Peppermint Bark Brownie Bites

PEPPERMINT BARK BROWNIE BITES

12/16/2016

Okay guys. I'm going to just make a public service announcement now. It's for your own good...

These Peppermint Bark Brownie Bites should come with a warning label! Bite-sized rich and chewy dark chocolate brownies are filled with dark chocolate peppermint bark and sprinkled with holiday sprinkles for fun!

I have never had such a runaway hit on Christmas treats!

Peppermint Bark Brownie Bites

FOUR EASY STEPS TO MAKING PEPPERMINT BARK BROWNIE BELLS:

So dang easy to make...but there is a catch! Step by step, these couldn't be easier! Mini muffin pan - fill up halfway with the most delectible dark chocolate brownie batter ever. Bake for 10 minutes - that's all! Insert a Limited Edition Hershey's Peppermint Bark Bell. Wait 5 minutes for the candy to melt, and sprinkle with some holiday sprinkles.

So the catch? Trying to find these Limited Edition Hershey's Peppermint Bark Bells! At the beginning of the Christmas food shopping season (yeah, I think that started sometime in September...) these candies were plentiful (I'm sure).

The week before Christmas? Not so much! And after I made the first batch of these and they disappeared in like 20 minutes, I knew I'd need more...a lot more!

So I trundled off to fight the holiday shopping crowd at Target, and you can only imagine the terror I felt when I rounded the corner of the Christmas candy aisle and it.was.completely.empty. Like NOTHING was in the aisle - not even a piece of paper!

I moved over to the next aisle, and discovered the most beautiful aisle of fully stocked Valentine candy you ever did see! And on the back wall (my last resort) - stocked with the first batch of EASTER CANDY!

I was pretty sure that was it...no more Peppermint Bark Brownie Bites for my gang, and certainly none for this Christmas season. But when I was walking thru the register lane, my favorite little shopping buddy happened to notice that someone had put three bags of these treats on the bottom shelf. I'm pretty sure they were the last three bags in the country - and I didn't even feel guilty about snatching them up!

So, you can look at these photos, and you can imagine just how wonderful these are! But you'll probably have to wait until next Christmas season to make them!

My apologies...sort of!

Peppermint Bark Brownie Bites

PEPPERMINT BARK BROWNIE BITES

These may be one of the most popular Christmas cookies I’ve ever made! They were a runaway hit this year on the Christmas cookie trays – and I lost track of how many batches I made!!

Peppermint Bark Brownie Bites

INGREDIENTS:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened dark chocolate (good quality - I use Ghirardelli)
1 ounce semisweet chocolate (good quality - I use Ghirardelli)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
24 Hershey’s Peppermint Bark Bells (unwrapped)
Christmas Sprinkles (optional)

HOW I MAKE THESE:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray or smear with butter; set aside.
In a double boiler, melt butter, dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate over simmering water. Stir frequently, being careful not to burn. Remove from heat as soon as it is melted and stir in sugar just until blended. Let cool until just warm and no longer hot.
Beat egg and vanilla into chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.
In a small bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. Add to chocolate mixture and stir just until combined.
Spoon batter into each muffin cup – enough to fill each cup half way.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the middle is almost set but still moist.
Remove from oven and immediately place an unwrapped Hershey Peppermint Bark Bell in the middle, pressing so that the top of the candy is almost flush with the top of the brownie. The candy will melt as it sits. Sprinkle with holiday sprinkles if you want a little something special!
Cool until Hershey Peppermint Bark Bell is set and firm before removing from the muffin pan. Don’t rush this – or you will have a melty mess on your hands!
Store in airtight container with parchment paper between layers, in a cool location.

YIELD: Makes 24 cookies

Originally published December 2016; revised and re posted December 2021.

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