Description
Spooky and fun Halloween Brownies with royal icing and candy eyeballs – perfect for parties and trick-or-treat night!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Brownies
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more for greasing the pan)
- 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
- 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- Candy eyeballs, for decorating
For the Royal Icing
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2½ tablespoons meringue powder
- ¼ cup water (plus more if needed to adjust consistency)
Instructions
- Prep the pan and oven.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with butter and lightly dust it with flour. Tap out any excess. - Make the brownie batter.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder until smooth and glossy. - Add eggs and vanilla.
Let the mixture cool slightly, then whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. Stir in the vanilla extract. - Combine dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Gradually add this to the wet ingredients, stirring just until combined. Do not overmix. - Bake.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter). Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. - Make the royal icing.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar and meringue powder. Add water and beat using a hand mixer (or whisk well by hand) for about 5 minutes, until icing is thick, glossy, and forms stiff peaks. Add more water a teaspoon at a time to loosen if needed for piping. - Decorate.
Transfer royal icing to a piping bag or plastic sandwich bag with a small hole cut at the tip. Pipe spooky designs on the brownies — spiderwebs, stitched mouths, mummy wrappings, or ghosts. Press candy eyeballs into the wet icing before it hardens. - Dry and serve.
Let the icing set for at least 1 hour. Then cut brownies into squares and serve!
Notes
For cleaner cuts, chill the brownies for 30 minutes before slicing.
You can color the royal icing using gel food coloring — try orange, purple, or green for a Halloween vibe.
Use a toothpick to help drag icing into web or swirl shapes.
Royal icing will harden as it dries, so work quickly when attaching candy.
Store undecorated brownies at room temperature for a day or two; decorated ones are best within 2 days.
Keywords: Halloween Brownies