The weather is getting cooler and fall will be here in a few days.
Though fall arrived at our house a few weeks ago, heralded by the pumpkin baking season.
I bought these pumpkin spice Hershey’s kisses for a fundraising event I had to go to. The event color was orange, and anyone in fundraising knows that candy at your table helps bring in the big bucks (Is that true? Jeez I hope it’s true.). Or maybe I just needed the jolt of sugar to keep my energy up for the duration of the event. One of those two things.
I had plenty of candy left afterward and decided these pumpkin spice kisses would be great paired with brownies. Mini-brownies? Even better.
The key to success with these brownie bites is using the mini muffin papers. I looked up how long to bake brownies in a mini muffin pan and came across a post by The Pioneer Woman and she went to great lengths emphasizing how much you need to grease your muffin pans with brownies. That right there should have made the situation clear to me, but no, I had to try it using just Pam.
I used what I thought was tons and tons of Pam (and I even have non-stick mini muffin pans) and when it came time to take the first batch out of the pan, it was a sticky, broken and crumbly sad sight. They were a wreck. (Lesson learned: always trust The Pioneer Woman.)
Though they tasted fantastic - so with the next batch I used the papers and they turned out fine. I found my mini muffin papers in the grocery store, where the full-sized muffin papers are.
When coming up with this recipe I decided to use a mix because I’m lazy brownies from scratch really vary in the quantity they make and their texture, and I wanted to make them as foolproof as possible for you (and me).
When you make the brownies from the box, follow the “cake-like brownies” recipe, not the “fudge brownie” recipe. I’m the queen of fudgy brownie love but they really don’t work too well in this recipe, you need the additional egg for structure so they don’t collapse when you add the kisses.
Also, don’t be tempted to add the kisses before you bake them, they come out just plain gross. I’m not sure why and I don’t want to find out. Just put them in at the end, before returning them to the oven for a few more minutes, and they’ll be delicious.
Trust me on these tips, folks, I fail (many time over) so you don’t have to.
You’re welcome.
Pumpkin Kiss Brownie Bites
1 boxed Brownie mix (the big mix that makes a 13”x9” pan) 1 bag of Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice kisses 36 mini muffin papers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using mini muffin papers (available at the grocery store where the big muffin papers are), line your mini muffin pans.
Make brownie mix according to the recipe on the box, following the directions for cake-like brownies.
Using a cookie scoop, carefully scoop batter into muffin pans and bake for 12 minutes.
While brownies bake, unwrap 36 pumpkin kisses.
After 12 minutes, remove pans from the oven and place one pumpkin kiss, upside down, into the top of each brownie bite. Push them down so they’re level with the top of the brownie.
Return pans to the oven for an additional 2-3 minutes or until set.
Remove from the oven to cooling racks.
Yield: about 36 brownie bites
