Brownie Bon Bons ~ Valentines Day Recipe

Brownie Bon Bons ~ Valentines Day Recipe by Tiffany

Your loved ones will ooh and aah over these decadent little brownie bon bons and think you spent all day slavin’ over them. I pictured these on my Valentines Day menu and just had to share them with y’all. I almost wasn’t able to do a photo shoot, because certain big and little people in my house kept snatching one or two every time they walked by. “Oh, just one more!” They’d say. Finally, I had to put the smack down on them… not really. I just talk a big game. 🙂 Especially since I was the one doing some, if not most, of the snatching. I couldn’t put the smack down on myself… that. just. wouldn’t. be. right.;) The chocolatey, chewy, moist mini brownie has a chocolate ganache filling topped with a plump maraschino cherry and drizzled with white chocolate. Mmmm mmm mmm! Enjoy.

Yields 48

*See Notes*

Ingredients For Mini Brownie

• 2 cups evaporated cane juice organic sugar or white sugar
• 3/4 cups unsalted butter, room temp.
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons Bordeaux maraschino cherry juice
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Ingredients For Chocolate Ganache Filling

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping

• 2 jars (13.5oz. each) Bordeaux Maraschino Cherries, reserve 2 teaspoons of juice
• 1 cup white chocolate chips, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. confection setting.
2. Spray 2 (1 3/4 x 1 inch each) mini muffin pans with non stick cooking spray; set aside.
3. In a standing mixer, beat sugar, butter, vanilla and maraschino juice until light and fluffy. (approx. 10 min.) Scrape down sides of bowl if needed.
4. Next beat in eggs scraping down sides of mixing bowl if needed.
5. In a medium bowl, combine flour and cocoa; whisk.
6. Slowly stir in flour/cocoa mixture to creamed mixture.
7. Fill each greased muffin cup approx. 2/3 full with batter.
8. Bake in preheated 350 degree F. oven for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. (Do not over bake.)
9. Remove brownies from oven and let cool slightly in muffin pans; loosen edges of brownies with a knife. Remove brownies from pan and put onto a cooling rack. Make a 1/2 inch indention in the center of each brownie while they’re still warm. Let cool completely.
10. Time to make the ganache: In a heavy duty sauce pan, heat heavy cream over medium heat until it reaches a boil. Remove from heat and add semi-sweet chocolate chips; stirring continually until chips have melted. Stir in vanilla. Allow the ganache to slightly cool before filling brownies. (Approx. 5-8 minutes)
11. While ganache is cooling, remove cherries from jar. Place cherries on a paper towel to dry. Remove stems from cherries.
12. Once ganache has cooled, fill each brownie with ganache. Gently place a cherry in the middle of ganache filling. Don’t worry if ganache drizzles off the sides. It will set up when it cools completely.
13. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler. Drizzle white chocolate over the tops of each brownie. Let chocolate set, serve or package up for gifts. Store at room temp.

Notes:

The organic sugar I used can be replaced with regular white sugar. Use regular white sugar as a 1-for-1 replacement for the organic.

For a cute Valentine gift, packaged brownies in small festive cellophane bags.

For a more festive look for Valentines… Use RED maraschino cherries that are dyed. I used no preservatives, no artificial flavor cherries that have vegetable concentrates. My cherries were purple. You can’t really see them due to the color of the chocolate ganache. So if you don’t have diet restrictions using red dye, this will bring a more festive look to the brownie by using the red ones that contain red dye. 🙂

I let my brownies set over night, covered, before packaging them up to give as gifts. This allows the ganache filling to set completely.

I reckon you could use a box version for the brownies, but keep in mind it may yield more or less. You may have to adjust ganache filling and or the amount of cherries needed.

Original recipe by: Favorite Brand Name Best-Loved Chocolate Recipes for Brownie Bon Bons pg. 150

Adapted recipe/directions/photos by: Tiffany