Mudslide Brownie Bites

(It’s near enough to Saint Patrick’s Day to post these right?)

I made these little nuggets of pure chocolate-y, sugar-y, liqueur-y bliss (the about me page doesn’t lie) for a friend.

(I swear guys, they were for a friend….)

Specifically a friend with whom I entered into the following agreement: he would share valuable SEO tips and tricks and teach me how to use google webmaster tools and I, in turn, would provide him payment in trade.  And thus these Mudslide Brownie Bites were created in The Gourmet Gourmand kitchen and immediately shipped to San Francisco, where all the techies grow.(Incidentally the SEO tips have been awesome and I’m seeing some search results growth already, so thanks Mike!  You’re the best!)

((And now my mission is to stop with the parenthesis for the rest of this blog post.))

Mudslide brownie bites are literally what you think they are- a brownie bite creation inspired by the sweet and boozy cocktail classic.  For anyone who has never had one, Mudslides are a cocktail made of Kahlua, Vodka, and Baileys Irish Cream.So basically it’s the best drink ever.  And every excellent cocktail really deserves to be made into a baked good, amirite guys?

Let’s talk brownie bites. I thought brownie bites were going to be no problem so I adapted my favorite brownie recipe for a mini muffin tin and popped them in the oven.  Sadly this turned into a disaster called they puffed up and then collapsed again and turned into these weird brownie bowls that were quite delicious, but just not at all what I was going for.   I puttered around the internet to try to figure out what I was doing wrong, and it seemed that most of the successful brownie bite recipes include a combo of melted chocolate and cocoa powder.  My original brownie recipes just included melted chocolate.

So I don’t know what’s up with that, or anything about the science of baking for that matter, but there might be something about the cocoa powder that makes the brownies a bit denser and less likely to rise.

Whatever.  I have no idea why these turned out better, but they did, and they were amazing.

(Erwin thought so too, although I managed to shoe him away before he poisoned himself or became intoxicated on baked goods…)The batter includes both Khalua and espresso powder for a fantastically coffee-ish flavor.  And the Bailey’s buttercream.  Oh that buttercream.  You will want to pipe the entire bag of Bailey’s buttercream directly into your mouth instead of onto those brownie bites, I promise you.  Somehow, I magically resisted this urge of mine and managed to get all the buttercream onto the brownies.

Then I topped them all with a chocolate covered espresso bean for added adorableness and caffeination.(Recipe = success!) ((Parenthesis restriction = fail…))

Did you make today’s recipe?  I love to see what my Gourmet Gourmandians’  are cooking up!  Hashtag #TheGourmetGourmand on instagram for free instalove.  (And, Uhm.. You rock )

Mudslide Brownie Bites

Adapted from Chasing Delicious

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 18 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

_For the Brownie Bites_

• 6 oz butter 1 ½ sticks
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup Kahlua
• 2 tablespoons espresso powder instant or regular
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup all-purpose flour

_For the Baileys Frosting:_

• 4 oz ½ stick butter, softened
• 1 ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur
• Chocolate covered espresso beans for garnishing

Instructions

 

For the Brownie Bites

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease mini muffin tin with butter, shortening, or cooking spray.
• In a double boiler combine butter, sugar, unsweetened baking chocolate, cocoa powder, salt, and Kahlua.
• Turn heat to medium and stir intermittently until butter and baking chocolate are melted, and ingredients are completely moistened. Mixture might still be grainy- that's okay.
• Add espresso powder and mix.
• Remove from heat and set aside for about 5 minutes, or until mixture cools slightly.
• Next whisk in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
• Add flour and whisk until fully mixed.
• Fill muffin tin with brownie batter. I filled each cup about ¾ of the way full.
• Bake for 18-22 minutes. (Mine took 18 minutes).
• Let cool in the pan before removing to frost.

For the Baileys Frosting:

• In a small mixing bowl add softened butter and beat well until fluffy.
• Gradually add powdered sugar and salt, mixing well after each addition.
• Add Baileys liqueur and mix to combine.
• Decorate the cooled brownie bites with Baileys frosting however you see fit.
• I added chocolate covered espresso beans for an additional garnish.
• Makes about 30 brownie bites.