RECIPE VIDEO: Puff Pastry Brownie Bites 4 Ways; Peanut Butter, Peppermint, Chocolate Chip and Berry Jam

So we had a month of clean healthy eating, and though I have not fallen off the resolution wagon (yet), I felt the need to reward the family for putting up with my clean eating month. So I whipped up these lovelies. This dessert is SO EASY and if you have some puff pastry languishing in the freezer, left over from the holiday baking season, this recipe will use it up quickly. I also was able to make a dent in a giant bag of leftover Hershey chocolate bars, too. If you don’t want to use chocolate bars, you can use semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, but you will need to add sugar. I would guess about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup, depending on the bitterness of your chocolate, so taste it as you go. The joy of this recipe is the opportunity to fill these however you wish-or not at all! It allows you to clean out your candy or baking cabinet, or just get creative! Needless to say, my clean eaters made quick work of this sweet treat, so they obviously were needing a little naughty in their lives. But now it is back to the resolution! I am hoping to at least make it to spring, and see how we feel.

I’ll let you know.

Oh, and by the way, below is a how-to video to help. I update the youtube channel every Friday, and this was last Friday’s kitchen fun. If you don’t want to miss the goings on at the homestead, please subscribe to the youtube channel! It really helps get visibility to what we are doing at The Urban Domestic Diva! TIA!

4 Hershey Chocolate Bars, broken up (or roughly 4 oz. baking milk chocolate)

1/2 package Frozen puff pastry sheets (1 sheet)

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 well rounded Tbsp. flour

peanut butter

crushed peanuts

crushed peppermint candy

chocolate chips

berry jam

dried cherries or dried cherry flavored cranberries

Thaw the puff pastry sheet by letting the sheet sit out on the counter for about 40 minutes. Gently unfold, and let sit out for 5 more minutes if the center is still frozen.

Make the brownie filling:

Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl with the butter, in the microwave at 50% power in 30-minute increments until smooth and melted. Add the eggs and whip lightly with a spoon until combined. Add the vanilla extract and the flour, and whip until the flour is just combined. Set aside.

Lightly flour a work surface to roll out your puff pastry. Flour your rolling pin. Roll the puff pastry until roughly 12 x 15 ” wide. Using a ruler, cut the sheet into 3″ squares. Spray a 3″ muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. This recipe makes roughly 20 brownie bites, so if you have two tins, spray 2. Otherwise, you will have to do this in “shifts”. Press the 3-inch pastry squares into each mold, with the edges coming up to the tops of the molds. Set aside. At this point, heat your oven to 400˚.

In each mold, sprinkle or dollop your filling of choice. A sprinkle of peppermint, a sprinkle of chocolate chips, a dollop of peanut butter or a dollop of berry jam. Next, dollop a Tbsp. of brownie batter over each filling. Top each as you go so you keep track of what fillings you already have. Use the dried cherries over the berry filling bites. Chopped peanuts go over the peanut butter bites. Chocolate chips top the chip ones. And extra peppermint crushed candies go over the peppermint candy filling bites.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until puff pastry is golden brown and the brownie springs back to the touch.

Let the bites sit in the tins for 5 minutes to set, then using a small spatula transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days, but they won’t last that long!

Here is a handy video to help you out!