Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter 1 stick
- ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- ½ cup chopped pecans plus 24 pecan halves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a mini muffin pan very well using a neutral oil.
- In a bowl that’s microwave safe, add the butter and chocolate chips. Microwave the mixture in 20 second intervals, stirring after each 20 seconds until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool a bit.
- In a separate large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and espresso powder. Set aside.
- In another separate mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, vanilla and bourbon until nice and smooth (1-2 minutes). Now slowly stir in your melted chocolate mixture.
- Fold in your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients. Fold only until the mixture is just combined. Try not to overmix. Now fold in pecans until they are distributed evenly, keeping in mind not to overmix.
- Spoon the brownie batter into the mini muffin tin. Fill each cup close to ¾ full. Put a pecan half on top of each brownie.
- Bake brownies for about 12-14 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just some moist crumbs. You don’t want the toothpick to be wet though. Make sure not to overbake.
- Remove brownies from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes take a small knife and loosen the brownies by carefully running the knife around the edges of each muffin cup and lift out the brownies and put them on a rack to finish cooling, or enjoy warm.
Nutrition
Notes
Pro Tips for Perfect Brownie Bites
- Let the chocolate cool before adding eggs: Hot chocolate scrambles eggs. Five minutes of patience after melting is the difference between a smooth batter and one you have to throw out.
- Don't overbake: Mini brownies cook fast. Pull them when the toothpick has moist crumbs - they continue cooking from residual heat in the pan. Overbaked brownie bites dry out quickly.
- Use a small cookie scoop: It keeps every brownie the same size, which means they all bake evenly. Inconsistent sizes mean some are overdone before others are ready.
- The knife trick matters: Running a small knife around each cup before trying to lift the brownies out is what saves you from crumbled, torn bites. Give them the full 10 minutes and loosen every edge.
- Flaky sea salt on top: A pinch of flaky salt on the warm brownie bites right out of the oven takes these from great to genuinely impressive. The salt-chocolate-bourbon combination is a flavor triple threat.
- Caramel drizzle for serving: A small drizzle of warm caramel over the cooled brownie bites before serving adds a layer of richness that plays incredibly well with the bourbon notes in the batter.