Coconut Brownie Nests

Make Easter "egg"stra special this year with these decadent brownie nests, which are packed full of flavorful coconut and then topped with a swirl of royal icing and decorated with a few candy chocolate eggs. They're a sweet chocolatey way to say "Welcome Spring."

Whoever scheduled Easter this year royally screwed up. Sure the flowers are beginning to actively bloom and the days are becoming warmer, but it’s not even April yet. Madness I tell you. Shouldn’t there be a written in stone law that Easter can only be celebrated in the month of April? March is for St. Patrick’s Day, and holiday overachievers like I, are stuck rushing around in overdrive in order to transform our houses from one holiday to the next when Easter falls in the same month. Why don’t the calendar maker powers that be understand this? For Pete’s sake, we have even been forced to delay our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for Money to the second week of April, due to the fact that Easter is taking place so early this year and that we also have one more week to patiently await the delivery of our annual mulch shipment. As we all know, the arrival of Boy Scout mulch is the true mark that spring has arrived. Maybe the calendar maker powers that be should get together with the Boy Scouts when scheduling Easter. Just saying.

So let’s sit and chat a bit about these brownies. Yes, they’re lovely, but here’s the thing, they taste even better. I myself can always do without the icing on top, but only because as you are now well aware of, I am not an icing type of girl. M&M’s are always a good thing though, but once again they don’t need to actually be placed on top of the brownies. You could totally just eat a bite of brownie, eat a few M&M’s, take another huge bite of brownie, eat a handful of M&M’s, eat three more brownies, polish off an entire bag of M&M’s. You get the point, right? If you yourself just happen to be all about the icing, but don’t feel up to making royal icing, you can also use buttercream, The Best Basic Cream Cheese Icing, or store-bought frosting instead. Whatever works for you. Just don’t forget the M&M’s. Perhaps you should buy an extra bag or two. You can never have enough. P.S. The new Malt M&M’s Mini Eggs are pretty special, and by special I mean that you will have absolutely no difficulty making a bag disappear in one sitting as you wait for the Boy Scouts to deliver your annual shipment of mulch.

Make Easter "egg"stra special this year with these decadent brownie nests, which are packed full of flavorful coconut and then topped with a swirl of royal icing and decorated with a few candy chocolate eggs. They're a sweet chocolatey way to say "Welcome Spring."

Ingredients:

Brownies:

  • 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 3-oz. Milk or Dark Chocolate
  • 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Lightly Packed
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Teaspoons Coconut Extract
  • 2/3 Cup Cocoa
  • 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 Cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut

Royal Icing & Decoration:

  • 1 Teaspoon Meringue Powder
  • 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 9 Teaspoons Water
  • M&M’s Eggs

Make Easter "egg"stra special this year with these decadent brownie nests, which are packed full of flavorful coconut and then topped with a swirl of royal icing and decorated with a few candy chocolate eggs. They're a sweet chocolatey way to say "Welcome Spring."

Directions:

Brownies:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  2. On low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until just melted.
  3. On medium speed, mix the sugars, eggs, and extracts together for 3 minutes.
  4. Add the melted butter and chocolate mixture; mix for an additional 2 minutes.
  5. Add the cocoa and salt; mix for 1 minute.
  6. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined.
  7. Use a spatula to gently fold in the coconut.
  8. Pour the batter into a 13×9 metal cake pan, lined with parchment paper.
  9. Bake for 35 minutes.

Royal Icing & Decoration:

  1. After the brownies have cooled, use a small round cookie cutter to cut the brownies.
  2. On low speed, mix the meringue powder, powdered sugar, and water together.
  3. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  4. When the icing has come together, mix it for 5 minutes on medium speed.
  5. Place the icing into a decorating bag with a star tip and pipe nests onto each brownie circle.
  6. Top immediately with M&M’s.

Make Easter "egg"stra special this year with these decadent brownie nests, which are packed full of flavorful coconut and then topped with a swirl of royal icing and decorated with a few candy chocolate eggs. They're a sweet chocolatey way to say "Welcome Spring."

Suggestions:

  • If you don’t have decorating bags or tips, use a large Ziploc bag with the tip cut off to pipe rounds of icing onto each brownie.
  • You may need to add more powdered sugar or more water to the royal icing to achieve the correct consistency.
  • Store the brownies in a single layer inside of an airtight container.
  • Freeze any leftover brownie scraps for future use in ice cream sundaes.

Make Easter "egg"stra special this year with these decadent brownie nests, which are packed full of flavorful coconut and then topped with a swirl of royal icing and decorated with a few candy chocolate eggs. They're a sweet chocolatey way to say "Welcome Spring."

Improvements:

Coconut Brownie Nests

Coconut Brownie Nests

Ingredients:

    Brownies:
  • 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 3-oz. Milk or Dark Chocolate
  • 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Lightly Packed
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2 Teaspoons Coconut Extract
  • 2/3 Cup Cocoa
  • 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 Cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
  • Royal Icing & Decoration:
  • 1 Teaspoon Meringue Powder
  • 2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
  • 9 Teaspoons Water
  • Candy Eggs

Directions:

    Brownies:
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  2. On low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until just melted.
  3. On medium speed, mix the sugars, eggs, and extracts together for 3 minutes.
  4. Add the melted butter and chocolate mixture; mix for an additional 2 minutes.
  5. Add the cocoa and salt; mix for 1 minute.
  6. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just combined.
  7. Use a spatula to gently fold in the coconut.
  8. Pour the batter into a 13x9 metal cake pan, lined with parchment paper.
  9. Bake for 35 minutes.
  10. Royal Icing & Decoration:
  11. After the brownies have cooled, use a small round cookie cutter to cut the brownies.
  12. On low speed, mix the meringue powder, powdered sugar, and water together.
  13. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  14. When the icing has come together, mix it for 5 minutes on medium speed.
  15. Place the icing into a decorating bag with a star tip and pipe nests onto each brownie circle.
  16. Top immediately with candy eggs.
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Make Easter "egg"stra special this year with these decadent brownie nests, which are packed full of flavorful coconut and then topped with a swirl of royal icing and decorated with a few candy chocolate eggs. They're a sweet chocolatey way to say "Welcome Spring."

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