Mimi's Organic Eats » Recipes » Christmas » Easy Christmas Present Brownies

Easy Christmas Present Brownies

High Altitude • Christmas | Published December 22, 2023 by Mimi Council

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These Easy Christmas Present Brownies are decorated without any artificial colors! With a hint of espresso, they will have you channeling your inter Santa Claus, as they keep you going while you deck the halls!

If you’re looking for more Christmas inspired desserts, check out some of my other favorites like my Vegan Christmas Tree Brownies, Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Bark, Christmas Lights Snack Cake, or my Holiday Sugar Cookies with Icing.

Why You'll Love This Recipe
Ingredients
Tools Needed
Step by Step Instructions
Baker's Tips
FAQ's
Craving More?

Celebrate festively with these Easy Christmas Present Brownies! Moist and fudgy brownies with a hint of espresso powder, everyone will love this rich chocolate brownie! I decorate them with a simple icing and naturally colored “ribbon” and “bow” using plant based dyes!

These simple Christmas treats are great for beginner decorators! Or if you're just like me, and don't want to spend a ton of time decorating! I list everything I use below so you can make organic brownies that you'll feel good about sharing with friends and family this holiday season!

Why You'll Love This Recipe

No Artificial Colors: When holidays come around, it can be challenging to be festive when you’re thinking of your health. While traditional holiday treats are loaded with artificial colors, these organic brownies are made without any artificial colors! I use Suncore Foods Organic Blue Dye in lieu of traditional food dye. And I use Unreal Snacks Milk Chocolate Gems in place of M&Ms!

Easy & Festive: I struggle every holiday with wanting to be festive and not wanting to spend time decorating something I’m just going to eat! Decorating doesn’t bring as much joy as baking and eating (for me), so I really like to keep my festive treats easy and minimal. And, these organic brownies are the perfect balance. They are incredibly cute and festive, and they are so easy to decorate. This would even be a great recipe to make with kids, as they are so easy that kids can make these!

Eggless: These Easy Christmas Present Brownies are naturally eggless! So, if you’re just using up eggs left and right or making brunch nonstop, don’t worry because you don’t need eggs for this recipe. And you don’t even miss them!

Ingredients

Canola Oil: I use organic canola oil because it's the most neutral flavored oil, perfect for brownies.
Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar.
Dutch Cocoa Powder: Organic Dutch cocoa powder is my favorite as it's rich and sweet.
Dark Chocolate: You can use organic dark chocolate chips or a chopped up chocolate bar, either work!
All Purpose Flour: I use Cairnspring Mills.
Espresso Powder: I add a little organic espresso powder for flavor. You can leave this out if you're baking these for kids.
Vanilla Bean: I use organic ground vanilla bean as I love the depth of flavor this has, especially with chocolate and espresso! If you don't have this, you can also use vanilla extract.
Baking Powder: I use baking powder, because these are made with Dutch cocoa powder. Fore more info on leavening agents, check out Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder.
Salt: Make sure to use a fine sea salt.
Powdered Sugar: I use organic powdered sugar.
Milk: You can use any kind of milk you like, cow's milk, coconut, oat, or almond all work.
Blue Dye: I use Suncore Foods Organic Blue Dye.
Chocolate Candy: I use Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems, which have no artificial colors!

Tools Needed

Scale: Make sure to use a digital food scale for the best results.
Mixer: You can use a hand mixer like I'm using here or a stand mixer, either works!
Baking Pan: I use a 9×9-inch baking pan. If you want to make a larger batch, you can double the recipe and use a 9×13-inch baking pan too.
Parchment Paper: I use parchment paper for ease. My favorite nontoxic parchment paper is Kana.
Piping Bags: You'll need a piping bag for piping the ribbon.
Decorating Tip: You can use Ateco tip #6 or you can just cut a small hole in the piping bag, either works.

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woman sharing cookies with pug in kitchen

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Step 2

To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer or even just a bowl with a whisk), add the canola oil, cane sugar, cocoa powder, and dark chocolate chips. Pour the boiling water directly on top of the chocolate chips and mix on low on until combined and the chocolate has completely melted and there are no chunks.

Add flour, espresso powder, vanilla bean, baking powder, and sea salt in that order. Mix on low until combined, do not over mix. Transfer to the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Step 3

Bake for Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to completely in the baking pan.

Step 4

To make the white icing: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the powdered sugar and milk. Whisk on low until combined into a smooth icing.

Spread the white icing over the top of the brownies. Place the brownie tray in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes to set the icing.

Step 4

To make the blue icing: In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar, water, and blue dye and whisk together. Transfer to a piping bag with Ateco tip #6.

Remove brownies from the freezer and cut into 16 squares (4 x 4).

Step 5

Pipe a cross onto the top of each brownie. You can do this so the “ribbon” of icing crosses in the middle or some on the side (see my photos as I did both!).

Place chocolate gems in the shape of a bow in the center of each ribbon cross.

Baker's Tips

I use dark chocolate chips in this recipe, but if you want to chop a chocolate bar, you can do that as well! You can even use milk chocolate if you prefer.
Once the boiling water is added to the chocolate, it’s time to work quickly. This will melt the chocolate chips and once they are melted you should immediately add in the dry ingredients. The water will begin to cool as soon as it’s added, making the batter stiffer. This is why it’s important to work quickly and don’t leave these brownies at this stage as it will just be more difficult to spread them out into the pan.
If you want to omit the espresso powder, you can definitely do that. I would suggest doing this if you are baking these with or for kids. I wouldn’t want to give kids under my watch espresso, haha!
If you don’t have parchment paper or don’t want to use it, be sure to grease the pan well! You can do this with a little canola oil or canola oil spray.
If you are omitting espresso powder for kids, you can add a little peppermint extract to the white icing for a mint chocolate brownie. If you’d like to do that, add ½ teaspoon to the white icing and you’ll have a festive minty brownie that both kids and adults will love!
I used milk in the icing, but if you want to omit dairy you can use water, coconut milk, or any other nondairy milk of your choice! That would also make these brownies vegan as well if you changed the milk. You’d just have to use a vegan candy for the bow, like Unreal Dark Chocolate Quinoa Gems.
I chose to use blue dye for the ribbon, but you can pick any color you want! Same goes for the bow on top, I chose blue and green milk chocolate gems, but you can use any color you like.

FAQ's

Can I make these gluten free?

Yes! If you want to make these gluten free, I provide a simple gluten free flour substitute at the bottom of the recipe in the Notes section.

Can I make these vegan?

Yes! If you want to make these vegan, replace the milk in the icing with coconut milk or water. And you’ll need to replace the Unreal Milk Chocolate Gems with a vegan option. You can use Unreal Dark Chocolate Quinoa Gems.

Can I make different colored presents?

Yes, you can switch up the colors to whatever you like. You can even color the white frosting if you want a colored “wrapping paper” below. You can change the color of the ribbon and use different color candies.

Can I make these ahead of time?

Yes! You can make the brownies ahead of time and then just decorate them the following day! To do this, just bake the brownies and then make the white icing and cover the brownies. The white icing will seal in the brownies in the pan, so they won’t dry out. Then the following day you can pop them out, cut them, and decorate!

How should I store brownies?

These brownies are soft and chewy, so they need to be stored in an airtight container, so they don’t dry out. I prefer to do this in a Tupperware or cake dome as these are truly airtight. If you don’t have either of those, a zip bag is the next best option. And then plastic wrap.