These baby brownies have superpowers. They can satisfy the ridiculously fussy Small Man, breathe life into an exhausted music teacher, quell a temper tantrum and last week they stopped Lynda’s kids from cannibalizing each other in the car. Each one is tiny – barely a mouthful – but that means you can eat three (or four or five) without feeling guilty. Based on a recipe from the best sweet things cookbook ever – fittingly titled The Mrs Fields Best Ever Cookie Book – we’ve tweaked the recipe to use milk rather than white chocolate ganache, and bake them in even smaller portions than specified, so that each batch makes about 40 mini cupcakes. The recipe itself is pretty quick, but make sure you allow time to spoon the mix into the little tins, which seems to take ages.
Brownies
- 180g (1 cup) Callebaut dark chocolate callets (mine were 54% cocoa, any darker than that and Small Man complains)
- 125g (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 90g (½ cup plus 2 tablespoons) plain (AP) flour
- pinch salt
- 2 large eggs
- 165g (¾ cup packed) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ganache Topping
- 125g Callebaut milk callets
- 60ml (¼ cup) cream (heavy/pouring)
1. Preheat oven to 175C (350F) with fan. Line 40 mini-muffin cups with paper liners (you might not need that many).
2. Put the butter and dark chocolate callets in a pyrex bowl and microwave in 30 second bursts on high until almost melted, then stir until smooth. Leave to cool.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale, then add vanilla and cooled chocolate mixture until well blended. Stir in, by hand, flour and salt until just combined.
4. Spoon into muffin pans, filling them until 3/4 full. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes (mine took 14) until the edges are just set but centres are still a bit squidgy. Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes, then remove to cool completely.
5. To prepare the topping – in a small saucepan, gently heat the cream until simmering. Place the milk chocolate in a small bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir very gently until thick and creamy. Refrigerate the ganache for a few minutes to allow it to thicken, then dip the tops of the cooled brownies in the chocolate. (If you have too much ganache, you can use it to make a pretty wicked hot chocolate, just by adding hot milk).
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
If the mixture is too thick to pipe with a pastry bag, I use a small cookie or ice cream scoop with a sweep blade to quickly fill mini muffin tins. But the pastry bag is much faster and pretty thick doughs can usually be managed by using a disposable plastic bag with a larger hole cut in the corner.
Ah, but then I have to clean the bag, Cyn! I’ll try spooning it all into a big plastic bag next time and piping it that way. I use an icecream scoop for cookies, but I think the mix is a bit runny here. Thanks!
Ah. I have a box of disposable plastic pastry bags for just such things, no washing required. They cost something like $2.00 for 12 in a local store here.
Those are so cute!
Hi. I just wanted to say figjamandlimecordial.com is my new favourite website. I made these brownie cupcakes at a family bbq last week and they were a hit! I love what you’ve done. I love cooking and baking, just for myself and my family, and this site really captures how fulfilling they can be.
Thank you, Pam! So glad you enjoyed the cupcakes…I haven’t made them for ages, and now you’ve reminded me about them again. :)