These adorable heart shaped brownies are the perfect sweet, chocolatey treat for Valentine’s Day! They are easy to make with simple ingredients. Cut them out with heart-shaped cookie cutters and enjoy as is or decorate with mocha buttercream, spinkles or M&Ms!
Making heart-shaped brownies is easy and fun! Bake them, let them cool, and use a cookie cutter. Done. Enjoy them as is or decorate them with frosting. They’re cute and yummy any way you make them!
Bonus: Not only do you get the cutest Valentine’s day brownies, you also get to snack on all the leftover brownie pieces! After cutting out the hearts, enjoy the leftovers as is or roll them into little brownie balls.
For more decadent brownie recipes, try my nutella chocolate brownies, homemade red velvet brownies, and chocolate peanut butter brownies.
Jump to:
Why We Love This Recipe
- You can make these heart shape browneis for any occasion. They are perfect for Valentine’s day just like my cupcakes with hearts and heart cake.
- They’re super rich and fudgy! They’re a chocolate lover’s dream just like my decadent chocolate fudge cupcakes.
- These brownies are made with brown butter. You mainly taste the chocolate, but brown butter adds a delicious depth of flavor. If you’re a big fan of brown butter, try my browned butter cupcakes!
- The brownies are topped with the most delicious mocha buttercream frosting. If you love coffee and chocolate together, you’ll love these brownies!
Ingredients
- Chocolate: Use dark or unsweetened baking chocolate. You can find it in the baking aisle. Chop chocolate finely so that it melts in the butter.
- Granulated sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the brownies and makes them extra moist.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter. The butter will be melted then browned. Browning the butter only takes 10 extra minutes. You won’t exactly taste the brown butter since the brownies are so chocolatey, but it adds a depth of flavor and enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Brown sugar: Use light or dark brown sugar. Brown sugar makes these brownies extra fudgy and chewy. Make sure the brown sugar is fresh.
- Eggs: You will need 3 large, room temperature eggs.
- Cocoa powder: I recommend Dutch processed cocoa powder for the frosting.
- Espresso powder: Espresso powder adds the perfect hint of coffee flavor the the frosting. You can find it in the baking aisle of most grocery stores. You can also use espresso powder when you make my chocolate flourless cake! Add 1-2 teaspoons to the batter.
- Decorating: For an optional decoration, dust the frosted brownies with a mix of espresso powder and cocoa powder, freeze dried raspberry or strawberry powder, or powdered sugar.
Please see recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
- Instead of browning the butter, you can melt it on the stovetop or in the microwave.
- Top brownies with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Sea salt enhances the chocolate flavor!
- Instead of espresso powder, you can use 1 tablespoon of room temperature strong coffee or espresso in place of cream.
- If you don’t want a slight coffee flavor to the buttercream, leave out the espresso powder. I recommend adding an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract. You could also frost the brownies with the Nutella cream cheese frosting I use to top my Nutella rolls!
Instructions
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Step 1 (Photo 1 above): Melt butter over low heat. Stir often for about 10 minutes. When the butter becomes golden brown, remove from heat. Whisk in the chopped chocolate, sugars and eggs one at a time.
Step 2 (Photo 2 above): Stir the salt and flour. Pour batter into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 325 F for 19-21 minutes. Set the pan on a rack. Allow brownies to cool completely in the pan.
Step 3 (Photo 3 above): Once the brownies have cooled, run a knife along the edge of the pan to unstick the brownies. Lift the brownies from the pan using the parchment paper overhang.
Step 4 (Photo 4 above): Use any size heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out the brownies. Cut out as many heart brownies as possible.
Step 5 (Photo 5 above): In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the sifted dry ingredients. Mix in the vanilla extract and heavy cream. Beat til creamy and combined.
Step 6 (Photo 6 above): Pipe or spread mocha frosting on the hearts. For piping, use an open star tip.
Recipe FAQs
Use your favorite cookie cutter(s) to cut the hearts out. Use the same size or different size heart cookie cutters.
You’ll have some brownie scraps leftover after cutting out the heart shapes. They are yummy to snack on. You can also roll them into brownie balls.
Store brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They are best served at room temperature. To freeze unfrosted brownies, place cut brownies in an airtight container or freezer bag with parchment between layers. Freeze up to 3 months.
Expert Tips
- It’s important to let brownies cool completely before cutting them. If you cut them before they’re cool, they’ll fall apart.
- Use any size heart cookie cutter. Make sure it’s as thick or thicker than the brownies. Cut brownies all the same size or cut them different sizes.
- I use a Wilton 1M open star tip. Other open star tips work well too. You can also frost the brownies using an offset spatula.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Did you try this recipe or any other recipe on my website? Please leave a 🌟 star rating and 📝 comment below.
Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Heart Shaped Brownies
Equipment
- 1 M Piping Tip or another open star piping tip
Ingredients
Brownies
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter
- 3 ounces (85 g) unsweetened chocolate finely chopped
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup (93 g) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Mocha Buttercream Frosting (optional)
- 5½ tablespoons (77 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1⅓ cups (160 g) powdered sugar sifted, plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon (5 g) Dutch processed cocoa powder sifted, plus more for dusting
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder optional
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ tablespoon heavy cream optional, swap in milk or leave it out
- freeze dried raspberry powder or strawberry powder optional, for dusting
Instructions
Brownies
- Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper leaving enough to hang from the sides. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Finely chop the chocolate. Set aside.
- You can make these brownies with melted butter or brown butter. To melt the butter: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat.To brown the butter: Melt the butter in a medium, light-colored saucepan over low heat. Once melted, stir frequently while it foams and bubbles and deepens in color. Once the butter smells nutty and the bits on the bottom are medium brown, remove from the heat.
- Stir the chocolate into the brown butter until the chocolate has melted. Whisk in the sugars. Whisk in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla. Use a spatula to stir the salt and flour into the chocolate mixture. Stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean with only a few crumbs when inserted in the middle of the bownies. Place pan on a wire rack and allow brownies to cool completely in the pan.
- Once the brownies have cooled, run a knife along the edge of the pan to unstick the brownies. Gently lift the brownies from the pan using the parchment paper overhang. Use any size heart shaped cookie cutter. Be sure the cookie cutter is at least as thick as the brownies. Cut out as many hearts as possible. Carefully press the brownies out of the cookie cutter.
- Pipe or spread mocha frosting on the hearts. For piping, use an open star tip.
Mocha Buttercream Frosting (optional)
- Sift the cocoa powder, espresso powder and powdered sugar through a sieve over a bowl. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the room temperature butter on medium speed until creamy, about 4 minutes.
- Slowly beat in the powdered sugar mixture. Mix in the vanilla extract and heavy cream. Beat til creamy and combined.
- Add extra powdered sugar if frosting is too thin. Add a little extra heavy cream if the frosting seems to thick.
- For an optional decoration, dust the frosted brownies with a mix of espresso powder and cocoa powder, freeze dried raspberry or strawberry powder, or powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Giuseppe
this is so delicious. Melts in the mouth.
I have to tell you ……………. Don’t bake this if you don’t have self control 🙂
Natalie
Hi Giuseppe, So happy you loved these brownies!! Thanks for your comment!
Cristina
The brownies are delicious, very moist and testy!
Natalie
Hi Cristina! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m so happy you enjoyed these brownies 🙂
Aubrey
Ok, these little delights should have a warning! They are so good, I wanted all of them!!
Natalie
Hahaha thanks Aubrey! Glad you found these brownies so irresistible!