Sometimes all it takes is a little touch to make a pan of ordinary, albeit chocolatey and addictive brownies something special for a holiday. Who can resist brownies, of all things? Their deep, dark interior is topped with a sweet glaze and then, (horrors!) a ghostly pretzel face. Pick up the yogurt dipped mini pretzels in your bulk food aisle, and you'll have a class Halloween treat wrapped up in no time.
Ingredients:
4 squares Baker's unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup white chocolate chips
24 yogurt covered pretzels
48 mini M&Ms
Pre-heat your oven to 350 F and line a 9x13 inch pan with either parchment paper or some foil, lightly greased with a bit of butter. Leave a little overhang when you line the pan, as it will make it really easy to use that part as handles when you remove the brownies to slice. Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium sized saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat. Add sugar and stir until well blended. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, until mixture is glossy-add the vanilla and stir well. Fold in flour and nuts. Spread batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top so it’s nice and even.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Be careful not to over bake! Cool the brownies completely before you glaze and decorate them.
Chocolate Glaze and Decorating: Melt 4 squares of semi-sweet chocolate with 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp water over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Pour over brownies and smooth the top so it’s even. It will be a little runny, but don’t worry, the glaze will set up nicely. Some of it will run to the edges, but I always move it back to the center so the glaze is more evenly spread. Allow the brownies to sit for about 15 minutes, then place the pretzels on, upside down, in rows-I do four across and six down, so that each brownie slice will have a ghoulish face on it. The back side of the pretzels are less perfect looking, which makes better ghost-like faces. Gently set the eyes in the holes of the pretzel. This is a bit tricky, but looks amazing! When you are finished, give the brownies few hours to set up completely.
To slice, lift the brownies from the pan and set on a large cutting board. If you use a knife dipped in hot water, it makes a nicer cut. Cut the brownies so that each piece has a ghoulish face on it, and serve!
Store in a sealed container for about 2 days on the counter or freeze the brownies without glaze and undecorated, for up to 2 weeks. You can make the brownies ahead and then take the pan from the freezer, thaw and then glaze/decorate them when needed.
Makes 24 brownies
Adapted from Baker’s One Bowl Brownies
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