Pecan Pie Brownie Bites
Rich and fudgy homemade brownie bites are loaded with chocolate and topped with an easy bourbon pecan pie topping. Great finger food; perfect for Superbowl snacking!
Good morning my friends! How is your week so far?
Over here we are having a bit of a rough start. The east coast is being hit with a pretty good amount of snowfall right now, so we had a 2-hour school delay this morning (it’s Monday, as I write this). I just got home from dropping my little guy off at his morning program, only to get a call from the school district saying that afternoon kindergarten was cancelled. So, basically, I have a 90-minute window to get all my day’s work done before I’ve got to turn around and pick him right back up again :/ WINTER!
But enough about that! Let’s talk food. It is my favorite topic, after all 😉
I was originally planning to post a fruity recipe today, but after thinking about what a huge deal football food is, I decided to go with something a little more Superbowl-ish.
What kind of food do you think of when you’re planning a Superbowl bash? I know, I know, wings and nachos and chili and stuff like that, right? But what about dessert? What qualifies as a “game day” dessert, beyond the usual football-shaped cake pops and brownies decorated with green icing to look like a football field?
Here is what I’m thinking, and you tell me if you think I’m on the right track:
1) It’s gotta be finger food
2) It’s gotta be pretty indulgent. I mean, if we’re going to be binging on wings and all kinds of other junk, we may as well be consistent all the way through until dessert.
3) It’s gotta be kinda masculine? If that word can be applied to dessert?
When I think of masculine desserts a few things come to mind, besides peanut butter and pretzels, which I already covered last week. One of those things is pecan pie. With chocolate. And bourbon. Probably because it’s Mr. Allie’s faaaavorite dessert of all time.
I didn’t use to like pecan pie but he has totally brought me over to the dark side. I don’t know where my head was at- It’s so good! Especially when chocolate is involved. It’s almost like eating a candy bar, with all those crunchy-tender nuts and gooey caramel.
I’ve scaled down my favorite brownie recipe here, and baked it up in a little mini-muffin tin. So it’s great finger food, and just so pop-able! The topping is basically just a stovetop version of pecan pie filling. I used a wine cork to press a little divot in each brownie bite while they were still hot from the oven, and then nestled in a little scoop of the pecan pie filling, once they had cooled.
Ta-dah!
This works out really great for my family because Superbowl weekend also happens to be Mr. Allie’s birthday weekend. So he’s getting one of his favorite desserts, on top of a nice dinner at a restaurant he’s been dying to try, on top of a Neil Diamond concert! (…lol, we are elderly.) Plus a 24-hour football extravaganza! He’s gonna think he died and went to heaven, haha!
And here are some other great recipes that would be perfect for a game-day bash:
Chubby Hubby Pretzels and Dip:
No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie Jars:
Citrusy Beer Pretzel Bites with Nutella Dip:
Peanut Butter Boston Cream Pie:
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Pecan Pie Brownie Bites
Ingredients
For the Pecan Pie Topping
- 1/4 cup (55 g) dark brown sugar, (loosely packed)
- 1/3 cup (78.86 ml) dark corn syrup
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey, (optional)
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (99 g) roughly chopped pecans
For the Brownie Bites
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (28.67 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg,, large
- 1/4 cup (31.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (90 g) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
To Make the Pecan Pie Topping:
- Place the brown sugar, corn syrup, cornstarch, yolks, cream, and bourbon in a small pot, and whisk together.
- Place the pot over medium-high heat, and continue to stir until the mixture comes to a boil.
- Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture becomes quite thick.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
- Fold in the pecans, and transfer the mixture to a heat-safe vessel. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the topping, and allow it to cool completely.
To Make the Brownie Bites:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, and mist a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray.
- Place the sugar, cocoa, butter, and salt in a large bowl. Heat the mixture (either in the microwave or over a double-boiler), until the butter is melted and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Stir until well combined.
- Add in the egg, stirring vigorously.
- Mix in the flour, and fold in the chocolate chips. Divide the batter equally between the 12 wells of a mini-muffin tin.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the brownie bites are set around the edges but still a little soft in the middle.
- Cool completely, remove from the pan, and top with about 2 tablespoons of Pecan Pie Topping.
This is Christmas, I did these twice. I just melt 3 almond bark squares at a time. This is awesome! Pecan pie fashioned into a cake dipped in bombshell of brownie. Love it! Love it totally!