Heart Shaped Brownies

Just in time for Valentine’s Day: Heart Shaped Brownies! Fudgy, extra chocolatey brownies filled with cream cheese icing. The perfect way to show your love any day of the year!

ABOUT THESE BROWNIES

• They’re PERFECT for Valentine’s Day: The heart shapes, pink strawberry icing, and sprinkles make them so festive!
• They’re SUPER chocolatey: Cocoa, melted chocolate and chocolate chips.
• They’re easy to make:  This recipe is completely homemade yet super simple. You could easily whip them up any day of the week!
• They’re THICK:  These are thick, slightly chewy brownies that you’ll just want to sink you teeth into!

EASY BROWNIE RECIPE

I love this easy recipe! To make it even easier, you can melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop instead of browning it.

To make heart brownies easier still, you can use a store bought brownie mix!

HOW TO MAKE THESE VALENTINE’S DAY BROWNIES

1. Bake the brownies. Allow them to cool.
2. Make the frosting.
3. Cut out the brownies.
4. Cut them in half.
5. Pipe or spread icing on the bottom brownie.
6. Use a smaller heart shaped cookie cutter to cut a heart out of the top heart, if desired.
7. Place top heart half on top.
8. Sprinkle sprinkles on top!

WHICH COOKIE CUTTER TO USE?

Use your favorite cookie cutter(s) to cut the hearts out. Use the same size or different size heart cookie cutters.

HOW TO CUT OUT THE HEART SHAPES?

• Leave the brownies as is: They are cute and perfect just cut into a heart. Frost the heart, drizzle caramel or ganache on top or sprinkle with powdered sugar or cocoa powder.
• Cut the hearts in half: Cut them in half and frost the bottom half. Place the top half on top and enjoy it like a brownie sandwich!
• Cut the hearts in the middle: For the “fanciest” option, cut your hearts in half as described above. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut a smaller heart out of the top half. Frost the bottom half and carefully place the top half on top.

WHAT SIZE PAN SHOULD I USE?

FOR THICK BROWNIES

I used my 9 by 9 inch pan which makes THICK brownies! This is part of what makes these so delicious, but it might take you a little longer to cut the hearts out.

My brownies were thicker than my cookie cutter! This worked fine but just meant I needed to gently push down on the tops of the brownies to get them out.

FOR THINNER BROWNIES

For thinner brownies, you can bake them in a 9 by 13 inch pan. I have included baking temperatures and times for whichever pan you decide to bake them in.

HOW TO MAKE THE CREAM CHEESE ICING

1. USE ROOM TEMPERATURE INGREDIENTS: It’s essential to use room temperature cream cheese and butter. I recommend taking these ingredients out for at least an hour before making the icing.
2. SIFT THE POWDERED SUGAR: Even though it’s going to go into a mixer, I highly recommend sifting it first. It only takes a minute and makes sure you don’t have any little bumps of powdered sugar in your icing.
3. SCRAPE DOWN THE SIDES OF THE BOWL: I do this with any icing I make, but it’s especially helpful with this recipe to make sure the flavors are combined and that the brown sugar has dissolved.

HOW TO COLOR THE ICING

1. RED FOOD COLORING: Use the food coloring sparingly until you achieve the color you like. You can make more than one shade of pink by spooning some of the icing into smaller bowls and adding more or less food coloring to each bowl. Light pink, pink, hot pink and red are all fun colors!
2. STRAWBERRY JUICE: For a more muted, natural pink color, use a few drops of strawberry juice. I thawed a couple of frozen strawberries and used the juice from the bowl to color and slightly flavor the icing.
3. LEAVE THE ICING WHITE: Leaving the icing white can be pretty too especially if you add sprinkles on top!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

These Heart Shaped Brownies are perfectly delicious and sweet tasting AND looking! They’re super fun to make and everyone will love these moist, fudgy treats!

Heart Shaped Brownies

• Author: Natalie
• Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
• Yield: About 9– 12 brownies 1x
• Category: Brownies
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

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Description

Make these Heart Shaped Brownies for a simple Valentine’s Day treat! They are a delicious dessert for Valentine’s Day or anytime of the year!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

FOR THE BROWN BUTTER BROWNIES

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Dutch process or unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (leave it at room temperature for at least an hour before making)
• 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted, plus more if needed
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or strawberry juice (from 1–2 frozen, thawed strawberries)
• red food coloring (optional)

FOR DECORATION

• sprinkles, optional
• powdered sugar, for sprinkling
• cocoa powder, for sprinkling

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Instructions

FOR THE BROWN BUTTER BROWNIES

1. Line a 9 x 9 inch pan with parchment paper leaving enough to hang from the sides. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. (For thinner brownies, use a 9 x 13 inch pan and preheat oven to 350 F. 
2. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized mixing bowl.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Use a light colored pan if possible as this will help you better notice the butter change color. Stir it constantly. It will start to foam. Continue stirring as you watch for it to turn to a light, amber color then a medium brown and develop a nutty smell which should happen in about five minutes. Pour the brown butter over the chopped chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted completely. Allow to cool slightly.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the sugars, eggs and vanilla on high speed until mixture has thickened and lightened in color, about 3-4 minutes .
6. With the mixer on low, slowly stream in the slightly cooled chocolate and brown butter mixture.
7. Stir in the dry ingredients til just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
8. Pour the brownie batter into the pan and use a spatula or offset spatula to evenly spread out the brownies and smooth out the top. For brownies in a 9 x 9 inch pan, bake at 325 for 40- 50 minutes until a toothpick when inserted in the center comes out clean and with only a few crumbs. For brownies baked in a 9 x 13 inch pan, bake at 350 for 26 to 30 minutes. Keep in mind the brownies will continue to cook slightly when out of the oven, so do not over bake them. Place pan on a wire rack and allow brownies to cool completely in the pan. 
9. Once cooled, lift up on the sides of the parchment paper to transfer brownies to a cutting board. Cut out the hearts. Leave hearts as is or to make a “heart sandwich,” ut the hearts in half using a long, sharp knife. Pipe or spread frosting on the bottom heart. If desired, use a smaller heart cookie cutter to cut a heart shape out of the top half. Place the heart outline on top of the frosted bottom half. Cover the frosting with sprinkles or leave as is!
10. Alternatively, you can cut out heart shapes and dust them with powdered sugar or drizzle them with chocolate ganache, dulce de leche or caramel sauce! 

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING

1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed for one minute until creamed and combined. Mix in the vanilla or strawberry juice then turn the mixer on low and gradually mix in the powdered sugar.

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Keywords: brownies, brown butter, browned butter, chocolate, chocolate chips, valentines day, icing, frosting, cream cheese