brownies – Danielle's Mixing Bowl

Happy 4th of July! If you’re looking for something last-minute that has a huge wow factor, this recipe’s for you!

Cake pops (in this case, brownie pops!) do take some time and there’s a bit of technique involved with dipping them in the chocolate, but, overall, these are a lot easier than you think. Not only are we using an easy-peasy brownie recipe, but because all of these are hand-dipped, you don’t have to worry about uniformity, meaning there’s no stress if they don’t all look the same. After all, that’s part of their charm!

What You Need
Brownie Batter

2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (2 bars)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup flour

Frosting

2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

White Chocolate Coating

4-5 cups white chocolate, melted
1 cup blue chocolate (pre-colored)
1 cup red chocolate (pre-colored)

How You Do It
Batter

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a 9×13 inch or 8×8 inch pan.
In a medium pot, melt butter on medium-low
Add water and sugar to butter. Stirring occasionally, cook until mixture starts to bubble.
Turn stove to low and add chocolate and vanilla. Stirring frequently, cook until chocolate melts. When mixture is similar in consistency to frosting, remove from stove and let cool. Note: cooling time is important. Otherwise, the eggs will begin to cook if added immediately.
When cooled, add in the eggs and stir. At this point, the consistency will be similar to pudding.
Going 1/3 a cup at a time, add in the flour and baking soda.
Spread evenly over the pan and bake. If you used a 9×13 pan, cook time will be 10-12 minutes; if 8×8, it’ll be 25-30.

Frosting

Combine butter and vanilla.
Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar. If the mixture is dry and clumpy, that’s okay!
Mix in 2 tablespoons and milk. At this point, the frosting will he on the thinner side, but still hold its shape.
Add in the remaining sugar. Frosting will be thick.
Add in the rest of the milk. Depending on your desired consistency, add in either 1/2 or 1 tablespoon.

Cake Pop Balls

Using a fork, crumble the brownies. Break down as many as large chunks as possible, and pour into a large bowl.
Add in 3 dollops of frosting (there might be leftovers) and mix with a spoon. Roll some between your hands. The mixture should be moist, but not overly wet. If too dry, add in more frosting.
Begin to shape into balls. Roll into desired size, placing on a plate. When finished, cover, and stick in fridge until ready to assemble.

Chocolate Coating

When ready to assemble, melt chocolate in separate bowls. If you’re using a microwave, melt for 15-20 seconds at a time, stirring between each.
To add sticks to brownie balls, dip into white chocolate, scraping edges.
Slowly push stick into the brownie balls. This will act as a glue, keeping the stick firmly in place.
Combine colors. Using either piping bags or plastic baggies, but the red chocolate in one bag and the blue in another.
Alternating between colors, drizzle over white chocolate.
Swirling as you go, dip the cake pop into the chocolate. Continue to swirl as you pull up.
If you don’t have full coverage on the first dip, use a knife to spoon out a small amount of chocolate and spread over and part that isn’t covered in chocolate.
Stick in freezer until hardened, then move to fridge. When ready to eat, remove from fridge, wait five minutes, and enjoy!