From the Recipe Box: Chocolate Covered Brownie Bites

Everything doesn’t always run smoothly in my kitchen. In fact, some days things can get quite frantic. When this happens, family members retreat to the far corners of the house; as far away from the kitchen as possible.  Take for example this past Sunday, I promised to make desserts for my son’s lacrosse party. I should have made them Saturday, but we were gone all day at the Soap Box Derby. I confess, I started a little late in the day and decided to try a new recipe. I think that was my first mistake.

Word to the Wise: Don’t try a new recipe two hours before having to show up at an event with a dessert especially when it involves multiple steps. Don’t get me wrong, this recipe wasn’t difficult. It just requires a bit of time; something I did not have much of that particular day.

I baked cookies and then I decided to make chocolate covered brownie bites.  The recipe wasn’t difficult at all; it used a boxed brownie mix.  I thought it was going to be a “piece of cake” – my second mistake.  I baked the brownies, being very careful not to over-bake them. You need to be able to roll the brownies into balls. I considered making brownie pops out of them, but at least I was smart enough to know I didn’t have enough time to do all that.

I melted the chocolate while the brownies were cooling. Then I poured the sauce over the brownies and let it drip just a bit before putting on the baking sheet to “set”. This is where I ran into trouble. Obviously this chocolate requires a slow drying process, not something I had anticipated. I even put them in the freezer while I dashed off to get ready for the party. About 20 minutes later, the milk chocolate coating had not quite set and they were still quite sticky.  I was out of time, so I peeled the brownie bites from the baking sheets and squeezed them into the mini sized muffin liners and off I went.

And as you would guess, everything worked out alright. The chocolate brownie bites were dense in the middle and the chocolate coating was quite delicious. I am sure I was the only person less than satisfied. The next morning I decided to have a brownie bite with my coffee. I opened the cookie container and picked up a brownie bite and they were perfectly “set”.  Lesson learned:  Some things just can’t be rushed.

I used milk chocolate for the coating since my son does not appreciate the delicious attributes of a darker chocolate. At times, I do cater to his preferences especially when I am making them for his friends. This recipe is adapted from a Pillsbury on-line recipe. Click here to check out some of their other recipes.

Ingredients:

2 boxes Pillsbury® Classic Brownie Regular boxed mix (19.5 ounce box)
8 – 10 ounces milk chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare and bake 2 boxes of brownie mix according to package directions. Put the batter from both boxes into one greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes. Do not over-bake these brownies; you want them slightly under-baked. While still warm, cut away the edge pieces and cut cooked brownie into pieces. Roll into balls and set aside to let cool. Melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk in heavy saucepan over low heat. Add the vanilla and butter; mix well. Dip each brownie ball using fork or spoon into warm chocolate; let excess drip off. Place on wax paper-lined cookie sheet. If the chocolate in the saucepan starts to cool and thicken, put back on the stove top to warm gently. Decorate the tops of brownie balls with sprinkles. Let stand until chocolate has set. Several hours is necessary; overnight is recommended.

Kitchenarian Notes:  When I made these, it made 35 brownie bites. You could actually make them smaller and get more bites if you prefer.  Some of mine were rather large.