Quick and easy Christmas tree brownies recipe, homemade with simple ingredients. These cute fudgy brownie bites are fun to make with kids during the holiday season. They can be decorated with buttercream frosting or fondant, lots of sprinkles and candy canes.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from CakeWhiz
Since Christmas will be here soon, I wanted to share this festive dessert. These are just as much fun to make as these Christmas Tree Cupcakes or these Santa Hat Brownies as well as this Christmas Cake (Tree). They are so easy that even kids can help out! Enjoy eating them as much as assembling them.
Jump to:
Key ingredients
- Chocolate brownies- This can be homemade from scratch, store-bought or made with a box mix. It's entirely your preference.
- Buttercream frosting- You will need only green color.
- Sprinkles- I like to use bright ones to give it a pop of color. You can also use seasonal blends.
- Candy canes- Unwrap them to use as the tree trunk.
How to make easy Christmas tree brownies with buttercream frosting?
1. Cut brownies- Into squares.
2. Cut again- Into triangles.
3. Push candy cane- Through the bottom of the brownie. This will be the tree trunk.
4. Ice top of the brownie- With green buttercream frosting.
5. Work your way up- Start piping from the bottom and continue piping upwards until brownie is fully covered. .
6. Toss sprinkles- On top of the green icing.
Variations
- Make a giant tree- Instead of mini brownies, you can make a big giant version and decorate with fondant, icing and sprinkles. Use a jumbo candy cane for the tree trunk.
- Switch up the type of brownie- Try Nutella Brownies or Fudgy Brownies with Crackly Tops Recipe. If you are short on time, you can even use store-bought brownies or brownie mix box like I did. There is no shame in that!
- Add ornaments- Use seasonal sprinkles that look like ornaments.
- Make other colors of trees- Green is just the classic choice but you can get creative with pretty white or pink trees.
- Try other frosting flavors- Such as Easy Mint Frosting, or Marshmallow Frosting or Almond Buttercream Frosting.
Tips and techniques for xmas tree brownie bites
- Any type of sprinkles can be used- Seasonal sprinkles or whatever you have on hand.
- How to cut brownies into triangles? Use a sharp knife to cut 3 rows on a pan of brownies. Then, cut triangle shapes in each row so that all of them are the same size. Instead of this, you can also use a triangle shaped cookie cutter.
- Use the smooth bottom side of the brownie- Because there are no bumps and cracks and the icing pipes better on this smooth surface.
- Use a sharp knife- Because this ensures clean triangle cuts.
- Cool brownies completely before decorating- Because this prevents the icing from melting and making a sticky mess.
Another idea with fondant
If you like working with Marshmallow Fondant, this is another option. To make green fondant, you can use gel food coloring. Check out this post on How to Color Fondant if you have never done that before.
- Use a sharp knife to cut out brownie into triangles.
- Brush some corn syrup on top your brownie. Flip over the the brownie because the bottom is smooth.
- Roll out green fondant and place your brownie, sticky side down, onto the fondant.
- Use a knife to cut off excess fondant, along the sides.
- Break a mini candy cane into a few small pieces and stick one piece into the bottom of the triangle.
- Paint a zig-zag pattern of corn syrup on top your fondant.
- Place the brownie, sticky side down, onto a bowl of sprinkles and the sprinkles will stick to the corn syrup.
- Stick a large star or round sprinkle on top of the tree with corn syrup and enjoy!
Storage
- Room temperature- Leftovers can be stored in a covered container at room temperature for 4-5 hours.
- Refrigerate- In a covered container for up to 3 days.
- Freeze- Unfrosted brownies and frosting can be stored separately in sealed containers for up to 1 month. When you are ready to enjoy them, thaw to room temperature and assemble as per instructions below.
- Make ahead- These can easily be made 1 day in advance.
More Christmas desserts
- Sugared Cranberries (Candied Cranberries)
- Easy Penguin Cookies (Nutter Butter)
- Easy Gingerbread Cookies (With Cake Mix)
- Easy Poinsettia Cupcakes (Buttercream)
- Easy Reindeer Cupcakes (Rudolph)
Recipe
Easy Christmas Tree Brownies (Bites)
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from CakeWhiz
Ingredients
- 1 Brownie mix Family size
- 4 cups American buttercream frosting Colored green
- 2 tablespoon Sprinkles
- 12 Candy canes Break off the curved part and discard it
Instructions
- Prepare brownies as per box instructions in a 9x13 pan.
- Allow it to cool to room temperature.
- While the brownie is baking and cooling, prepare the green frosting.
- Use a sharp knife to cut square slices and then cut them further into triangle shapes.
- Push a candy cane through the bottom of each brownie to make the tree trunk.
- Fill a piping bag with green frosting and attach a star tip (Wilton tip 21). For larger triangles, you can use the big star tip (Wilton tip 1M)
- Start piping from the bottom and work your way up.
- Toss sprinkles on top for a pop of color. Enjoy.
Video
Notes
- You can use store-bought frosting if you are short on time.
- Instead of brownies, you can follow the same steps using cake and you will end up with festive mini cakes.
- Don't decorate warm brownies because that will cause the icing to melt.
- Don't cut warm brownies because it leads to crumbs everywhere.
- Use a very sharp knife if you want to cut perfect triangle shapes.
- Read additional tips and variations above.
- Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Leave a Reply