will help the sprinkles stick when the icing sets.
- Use writing icing tubes – If you don’t feel like making runout icing or are decorating with kids, why not try ready-made icing instead. You can get it in a variety of colours, for rainbow bright Christmas trees.
More Christmas recipes to try
If you liked these Christmas tree brownies here are some other recipes that I think you’d enjoy…
Christmas Tree Brownies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 150 g Butter Unsalted
- 150 g 70% Dark Chocolate
- 260 g Caster Sugar
- 3 Eggs Medium
- 90 g Plain Flour or All Purpose Flour
- 35 g Cocoa Powder
- 50 g Icing Sugar or Powdered Sugar
- 10 Candy Canes
- Christmas Sugar Sprinkles
VIDEO
Instructions
- To make the brownies: Preheat the oven to 180C/350F, and line a brownie tin with baking parchment.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in a microwave. Leave to one side to cool down.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and caster sugar with a handheld mixer until pale and fluffy. Alternatively, whisk together in a stand mixer with the balloon attachment.
- Pour in the chocolate mixture and gently whisk together until the mixture is silky and smooth.
- Sieve together the flour and cocoa powder, and add to the chocolate mixture. Gently fold together with a metal spoon or spatula.
- Pour the batter into the lined brownie tin then smooth over with an angled spatula, making sure the batter is level.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until firm but still a little gooey in the centre.
- Leave to cool in the brownie tin for 15 minutes, then lift out using the baking parchment and leave to fully cool on a wire cooling rack.
- To decorate the brownies: Once fully cooled, cut the brownies into triangle shapes, with 2 long sides of the same length and one short side; this will be the base of your Christmas tree.
- Using a cocktail stick, make a hole in the base of the Christmas tree and push in about 1-inch. This is help prevent the brownie cracking when you add the candy cane.
- Break the candy canes into pieces about 1-2 inches in length, and insert into the same hole made with the cocktail stick.
- Add 2 teaspoons of cold water to the icing sugar and mix until smooth. If too runny add a little more icing sugar; to thick add a tiny drop of water. The consistency should be thick but still a little runny. If you want to colour your icing, add a drop of green food colour gel and stir through.
- Either using a piping bag or a teaspoon, drizzle the icing over the brownies, then sprinkle over the Christmas sprinkles. Allow the icing to set before eating.
Notes
- How many do these brownies serve? An 8-inch brownie pan will make about 16 slices.
- How to store these brownies? The brownies are best stored in an air-tight container at room temperature.
- How long will the brownies keep? The brownies will keep up to 5 days in an air-tight container.
- Can you freeze the brownies? Yes! Once fully cooled, slice the brownies and wrap them in baking parchment before placing in a freezer-proof container. They will keep for 1-2 months. Remember to fully defrost the brownies before decorating and eating.
Nutrition
DISCLAIMER
The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
