Make these quick and easy Santa hat brownies for Christmas, using simple ingredients! You can decorate with buttercream frosting or fondant. These brownie bites are a festive holiday dessert to make with kids.
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Yesterday morning, I woke up with this idea in my head. However, I was out of flour and didn't feel like going out to the grocery store in the cold. I decided to use a brownie mix box. I am not sure why people bash other people for using box mixes because honestly, they are so easy and convenient. Today's dessert is so fun and festive. Get your kids involved and also try these adorable Christmas Tree Brownies {Bites} or something from this collection of Christmas Food Ideas (For Kids).
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Key ingredients
- Chocolate brownies- This can be homemade from scratch, store-bought or made with a box mix.
- Buttercream frosting- You will need red and white colors.
- White sprinkles- This is optional. I like to toss a little bit of it on top of the white icing.
How to make easy Christmas Santa hat brownies?
1. Cut brownies- Into squares.
2. Cut again- Into triangles.
3. Ice top of the brownie- With red buttercream frosting. Start piping from the bottom and work your way up.
4. Leave some empty space- On the top and along the bottom.
5. Pipe white buttercream stars- Along the empty space at the bottom of the brownie.
6. Pipe a single buttercream star- On the very top.
Variations
- Make Grinch hat brownies- Use green frosting instead of red.
- Decorate with modeling chocolate- Use red candy melts as your chocolate medium and follow this How to Make Modeling Chocolate {Candy Clay} tutorial.
- Use a brownie mix or cosmic brownies - Because this saves time and makes and are great alternative in a pinch.
- Try other brownie flavors- Such as Gooey Brownies {Chocolate Cherry Brownies}, Caramel Brownies (With Brownie Mix), or Cheesecake Brownies {Cream Cheese Brownies} or my favorite Nutella Brownies.
- Try another frosting- Such as Vanilla Sour Cream Frosting or Marshmallow Frosting or Almond Buttercream Frosting.
- Make strawberry hats- Cut round brownie bites and top them with white icing and an upside down strawberry. Then, pipe a white frosting star on top of the berry.
- Replace white frosting- You can use white mini marshmallows and that looks very cute too.
Tips and techniques for brownie bites
- Cool brownies completely- This allows you to cut clean lines for the proper shape and prevents the decorations from melting and sliding off and making a mess.
- Use a sharp knife- Because this makes clean and precise cuts and makes for a better presentation.
- Use the smooth bottom side of the brownie- Because there are no bumps and cracks and the icing pipes better on this smooth surface.
- 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.
Another idea with fondant
This is another idea that you can try, if you like working with Marshmallow Fondant. You can use gel food coloring to get that perfect red shade. Check out this post on How to Color Fondant. If you are short on time, you can use store-bought red fondant. It's convenient.
- Use a square cutter to cut out square pieces of brownies.
- Use a knife to cut the sides and give your brownie a triangular shape. Make sure one side is more slanted than the other. Flip it over because we will be working on the back smooth side.
- Spread icing on top of the brownie. You can brush corn syrup instead.
- Now, roll out red fondant. Place the brownie piece here (frosting side down) and gently press it to stick into place.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the fondant around the brownie.
- Flip it over again and you will end up with smooth fondant covering.
- Brush a thin strip of corn syrup near the base of the triangle and toss some sparkling sugar.
- Use corn syrup to stick snowflake sprinkles on top of the sugar.
- Brush some corn syrup on the very top and stick a big round white sprinkle or sixlet candy here.
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 easy Christmas desserts
- Snowman Cookies (Snowman Oreos)
- Christmas Tree Cookies
- Jumbo Gingerbread Men Cookies
- Christmas Tree Cupcakes
- Penguin Cookies (With Nutter Butter)
Recipe
Easy Santa Hat Brownies
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Ingredients
- 1 box Brownie mix Family size
- 4 cups Red frosting
- 2 cups White American buttercream frosting
- 1 tablespoon White sprinkles Optional
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 red and white frostings.
- Use a sharp knife to cut square slices and then cut them further into triangle shapes.
- Fill a piping bag with red 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. Be sure to leave some space near the bottom and the very top.
- Fill another piping bag with white frosting and pipe stars along the empty space of the bottom of the brownie and a single star on the top.
- Optional step: Toss some white sprinkles on top of the white portions.
- Place these on a serving dish and 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 covered 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.
Belinda Chiu
Only you would take premade brownie mix and make them look so incredibly unique and fantastic!
Kayle
suuuuper cute, and brownies so yay! suuuuper yummy!
yummychunklet
Cute red hats!
Kristi
Those brownies saved the day! I ALWAYS run out of flour!! Or sugar. Haha!