Get into the spirit with these Christmas tree brownies! The choc mint brownies - to make them a Christmas themed treat - is baked into a circle and cut into a tree shape then decorated with green frosting and holiday sprinkles. These brownie trees are a fun, tasty way to celebrate the season with family and friends.
I am a huge fan of easy Christmas bakes which take minimal effort and can be made in a hurry. You can do a cheats version with a brownie mix, or make homemade brownies with my recipe. Whatever you choose, these Christmas tree brownies (and my Reindeer Brownies) are a quick Christmas dessert hack you can keep in your back pocket for when you need to bring something impressive to your next family gathering.
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Why you'll love this recipe
Festive & Fun. These brownie trees bring holiday cheer with their cute tree shape and colourful decorations, making them perfect for parties.
Deliciously Minty. The chocolate mint flavour adds a refreshing twist to classic brownies, like a chocolate mint mousse, satisfying both chocolate and mint lovers alike.
Simple to Make. With easy-to-follow steps, these choc mint brownies are fun to bake and decorate, especially alongside the no bake gingernut truffles.
Versatile Holiday Treat: These Christmas tree brownies make great gifts, dessert table additions, or fun holiday activities with family and friends.
Christmas brownies ingredients and substitutions
Butter. I have made this recipe with both salted and unsalted butter, as well as nuttelex (vegan alternative) and all have been fine.
Chocolate and cacao. Often brownie recipes use cocoa (and so do box mixes). I find them overly sweet. As I prefer greater depth in flavour, I use dark chocolate in brownies, in combination with cacao powder. In addition to removing a lot of the sugar you find in store-bought brownies, I find the flavour is much more desirable to my palette.
Extract. These brownies are chocolate mint so I use mint extract to amplify the flavour for the Christmas theme. You can omit if it's not desirable.
Eggs. I use less eggs for these Christmas Brownies than I do for my usual brownies (like my Fudgy Easter Egg Brownies). It's because I decorate these brownies as Christmas trees and with super fudgy brownies, the icing doesn't stay as nicely. I would say this recipe is closer to a mint choc brownie cake hybrid.
Decoration. Green icing and Christmas sprinkles were used to create the Christmas trees on the brownies. But you can do any type of icing decorations you like.
Please check the recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantity. See below for substitutions and variations
How to make Christmas brownies
- Cream
Add room temperature butter and sugar to a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, combine until they’re a creamy texture (approx. 2 minutes)
- Melt Chocolate
Heat small amount of hot water in a pot, add a glass bowl on top (make sure it doesn’t touch the water) and add chocolate. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.
- Combine
Add eggs and extract to the chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Then add in butter & sugar mixture. Once combined, slowly mix in flour, cacao and salt until just combined.
- Bake
Add mixture to a greased and lined circular pan and bake for 30 minutes at 175C. Remove and let cool.
You don't have to use a circular pan, but it makes it easier to cut the brownies into triangles for the Christmas trees.
I use a 24cm pan which makes the brownie quite thin in the end. This helps ensure it doesn't fall apart and makes it more dense and dry (which helps when decorating). Don't worry, it's still VERY DELICIOUS. If you have a larger or smaller pan, you may need to adjust the cooking time. - Slice
After cooling the choc mint brownies, cut them like you would a pizza into 6-8 triangles.
Before decorating the brownies, make sure they're cooled completely. You may even want to cook them one day and decorate the next after they've sat in the fridge. - Decorate
To make the Christmas tree brownies, you'll need green icing and some additional decorations like a candy or sprinkle star, and some 100s and 1000s (in Christmas colours, of course).
Swirl the green icing up the brownie whichever way you prefer. You could also 'paint' it completely green if you're a big fan of icing.
Once the icing has been added, place your star at the top of the tree and sprinkle for decorations.
You could decorate Sugar Cookies and Gingerbread Cookies the same way, or if you don't want to decorate, add in m&m's like my Christmas M&M Cookies.
Top Tip
Allow the brownies to cool completely, otherwise the icing will not stick and you'll be left with sloppy Christmas trees. They'll still taste good, but people might question whether they're actually Christmas trees.
Storing and Freezing Brownies
Storing
Place the choc mint brownies in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. If stacking, allow the icing to set completely in the fridge first (couple of hours) then store with parchment paper between the layers to prevent them from sticking together or smudging the decorations.
Freezing
To freeze Christmas tree brownies, allow them to cool in the refrigerator for a couple of hours first (this will set the Christmas tree decorations and prevent smudging). Then, wrap each brownie individually in plastic wrap, then place them in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 6 months. You can use my tips and tricks on my Freezing Baked Oats post as it is a very similar method.
When ready to enjoy, thaw the brownies in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for an hour or two. Decorate with frosting and sprinkles after thawing for the freshest look!
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Christmas Brownie FAQs
Decorating Christmas tree brownies is easy and fun! Once cooled, spread or pipe green frosting over each choc mint brownie triangle, then add festive sprinkles or small candies to resemble ornaments.
You could take decorating a step further by adding a tree trunk (small pretzel stick) at the base.
For a Rectangular Slab: Let the choc mint brownies cool completely in the pan. Slice the slab horizontally into even rows. Then, cut each row into alternating diagonal triangles by angling the knife back and forth. This creates neat triangle shapes that resemble little trees.
For a Circular Brownie: Once the chocolate mint brownie has cooled, remove it from the pan. Start by cutting the circle into quarters (like cutting a pizza). Then, divide each quarter into 2–3 smaller triangle slices, depending on the size you want for your brownie trees. Continue around the circle until you have an array of triangle shapes, perfect for decorating as Christmas tree brownies!
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Recipe
Christmas Tree Brownies (Chocolate Mint Brownies)
Ingredients
- 145 g Butter room temperature (see Note 1)
- 150 g White Sugar
- 50 g Cacao Powder see Note 2
- 50 g Dark chocolate see Note 3
- 2 g (pinch) Salt
- 5 ml Mint extract optional but recommended
- 100 g Flour
- 2 Eggs room temperature
Icing (Christmas Trees)
- 350 g Icing Sugar
- 3 ml Vanilla Extract
- 20 g Butter slightly melted
- Water for consistency
- 2 ml Green food colouring
Instructions
- Add room temperature butter and sugar to a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or bench mixer, combine until they’re a creamy texture (approx. 2 minutes)
- Heat small amount of hot water in a pot, add a glass bowl on top (make sure it doesn’t touch the water) and add chocolate. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.
- Add eggs and extract to the chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Then add in butter & sugar mixture. Once combined, slowly mix in flour, cacao and salt until just combined.
- Add mixture to a greased and lined circular pan and bake for 30 minutes at 175C. Remove and let cool.
- Remove from the circular pan and cut into 8 triangles. Allow to cool completely before decorating to prevent smudging.
- Christmas Tree: Decorate like Christmas trees with green icing, sprinkles and a star on top.
Notes
You can substitute with nuttelex for vegan. I've used both salted and unsalted and all work well for this recipe. Note 2 - Cacao powder
Cacao powder decreases the overall sweetness of the brownies because it doesn't have excess sugar added in comparison to cocoa. If you only have cocoa on hand, this will be fine, but they might be quite sweet. Note 3 - Chocolate
The chocolate purchased from the baking aisle of the grocery store will melt properly and be smooth. In comparison, eating chocolate from the confectionary aisle can split when it begins to melt.
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