Deep, Dark Chocolate Truffle Brownie Bites: Foodie Gift #10

It is only fair to warn you that if you give these as gifts or take these to cookie exchanges that you will most likely be expected to repeat the performance every year thereafter. I’ve been making these for a couple years now. I have a friend, who shall remain unnamed, who hosted a cookie swap last year. While dividing all the goodies up among plates for the friends and neighbors in attendance she slipped a few from other people’s plates onto her own accidentally-on-purpose. She suggested that I tempted her into the behavior by bringing these. Hmm. Maybe you shouldn’t make these for people. It turns them into animals.

If you do decide to take your friends morality and trustworthiness into your own hands, you’ll please all your serious chocolate lovers with the Deep, Dark Chocolate Truffle Brownie Bites. You can make the truffle filling as decadent as you wish. For the batch in these photos, I used 60% Cacao dark chocolate. If your tastes range more toward the semi-sweet variety, feel free to use that! Since we all know that one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations is orange and chocolate, I garnished my little beauties with fresh orange zest. Of course, the possibilities for garnish are nearly endless; fresh raspberries, maraschino cherries, a whole toasted hazelnut, slivered almonds, etc… Go wild. Go crazy. Have fun. And when you’ve locked yourself in the bathroom to sneak-eat the last one without the kids noticing I promise I won’t judge.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Truffle Brownie Bites:  Foodie Gift #10

Truffle Brownie Bites

(Recipe was received years ago at a Pampered Chef party)

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray with flour
• 1 2/3 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, divided
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup heavy (whipping cream)

Garnish (orange zest, maraschino cherries, chopped toasted nuts, etc…)

Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray mini-muffin pans with non-stick cooking spray.

Place 2/3 of a cup of chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe mixing bowl. Microwave on high for 60 seconds. Stir and microwave again for 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is smooth. Add sugar and egg and mix well.

Add flour to chocolate mixture and stir just until blended.

Use two teaspoons (or a small cookie scoop) to divide the batter evenly between 24 mini muffin wells. Gently press batter down until level. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set up. Take care not to overbake.

While brownies are baking, pour cream into another clean microwave safe container and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes or until cream is hot. Put remaining chocolate chips in a medium size mixing bowl. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and whisk until smooth. Place bowl in the freezer for 10-12 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until ganache starts to thicken. Spoon ganache into a zipper plastic bag.

Remove brownie pan from oven. Cool for 2 minutes. Press tops of brownies down (with a tart shaper if available, or the back of a spoon if necessary) Cool in pan 3 more minutes. Carefully remove the brownies to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely to room temperature.

Snip the tip of a corner of the bag full of ganache. Squeeze the bag to pipe the ganache into the wells of the brownies and garnish as desired.