Frosted Heart Brownies

Who doesn't love heart shapes? There's something about handing someone a heart-shaped treat and seeing their face light up with joy. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day so there's no better day for food in the shape of hearts. I decided to make homemade heart brownies with pink frosting this year. I used a brownie recipe from years back, found here on my blog. I made a substitution to the recipe by using 1/2 t. sea salt instead of 1/4 t. table salt. I also used a 13x9 pan instead of an 8 inch pan because I wanted my brownies to be thin so I could use my heart-shaped mold. And funnily enough, I don't actually have a heart cookie cutter. So I improvised and used my kid's play dough one. It worked perfectly! And instead of using chocolate frosting like the one that goes with the original recipe, I whipped up a pink buttercream. I haven't always had the best luck with frosting, but today I nailed it. I just made the recipe up as I went along and it worked. It turned out thick, sweet, and it spread nicely on the brownies. My son even had fun helping me stir it. Then I used some pink sprinkles on top for a final touch. And when I handed my sons their brownies, their face did indeed light up. The brownies turned out nice and soft, with crackly corners and the perfect amount of chocolate. I'm sure these will be gone way before Valentine's Day ends.

Frosted Heart Brownies

The recipe for the brownies, not the frosting, was adapted from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter
1c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. all- purpose flour
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. baking powder

Pink Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/3 milk
1 drop red food coloring

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 c. butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 t. vanilla. Beat in 1/3 c. cocoa, 1/2 c. flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Let brownies cool and then use a heart cookie cutter to create hearts.
To make the buttercream, use a mixer to blend butter and powdered sugar. Add more or less powdered sugar depending on how thick you want your frosting. Add milk and vanilla and mix until desired consistency of frosting is reached. Add food coloring and stir until there are no more streaks and the desired color is reached.  Spread the frosting on the brownie hearts and top with sprinkles.