Valentine’s Brownies with Buttercream Frosting & Heart Sprinkles

I am not a big baker.  I love to eat baked treats, but I prefer if someone else makes them for me :).

I like to cook and try new recipes, but it feels like there is more ‘flexibility’ when it comes to cooking.  When I decide to bake something, I worry that I am not going to measure out an ingredient properly and make a mess of the whole thing.

That is why this brownie recipe has become my go-to.  I made a Christmas version based on the original recipe I found online, and more recently tweaked the topings to make a Valentine’s version with little heart sprinkles.  Here it is… (PS.  It’s kind of cheating…slightly….just a little wee bit)!

Valentine’s Brownies with Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie Mix (see, just a little wee cheat!)
• 2/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 recipe Fluffy Peppermint Buttercream Frosting (see the recipe written separately below)
• heart sprinkles

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a mixing bowl combine brownie mix, melted butter, milk, eggs and peppermint extract.  Stir with a wooden spoon until combined.
• Pour mixture into a buttered 8 x 8-inch glass baking dish and bake in preheated oven 50 – 55 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely then frost with the buttercream frosting and sprinkle with heart sprinkles.

*(It will take several hours for the brownies to cool completely because they are thick.  I let mine cool overnight before applying the frosting the following day.)*

Buttercream Frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream (or half & half)
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter on medium-high speed until very pale and fluffy (about 6 minutes), occasionally scrapping down sides of the bowl.

Add in powdered sugar, heavy cream and peppermint extract then mix on low speed until combined, then increase mixer to medium-high speed and beat until very light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides and bottom of the bowl.

Notes: Experimenting with the extract flavours could be fun for Valentine’s Day treats. Maybe cinnamon instead of peppermint?  Also, some red food colouring could be added to the buttercream frosting to either make pink (less food colouring) or red (more food colouring) frosting!

Enjoy!