brownie poppin'

One of the main ingredients to my beloved dessert table was the brownie pops. And we had a lot of fun making them! My baking cohort for the day was my mom... I was more her assistant than anything. All I did was bring the excitement and recipes to the table (pun intended).

 

Here is an after shot of the pops. They were fun and added a lot to the table. I purchased the tin from Michael's and used Styrofoam inserts which kept the sticks upright.  

Here is the brownie pop recipe I followed: (Compliments of Get Off Your Butt and BAKE!)

step one: make.
I used a packaged brownie recipe. With everything else going on, I didn't get around to making the brownies from scratch. But either will work. I lined the brownie pan with parchment paper so they would not stick. The recipe calls for "moist, fudgy brownies" since it makes them easier to ball up. After theyre baked, cut off the crusts and cut the remainder into small bars. Let them cool to where they are easy to handle.

step two: mold.
If your brownies are moist and fudgy, they will cling together easily. Grease your hands to keep them from getting too sticky. Try to roll the top of the brownie into the center of your ball. The crackly top has dry edges that make it hard to make your ball nice and round.

step three: pop.
Next, I inserted the sticks into the rolled brownies. Go ahead and push them almost all the way down to the bottom. You want to make sure you don't lose your brownie ball while dipping. Let them cool completely before you start dipping them.

The next few steps are for you to use, modify, or disregard. You can decorate your brownie pops with any frosting color, sprinkle and garnish that works best.

step four: dip.
To melt the chocolate wafers, microwave in 15 second intervals stirring after each until they are smooth. Do not over do it. If you cook the chocolate it will not set up very pretty. Dip the brownie pops into the melted dark chocolate completely. We dont want to see any of the brownie. Mugs work very well for these. They are the perfect size and the thick mug holds the heat in so that the chocolate stays warm for a while. Let the chocolate set before you start dipping the pops in the white chocolate. They will no longer look shiney and will get a dull appearance when the chocolate is set up.

I used Wilton Candy Melts, but you could also find these in bulk. 

step five: re-dip.
Only dip the pops 80% of the way into the white chocolate. It looks nice to see the dark chocolate layer peeking out. Let the white chocolate set up a little bit before dipping them any sprinkles. If the chocolate is to drippy the sprinkles will drip right off your pop.

step six: sprinkle. 
Standard paper muffin liners worked well to set out all my sprinkles. Only dip them half way up the pops so you can still see the white chocolate layer. Roll them in the sprinkles if you have to. 

 

I only coated my pops with pink Wilton Candy Melts and white & silver sprinkles. Looking back, coating the brownies with a layer of chocolate probably would have made them sweeter and more visually appealing. I had a difficult time during the frost & sprinkle transition. My frosting kept dripping into my sprinkle cup! In the future, I would let the frosting sit for just a minute to let it harden a bit. (Just don't wait too long or your sprinkles won't stick!)