Five Festive Brownie Recipes

Christmas baking is one of my all-time favourite things about the festive season. If you ask me, at this time of year there are few things more enjoyable than a cosy kitchen filled with the smell of Christmassy concoctions. Every year, I love to experiment with a seasonal twist on everyone’s baking favourite: brownies - and their sweeter sister, blondies. Here are five favourite recipes I’ve made over the years:

Peppermint brownies: for me chocolate and mint is a dream pairing - especially at Christmas time. These peppermint brownies are deliciously festive: the gooey, rich chocolate is offset by the cool, Winter freshness of the mint. A little peppermint extract goes a long way in this bake!

Spiced Christmas tree brownies (pictured above): a brownie infused with warming seasonal spice - nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon - and citrus that will make your home smell instantly festive. The brownies are cut into triangle shapes with a chocolate finger stem, drizzled with white chocolate and sprinkled with edible stars.

Chocolate and chestnut brownies: the combination of rich chocolate and sweet, nutty chestnut is perfect for this time of year. Luckily there’s no faffing with roasting and shelling - this recipe uses whole vacuum packed chestnuts for ease, soaked in a sugar mixture before baking that gives a caramel-y depth of flavour to the brownie.

White chocolate and ginger blondies: those with a sweet tooth will love these blondies made with ginger syrup, flecked with pieces of stem ginger and chunks of white chocolate inside and drizzled liberally with even more white chocolate and chopped crystallised ginger. The fiery ginger tempers the sweetness of the chocolate and makes for a suitably indulgent seasonal treat.

White chocolate, cranberry and pistachio blondies: these white chocolate blondies are made with brown butter, giving them a nutty, caramelised taste that goes so well with the seasonal dried fruit and toasted nuts. Cranberry and pistachio are a match made in heaven to me, balancing sharp and sweet, rich and complex flavours.

I also enjoyed making chocolate, pecan and cranberry brownies and mincemeat brownies. I post a new recipe on my blog - also called Everything Looks Rosie - every Sunday. This week I’ll be posting a recipe for clementine salted caramel brownies. My best yet, I think!