Peppermint Brownie Bites are chewy brownies with a mini peppermint patty inside, frosted with a peppermint buttercream. By using a boxed brownie mix, mini peppermint patties, and a semi-homemade frosting, you’ll have a super easy and festive bite size dessert for the holidays that’s ready in about an hour! Similar to my Frosted Peanut Butter Cookie Cups, I betcha can’t eat just one!
I absolutely love bite size desserts, don’t you?
And I really think they’re awesome during the holidays.
Because it means that I get to try a little bit of everything for dessert.
Let’s face it, at this time of year the food can be pretty gosh darn incredible.
With a boxed brownie mix, mini peppermint patties, some semi-homemade frosting, and crushed candy cane, you can have a pretty spectacular dessert that will look like you went to a lot of trouble and will definitely impress friends and family.
They’ll think you slaved in the kitchen, but you’re secret’s safe with me!
SAVE THIS PEPPERMINT SURPRISE BROWNIE BITES RECIPE TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!
I knew I had to make these Peppermint Brownie Bites this year because I LOVE hiding surprises in my desserts.
I think it just makes them that much better, and I love to see the reaction on people’s faces when they bite into one, like these Salted Caramel Cashew Brownie Bites or my TWIX Bites Brownies. YUM!
They’ve become a favorite of my followers, as are these Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecakes.
When Easter rolls around, be sure to add these Easter Egg Hunt Surprise Cookies to your menu.
Everyone will love those, too!
Of course, cookies can be considered to be bite sized, too!
Yes, you may take a few bites of one cookies, but they’re certainly worth it.
Some of my favorites this time of year are these Double Chocolate Peppermint Kisses, Peppermint Blossom Cookies, Viennese Crescents, Cream Cheese Cookies.
Use cookie cutters with these Vanilla Sugar Cookies, and then the whole family can have fun decorating them.
You can even cut these butterscotch chocolate chip brownies, chocolate overload loaded brownies, and hot chocolate brownies into smaller pieces to make them bite size.
But why would you want to? HA! 😉
Though you might not be able to eat any of my Dream Bar recipes in one bite, you’ll love them so much that you wouldn’t want to stop at just one.
This time of year, my Peppermint Dream Dessert and Cranberry Orange Dream Bars, and Red Velvet Cherry Dream Bars are super popular because they’re filled with the flavors of the season.
However, any one of my other Dream Bar recipes will be a hit as well, especially since practically all of them are NO BAKE!
The most popular are the Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars, but the Easy Turtle Dream Bars, and Chocolate Mint Dream Bars give them some stiff competition.
You really can’t go wrong with any of them and they are so easy to make, so I strongly encourage you to give them a try if you haven’t already done so.
Tips for making this easy brownie dessert –
- If you prefer to make this entire recipe from scratch, then by all means do so!
You can use your favorite brownie recipe, and favorite frosting mix, like this chocolate buttercream.
And yes, you can use chocolate frosting. I think that would be delicious as well as a vanilla. - You can also use a canister of pre-made frosting to make things even easier!
Plus, you’ll have even less to clean up if you do it that way.
If you prefer not to use a buttercream frosting, this stabilized whipped cream with the peppermint extract would be delicious, too! - This recipe makes 36 brownie bites, so you will have to reuse the pan after you bake the first batch for the additional 12.
I like to evenly distribute the batter when baking the second batch, but I don’t think it makes a difference whether the cups are filled close together or not. - No need to freeze the peppermint patties before placing them into the brownies.
Because they’re pretty solid, I didn’t have a problem with them melting. The chocolate covering softened a little while after they were inserted, but hardened again after they cooled. - As with most anything baked, you want to make sure they’re completely cooled before you frost them.
- I used a large open star tip, like the Wilton #21.
Place the tip into a piping bag, fill the bag, and away you go! - Add some color and a little crunch to your dessert, but finishing each of them off with a bit of crushed candy cane.
If you don’t have candy canes, some brightly colored sprinkles in red and green will be just as pretty.
Peppermint Brownie Bites {Surprise Inside}
Equipment
- medium mixing bowl
- rubber spatula
- 24-cup mini muffin pan
- cooling rack
- Mixer
- piping bag and piping tip
Ingredients
Brownies
- 18.3 ounces boxed brownie mix
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 36 mini peppermint patties
Frosting
- 8 ounces vanilla buttercream frosting mix can also use chocolate
- ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 8 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- 1 candy cane crushed
Instructions
Brownies
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and prepare the 24-cup mini muffin tin by spraying each cup with cooking spray or a floured baking spray.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the brownie mix, water, eggs and vegetable oil. Stir until thoroughly mixed and fill muffin cups so that they are 3/4's full with batter. There will be batter left for an additional 12 brownies.
- Bake for 18 minutes.
- Upon removing from the oven, place a mini peppermint patty into the center of each brownie. Allow to cool for about two minutes in the muffin tin. Transfer brownies to a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting.
- Do the same with remaining brownie batter.
Frosting - (follow if using a boxed frosting mix)
- Pour the frosting mix into a mixing bowl, and add the peppermint extract, butter, and milk. Mix until fully incorporated then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix on high for at least 3 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.
- Place frosting into a piping bag, attached with the decorating tip of your choice (I used the Wilton Large Open Star Tip #21), and frost the brownies.
- Sprinkle each brownie with some of the crushed candy cane.
Comments & Reviews
Taste is good but don’t keep shape well. Won’t make again.
Pamela, I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you and I’m surprised they didn’t hold up. Perhaps they were too warm when you removed them from the pan?
Taste was great, but they did NOT come out of the pan easily. I used a non-stick pan AND I sprayed as directed. Useless. Use a mini liner and then maybe they won’t stick.
Stephanie, I’m sorry that happened. I sprayed the pan and before I removed them ran a knife around the edges to help remove them just in case.
Thanks for the feedback.
Made it for Xmas with my grandson and it was a hit. Nothing left.
April, that makes me so happy. Thank you!