Brownie Gems

This recipe is one that I mentioned in my July 2010 blog titled "Baking Gift Kit". It's one that we love and is really easy to include help from little ones.

What you need:

1 package Duncan Hines Double Fudge Brownie Mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons water
2 dozen (approx.) Hersey Kisses, unwrapped
Cream cheese or vanilla frosting
Decorating items: sprinkles, small candies, food coloring
Mini muffin pan
Non-stick baking spray

What you need to do:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine brownie mix, oil, eggs, water, and fudge packet. Blend well. In a greased mini muffin pan, drop a little brownie mix in each cup. Insert a kiss on top of each (don't push all the way down or it will stick to the pan when you try to remove it after baking).

Then cover each kiss with a little more brownie mix. Once you have everything in the cups they should be about 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. Let the brownies cool for 5 minutes before trying to remove from the pan. They don't always come out easy! I use a small butter knife to help pop them up from the bottom (making sure the knife includes the kiss or it will stay in the pan).

Let the brownies cool completely. Frost and then decorate. This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen. You can freeze these for about a month in an airtight container.

Decorating ideas:

There are many ways you could decorate these goodies! You can use food coloring to change the color of the frosting. I did this for Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, and for a pink princess party. You could drizzle the tops with chocolate syrup. You could use a variety of candies/sprinkles to decorate them. I tried to give a few ideas in my finished picture. I used a frosting bag and tip to frost the brownies but they can look just as good by spreading them on with a spoon/spatula. If you are adding sprinkles to the frosting, I recommend doing so soon after the frosting is spread. If the frosting starts to "crust" the sprinkles will not stick as well.