Birthday Cake Brownies
These extra fudgy chocolate brownies are topped with a birthday cookie dough layer! The cookie dough is safe to eat thanks to not having eggs and using heat-treated flour. This is like your favorite fudge brownies mixed with birthday cake!
Servings: 16 bars
Calories: 373kcal
Equipment
- 8x8 pan
Ingredients
Brownies
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup dutch process cocoa powder
- 4 oz dark chocolate chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
Birthday Cake Cookie Dough
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
Make Brownies
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃ and line an 8x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. It should be hot.¾ cup unsalted butter
- Add the cocoa powder to the hot butter and whisk until smooth. This is called blooming the cocoa powder and will make your brownies richer!½ cup dutch process cocoa powder
- Pour in the chopped chocolate and let sit for a minute or two. Whisk until smooth.4 oz dark chocolate
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Whisk for 1:30-2 minutes. It should lighten in color, and when you stop whisking bubbles should form on the top.3 large eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar
- Once the melted chocolate mixture has cooled down slightly, pour in the sugar mixture. Whisk until smooth and add in the vanilla extract.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, salt and espresso powder.½ cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- Pour the brownie batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 26-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs.
- Let the brownies cool completely in the pan. To have even fudgier brownies, place the cooled brownie pan in the fridge for a few hours.
Make Birthday Cake Layer
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Pour your flour into a baking sheet or tray and bake for 5 minutes. Let the flour cool completely.1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- Pour the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Whisk and set aside.½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, whip up the butter, sugar and confectioners' sugar for 2-3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix again.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pour in your flour mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold everything together.
- Add in your sprinkles and fold again.½ cup rainbow sprinkles
- If the cookie dough is too thick, add heavy cream or milk a tablespoon at a time until it is the consistency you want.2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- Scoop out the birthday layer onto the cooled brownies. Use a rubber spatula, offset spatula or your hands to pat it down into an even layer. Feel free to add more sprinkles on top! Let the brownies chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before removing from the pan and slicing into bars.
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven’t tested the recipe with this method. Just click on ‘Metric’ above the ingredients to see the metric measurements.
Butter: I use European style butter in my recipes.
Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. Please note, that I'm using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. Morton Salt is a different type of kosher salt and is much saltier.
Cocoa Powder: I am using dutch process cocoa powder for this but you can use unsweetened natural cocoa powder in a pinch.
Sprinkles: I love using rainbow sprinkles but you could swap them out for mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips or leave it out entirely.
Espresso Powder: adding espresso powder is going to amplify the chocolate flavor, it won't make the brownies taste like coffee but you can leave it out if you prefer.
Vanilla Extract: to get that real Funfetti flavor for the cookie dough, use clear vanilla instead of real vanilla extract.
Storage: Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 237mg | Potassium: 137mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 518IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 2mg
