There are a few Christmas party themes that always come to mind this time of year. Ugly Sweater, cookie exchange, white elephant gift exchange, Elf, and of course The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I’m a big Dr. Seuss fan so I absolutely love all the fun colors and whimsical Who-things down in Who-Ville so it was a no brainer to make some fun Grinch brownies for this year’s Christmas treat plate! And this won’t be the only Grinchy idea I’m sharing this year. I love the idea of a Grinch party so much be prepared for all the Grinch recipes and Grinch games coming at you soon! These Grinch brownies went viral on TikTok for a reason. They’re not only super cute with the green chocolate ganache + candy hearts on top, they’re also super yummy. Great for any upcoming Christmas celebrations you need to bring treats to! They’d be super cute with these Christmas treat tags!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Homemade brownies – while regular boxed brownies are delicious, there’s something special about starting these with a homemade brownie layer. They’re soft and super flavorful!Cute Christmas treat – everyone likes cute Christmas cookies and these brownies take it up a notch by being immediately recognizable as Grinch brownies with the green ganache topping and heart sprinkles on top! Mint flavor – while these don’t have the same mint flavor that my Grinch cupcakes do, the Mint Oreos inside do give them a yummy hint of mint. And don’t you just think of mint when you see that Grinch green color? I think it’s a perfect addition to these treats!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
How to Make Grinch Brownies
While these brownies are a little more difficult than making a box of brownies, they’re still not tough. It’s just a matter of adding ingredients together then baking. And the end result is totally worth a little more added effort! Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Then line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper or foil, making sure the parchment paper is long enough to go over the ends of the baking dish. This will make cleanup and perfect cutting so much easier! I also recommend spraying the parchment paper but it’s not absolutely necessary – just guarantees they won’t stick!
Make the Brownies
The first thing you need to do is make the homemade brownies. We’ll talk about that pretty green ganache a bit later on.
Add your butter and semi-sweet chocolate chips to a double boiler on the stove and let them melt together. Once melted, whisk together to combine completely.
After they’re combined, add your vegetable oil to the chocolate mixture and mix it in well.
While the chocolate mixture is melting (it takes a few minutes), combine the sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, eggs, and egg yolks in a large bowl and mix. You can either do this in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or just by hand. It comes together pretty easily.
Add the finished chocolate mixture to your sugar mixture and whisk until everything is well combined. I feel like I say that phrase a lot but that’s really what you’re doing – combining them until it’s just one mixture.
Gently fold in the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture.
Keep folding gently with a silicone spatula until the dry ingredients are just mixed into the wet ingredients. You don’t want to over mix or you may end up with tougher brownies than you want.
Pour the brownie batter into the baking pan you prepped earlier then place 12 Mint Oreos on top of the batter, then gently press down so they are engulfed into the brownie batter.
I like to space the Oreos out so that if you cut the brownies into 12 bars, everyone would get a brownie in their piece.
Place the brownies in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until you can put a toothpick in and it comes out cleanly. A little cooked brownie on it is fine, but you don’t want it to still have gooey brownie batter on it.
Remove from the oven and let the brownies cool while you make your ganache.
Make the grinch Ganache
Put your white chocolate chips in a medium bowl that’s heat safe. You’ll see why in a minute. Then heat your heavy cream on the stove over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, don’t let it boil. As soon as it’s simmering, pour the hot cream all over the chocolate and let it sit for three minutes before stirring. Stir the chocolate and cream to combine, keep stirring until you get a nice creamy ganache. Add a few drops of the food coloring and stir. Add more food coloring if necessary and stir in completely until you get the color you want. I added about five total drops but it’s all dependent on how much you get out in each drop, etc.
Finish the Grinch Brownies
Pour the melted ganache over top of the baked brownies and spread them out with a knife. Sprinkle the heart sprinkles over the brownies, making sure each bar will have some hearts when cut. Let the brownies sit for at least an hour before cutting to allow the ganache to set on top. It will never harden, but it will set enough to allow you to cut them. Remove the parchment paper from the baking dish, peel the parchment away from the brownies, and cut into your desired amount of squares to serve.
Expert Tips
Use a silicone spatula to spread out the brownies in the pan and again to spread out the ganache. It spreads things out smoother and doesn’t stick as much as a knife. Make sure to push the Mint Oreos down into the brownie batter. If you bake them right at the top, they’ll be visible through the green ganache on top. If you forget, you can always lightly press them down once the brownies are baked as well, or even after the ganache is on top (when you see them popping through). Double up on the sprinkles by adding red holiday sprinkles and the red sprinkle hearts. Or if you want to make these just Christmas brownies, you can skip the hearts altogether and just make them red and green brownies. Store the brownies in an airtight container or back in the pan topped with plastic wrap for up to five days.
More Easy Brownie Recipes
If you like brownies, you’ll love these other delicious recipes that use brownies!
Christmas tree brownies – boxed brownies become a fun holiday treat with the addition of a Christmas tree on top! Brownie balls – if you like brownies, you’ll love these yummy brownie balls that combine baked brownies and chocolate together! Like Oreo balls but brownies!Brownie Batter Dip – brownie mix becomes an incredible dessert dip that’s perfect for the holiday season! Brownie fruit pizza – you’ve likely had fruit pizza before but have you ever had brownie fruit pizza? A sweet crust topped with a creamy whipped topping and lots of fresh fruit makes this one a winner!Chocolate brownie cake – these are just like the old-fashioned brownies that you used to get at school or from grandparents! A fudgey brownie topped with a chocolate frosting, these are so good!
