Red, White, and Blue Brownie Bites

This recipe is about as patriotic as you can get with a dessert! I’ve been trying lots of different dessert recipes with a red, white and blue theme but so far none have come out as good as this one. Remember our Easy Meringue Heart Cookies recipe? Well, I attempted to make a red, white and blue cookie out of that and my whole family thought I was trying to make it look like a dap of AquaFresh toothpaste! I can’t blame them. I did look like it. They still ate them up though because they still taste good. Talk about a fail.

Head over here instead if you want to see the beautiful Heart Meringue Cookies we made that turned out way better than the photo above.

This recipe will yield two dozen patriotic brownie bites:

INGREDIENTS FOR BROWNIES

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Hershey’s dark cocoa
3/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
6 Tablespoons butter
2 eggs at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS FOR BROWNIES

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line mini muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

2. In a small mixing bowl, add the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk to blend well and set side.

3. In a double boiler, melt the butter and mini chocolate chips until smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, sugar, extract and salt. Whisk together for 1 minute to incorporate.

5. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir well to combine.

6. Add the flour mixture and stir well until fully mixed.

7. Spoon the brownie batter into the muffin cups about 2/3 full. Do not fill up to the top since the batter expands when cooking.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

9. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to complete the cooling process.

INGREDIENTS TO DECORATE BROWNIES

24 maraschino cherries with stems

Betty Crocker vanilla cookie icing in a squeeze pouch just like this one seen here on Amazon.

1/4 cup Wilton Royal blue chocolate melts

1/4 cup Wilton light blue chocolate melts

Red, white and blue sprinkles

DIRECTIONS TO DECORATE BROWNIES

1. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper and set aside.

1. Pour the cherries into a strainer to remove excess juice. Transfer to a bowl and chill for 5 minutes (this will help the chocolate to harden almost immediately).

2. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the royal blue chocolate melts for 45 seconds. Stir until completely melted.

3. Dip 12 of the chilled cherries into the melted chocolate and immediately sprinkle with the red, white and blue jimmies after each dip. Place on the cookie sheet to harden.

4. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the light blue chocolate melts for 45 seconds. Stir until completely melted.

5. Dip the remaining cherries into the melted light blue chocolate and immediately sprinkle with the red, white and blue nonpareil’s. Place on the cookie sheet to harden for 5 minutes.

6. Once the chocolate on the cherries have hardened, pipe about 1/2 tablespoon of cookie icing on top of each brownie bite. Place the decorated cherries on top of the icing.

7. Let the cookie icing harden for about 10 minutes.

8. ENJOY!!