Christmas Tree Brownies

MAKES 1 TRAY

For the dough: 6 oz (170 g) dark couverture chocolate, 1 cup + 1½ tbsp (250 g) butter, 6 eggs, 1¼ cup (250 g) sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 pinch salt, 1¾ cups (220 g) flour, 2 cups (200 g) ground hazelnuts

To dust on top: 3 tbsp powdered sugar

Additional: parchment paper, sugar, 3-star cookie cutters (small, medium, and large) sugar, aluminum foil

Finely chop the chocolate. Melt it together with the butter in a pot over low heat. Place eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix for 8-10 minutes, until thick and creamy. Stir in the couverture mixture and then the flour and the nuts.

Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C), unless you have a gas oven, in which case preheat to level 3. (Convection ovens are unsuitable for this recipe!) Spread the dough into a deep baking sheet, about 13 in. x 15 in. (32 cm x 39 cm) in size, that has been lined with parchment paper. If your baking sheet is larger, use multiple sheets of folded aluminum foil to limit the area to the correct size. Place in a preheated oven (second shelf from the bottom) and bake 15-18 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Let the sheet of dough cool down a bit on the baking sheet until it is only somewhat warm. Then flip over the sheet of brownie onto a properly sized, pre-cut piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle some sugar onto a flat plate. Using the cookie cutters, cut out stars of three different sizes from the still warm sheet of brownie. Dip the cookie cutters in the sugar just before cutting out each brownie. Stack one large star, one medium star and one small star on top of each other to make a tree (see photo). Repeat this process until all of the brownie is used up. Dust the trees with powdered sugar.

 

It is a quote. Christmas Cookies Dozens of Classic Yuletide Treats for the Whole Family 2015