Christmas Brownies

Making a Christmas brownie that's different, and more special, than a normal brownie is easy. Here's what I do:

1. Pour the brownie batter into well-buttered mini muffin tins rather than the standard brownie pan. This yields cute little round brownies that look neater & more festive than normal square ones.

To make sure the finished brownies come out of the muffin tins easily, try this trick I learned from a French pastry recipe, via my brother-in-law: Melt a few tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Use a pastry brush to thoroughly coat the mini muffin tin with the melted butter. Then put the pan in the freezer (see photo) to let the melted butter resolidify before you pour in the brownie batter.

2. Prepare a box(es) of fabulous Ghirardelli brownie mix as directed, then add about a half a bag of Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips to your batter. This adds richness and moisture to your brownies -- again making them extra special for the holidays.

3. Finally, in a nod to the much-less-yummy holiday fruitcake, add some dried cherries to the batter -- about 3-6 ounces per box of brownie mix. Chocolate and cherry is a match made in heaven, and tangy red fruit is perfect for Christmas. Along with the dark chocolate chips, this ups the health factor, too -- but you'd never know it from the sinful taste.

You can tell by the photo that these are very chunky brownies, between the chocolate chips & the dried cherries. There's barely enough batter to hold things together -- just the way I like it :) Bear in mind that the chocolate chips melt when baked, so these end up wonderfully gooey, as well as chewy from the cherries.

4. Bake as directed, but shave a few minutes off the recommended time, depending on how hot your oven runs. The mini-muffin brownies will cook faster than a pan of brownies. In my oven they take about 30 minutes.

5. Let cool a few minutes, then press a few red and green M&Ms into each brownie while they're still in the pan. Do this while they're still warm, but not so hot that they'll melt the M&Ms.

6. Let cool completely, then pull each brownie out of the pan. You may need to run a butter knife gently around the sides to get them out.

7. And voila! Festive little chocolate-cherry Christmas brownies for eating and gifting!

Try these adorable Christmas tree brownies from bettycrocker.com.

I'm iffy on chocolate & mint, but if you're not, try these festive Christmas brownies with peppermint .... also from bettycrocker.com.

If you're a whiz with fondant, try these lovely Christmas brownie bites from Louise at cakejournal.com. Almost too pretty to eat!

Here's a gift that keeps on giving: An adorable Christmas-themed mug with a five-minute brownie in a mug recipe printed right on the back. Tuck a bag of high-quality chocolate chips inside for an extra sweet treat. Front text = "Forget love; I want to fall in chocolate." :)

Here are some from-scratch brownie recipes to choose from:

Recipe for brownies from Ghirardelli

Recipe for brownies from the Food Network

Recipe for brownies from Allrecipes

Recipe for brownies from Instructables