Halloween is here again, and in preparation of the spookiest night of the year, you might be keep to bake some delicious treats for yourself or any trick-or-treaters that come to your door.
And you can never go wrong with a delicious chocolate brownie, especially when it’s nice and crispy on the outside but gooey on the inside.
I decided to try my hand at some Halloween baking this week after coming across a viral recipe on TikTok with more than 10 million views to date – as it was simply too spooky and cute not to recreate.
And despite not being the most skilled baker, I was very surprised at how delicious this particular batch of brownies turned out.
The recipe was shared a video by Matilda Bakes, which was posted last year and has since racked up millions and millions of views. A simple brownie base is topped with melted milk chocolate, then white chocolate in the shape of little ghosts swirling around, the Express reports.
I don’t bake at home very often so I was initially concerned about how they’d turn out – especially the artistic topping, which took far longer to do than I’d care to admit.
But they definitely went down a treat with my family, and they had that classic fudgy brownie centre surrounded by a gorgeous crispy edge that’s just so moreish.
Here’s everything that you need to whip up this amazing treat before Halloween, and how I got on while making it. It’s worth noting that this recipe uses cup measurements, but you can find a handy converter here.
Ghost brownies
Ingredients – for the batter
- Two cups chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Two tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Four large eggs
- One cup flour
- One cup mini chocolate chips + chocolate bar pieces
- One tsp espresso powder
For the topping
- 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 bars cooking chocolate (milk)
- Sprinkles
Method
First, preheat the oven to 170C. Put the chocolate chips and butter in a large bowl and melt them – the recipe says to do it over the hob, but the microwave worked fine – just make sure to do it in 20 second bursts.
Once smooth, pour it into a mixing bowl along with the two kinds of sugar and cream together until everything is combined.
One by one, add the eggs, mixing the ingredients again in between each one. Then, add the vanilla, salt and espresso powder before sifting in the flour and chocolate chips.
Pour it into a lined baking tray and pop in the oven for around 35 minutes.
This was the part I was stressing about – the decorating. But first, you’ll want to make sure the brownie is completely cool, so transfer it to a wire rack.
I also noticed a massive crack had formed down the middle of mine, but it was getting covered in chocolate anyway so don’t worry if this happens.
For the topping, melt down the cooking chocolate and spread all over the top of the brownie, using a spatula to smooth it out. Then, melt the white chocolate too – you’re going to use this to make your ghosts.
It’s important to note that you’ll want to do this while the chocolate is still warm, as it’ll make it easier to form the shapes.
Use a teaspoon to place small blobs of white chocolate on to the top of the brownie, dragging out the bottom with a toothpick to make it look more ghost-like. You can also do this to make the arms as well.
Then, use the milk chocolate again to create their spooky faces.
I was truly sweating by this point and had accidentally drizzled white chocolate over half of the cake but I knew I couldn’t give up now. A quick dash of rainbow sprinkles over the top, and 20 minutes in the fridge, and they were ready to slice and serve.
They were rich, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth and everything you’d want a brownie to be. And they certainly looked the part, if a little on the messy side.
But I’d definitely recommend whipping these up if you fancy a Halloween treat that’s packed with chocolate and tastes unreal without being overly complicated.