Mini caramel egg brownies and excitement

Is anyone else getting super excited about Easter? I am. I walk through supermarket aisles and have to physically restrain myself from buying Easter eggs.

I used to be one of those people who hated how early seasonal foods came in – “Halloween sweets out in August?!” or “Christmas stock out in October?!” – I used to be shocked at how quickly in-store merchandising would roll over. I would refrain from buying my holiday-related products until a week or so before the actual event.

Now I kind of like it, because Baking with Gab means that I have to start recipe planning before everyone else is thinking about the next holiday/event.

So I’m talking about Easter already!! I’ve posted my creme eggs to kick off the season, next will be a deluge of egg-related recipes. I don’t even need to reason away my egg recipes, because they’re delicious and I love any chance to get into festivities.

These little mouthfuls are perfect because they’re a unison of chocolate and caramel (is there a greater combination??), they’re small enough that you can eat multiples, and they’re also easy to throw together.

So put on your bunny ears early, stock up on caramel filled Easter eggs and get hopping into the kitchen to whip up caramel egg brownies!!

Mini caramel egg brownies:

Makes 30

• 200g milk chocolate, chopped
• 200g butter
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 30 caramel-filled easter eggs

This is a milk chocolate version of a recipe posted last Easter. Check out the dark chocolate version here.

Preheat your oven to 180°C and line two trays of mini cupcake pans. Roughly chop your chocolate and butter and place them in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth and glossy. Put this to one side to cool slightly.

Combine the sugar, cocoa, flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add in the eggs and mix as thoroughly as you can – the batter will be very dry at this stage. Add in the chocolate mixture and combine. Pour the mixture into your baking tin.
Spoon your mixture into the cupcake pans so that they’re filled about half way. Unwrap all of the caramel eggs and push them into the centre of each batter-filled patty pan. I used Cadbury caramel eggs, but you can use whichever brand you like.

Pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes – I tend to stay closer to the 12 minute mark, so as not to over-bake them and take away the squidginess that makes brownies so delectable.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean. For me, a perfect brownie should be

Allow them to cool slightly before eating, because the caramel inside the eggs stays mega hot…don’t say I didn’t warn you!!

Also, your little brown bites will probably sink slightly, because  this is the nature of brownies.  Never fear, there is nothing wrong with this, because you’ll have a deliciously moist middle.

Serve with a tall glass of milk, these brownies are thirsty work!