While everyone is posting manly superbowl grub this week, you’re still getting a full dose of girly Valentine’s Day treats over here. Sorry to all my football-crazy readers, but I guess you could make these superbowl-ready with some frosting dyed your favored team’s colors (using this two-toned frosting technique would be really cool). Or just wait to make these darling treats for your next tea party with friends. Either way, they’re delicious and irresistible to whatever kind of guest you have over, regardless of whether they’re sporting a jersey or a tutu. Although these are bite-sized for portion control, there’s no way you could eat just one, and that’s a bet I have no problem making this week.

The shape of these treats is reminiscent of Bakerella’s cupcake pops (minus the pops of course), except I used brownies instead of a cake ball base. It’s up to you what you decide to use, but just baking a batch of fudgey brownies rather than the messy step of mixing cake crumbs with frosting made my day that much easier. Plus, I looooooove brownies. I did use the same mini flower cutter that Bakerella uses to form the bases so they look like the shape of little cupcake liners. You can just punch shapes out of the pan of brownies, but I chose to ball up pieces of brownies and cram them into the cutter to get the shape because they came out more uniform that way. Of course you could just bake brownie batter in mini muffin tins, but sometimes this results in over-crispy edges, and this method helps maintain the fudegy consistency. And I think the scalloped outline is super cute :)

As for the frosting, I went with a simple cream cheese recipe, a favorite among my friends around here. I actually made these for a birthday celebration for 2 friends — one’s favorite color is purple and the other is pink, so I did my best to incorporate both with festive sprinkles. Of course it doesn’t hurt that these colors are also a perfect compliment for this month’s holiday and make a great addition to my Valentine’s Day lineup. And as I said before, throw on some superbowl-themed sprinkles or frosting and you got yourself a great party dessert for this weekend.

Mini Brownie Cupcake Bites

For the brownies:
1 recipe for a 9×13″ pan of your favorite fudegy brownie recipe, here’s mine: Brownie Recipe

For the cream cheese frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 lb confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

– Prepare brownies according to recipe’s instructions
– Allow brownies to cool completely. With your hands, scoop out about a 1-1/2″ ball of cooked brownie and push into mini flower cutter to create a the cupcake base shape. Set aside.
– For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.
– With the mixer on medium-low, add the sugar slowly until well incorporated.
– Add the vanilla and beat until just combined.
– Transfer frosting to a piping bag fit with a large star tip and decorate brownie bases as desired.