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Can you say ultimate holiday brownie?

Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

I don’t know about you guys, but to me, these brownies just scream holidays to me. Do you see all that chocolate? And I mean, come on? All that yummy frosting?!?

These guys are my idea of the ultimate brownie. The brownie itself is chocolatey, fudgy and all things perfect. I swirled in some chopped pieces of chocolate to make them extra fudgy. I decided to leave out the nuts so that the frosting could really shine…and trust me, it does! Butter pecan on its own is delicious, but butter pecan on top of brownies? Yeah, I think you see where I’m going with these.

Who needs pie when you have brownies like these? Eeer, ok, well I can’t actually give up pie on Thanksgiving. I mean not when you’ve got this pie happening, so BOTH brownies and pie will be on our table. Yes, both it will be! 🙂 I know, it’s kind of a lot of chocolate, but since it’s Thanksgiving, and since we all love chocolate, and since I’ve got these cookies as a non chocolate option…yeah, I feel like we can all handle it!!

And guys! Happy Friday before Thanksgiving! I cannot believe we are less than a week away. Are you guys excited? We finally had our first real snowfall yesterday and I am so happy! I feel like it really is the holidays now! The weather has been so weird this year. Normally by Thanksgiving we have hard packed snow and the temps are cold, but this year we had more snow in October then November and the temps had been going up into the 50’s and 60’s during the day! People around here were definitely starting to worry. I live in a ski town, so I guess that’s to be expected, but I can’t lie, even I was starting to wonder where the heck the snow was. I mean, December is right around the corner!

Anyway, it came and all is good with the world, and now we need to talk Thanksgiving butter pecan frosted fudge brownies, obviously.

Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvestButter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvestButter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

When I was brainstorming Thanksgiving dessert recipes, I thought I really wanted to make a pecan pie, but the problem was that I just could not think up an idea that was better than my mom’s pie. Mom’s pecan pie is the best, but I think it’s a pretty traditional chocolate (of course) pecan pie, plus I remembered that I already have a pecan pumpkin pie on the blog. Plus, I really just wanted to share something fun and new that would be great for both Thanksgiving and Christmas entertaining.

Enter these brownies, they’re different, but not so different that you don’t want to make them. Sometimes I feel like recipes can get a little too overcomplicated. Don’t get me wrong I love having fun and playing with my recipes, but when it comes to holiday food, I like to keep it somewhat traditional, but with a twist.

So I made us pecan pie inspired brownies with the best frosting in all the land. No seriously, this frosting is the best. You may recall me using it on these cupcakes. <–these are soooo good…you should probably check these out too!

The butter pecan flavor here is no joke. The frosting is made up of butter, brown sugar and pecans. Sounds simple, but melting the butter and brown sugar together creates almost a butterscotch flavor which is delicious atop these extra chocolatey brownies.

Like SO good.

Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

What’s great about these brownies is that you can make them completely in advance, which I find to be pretty awesome. They also travel really well, just keep them in a single layer so that the frosting doesn’t get all smooshed and weird looking.

But if that happens, don’t worry, they will still taste delish!

And finally, if you’re not making a Thanksgiving dessert this year, may I highly suggest you bake these up as a special Friday treat? I think that’s really the only thing to do actually.

Hey, it is the Friday before Thanksgiving, so why the heck not?

Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 20 Brownies
Calories Per Serving: 438 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

Butter Pecan Frosting

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
  • Add the butter and chocolate to a medium microwave safe mixing bowl. Microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted and smooth. To the melted chocolate whisk in the sugar, vanilla and eggs and until smooth. Stir in the cocoa powder, flour and salt until just combined, try not to over mix the batter. It will be thick. Stir in chopped chocolate. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it in an even layer. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the brownies are set on top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  • Meanwhile, make the frosting. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a medium sauce pan, melt together 4 tablespoons butter, the cream, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute or until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl in the freezer (or fridge for longer) for 15-20 minutes or until cool to touch.
  • On a parchment lined baking sheet, combine the pecans, bourbon - if using, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon and toss to coat. Transfer to the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted. Remove, let cool 10 minutes, then roughly chop the pecans.
  • Grab the cooled butter mixture from the freezer and add the remaining 8 tablespoons butter, remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla and powdered sugar to the bowl and beat together until well combined. Fold in half of the chopped pecans. Spread the frosting onto the cooled brownies. Top with remaining pecans, using as many as desired. Slice and serve or store in and airtight container.

Notes

Brownies can be baked and frosted up to one day in advance. Keep stored in an airtight container.
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Butter Pecan Frosted Fudge Brownies | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Yes, brownies for the win!!

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Comments

  1. Is the milk/dark chocolate in the recipe from a regular chocolate candy bar, or is it the unsweetened bakers chocolate that comes in squares? Hoping to make this for Christmas!

    1. Hi Mary,
      I like to use something like Lindt or Chocolove. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan

      1. I like to use Chocolove, too! I use the 65% (red package) in a lot of baking and it yields great results. Would that be good in this?

  2. I want to make these for Thanksgiving dessert. Do you use an sweetened dark chocolate or would a semi-sweet chocolate work? I don’t want it to be too sweet.

    1. Hey Rose,
      I like to use dark chocolate or milk chocolate for this recipe. Please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan

  3. 5 stars
    This was my first attempt at making homemade brownies, I’ve always taken the easy road and just made the boxed stuff. These turned out amazing! They were more fudge-like brownies versus cake-like brownies so they were super rich. The pralines and frosting were such a delicious addition to top it off. I used some leftovers and mixed it in with vanilla ice cream to make a “DQ blizzard” and that was also fabulous.

  4. 5 stars
    Just made these tonight. My husband said “I don’t even like brownies and these are amazing”. Can’t wait to share with my family tomorrow. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!

  5. Hi! Can I make the batter & frosting a day in advance and store them in separate containers in the fridge? I won’t bake them or frost them until the day of – but just checking! Let me know, thanks!

  6. These are delicious! Decadent and indulgent. I cut the recipe in half and used an 8×8 pan. Baked up perfectly in about 20 minutes.

    The frosting did give me a little trouble. It never quite whipped up/firmed up and was pretty gooey (maybe that’s the point?). Still delicious.

  7. I made the brownies but used a glass dish and I think it affected the texture. Any suggestions?! These look so incredibly delicious and gooey! I have to perfect it!

    1. Hey Carden,
      Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, yes the glass pan could have affected the texture. So sorry about that! xTieghan

  8. 5 stars
    I just made these and first of all, the batter was TO DIE FOR!! I am a bit brownie obsessed and this one is the best I’ve ever had. Cooked and with the frosting? I mean come on, it was out of this world. We had company over and all were loving it. I wish it was health food so I could eat them every day.

    1. Haha don’t we all! But its all about balance! I am really glad these turned out so well for you, Afton! Thank you for trying these! xTieghan

  9. I actually made this and it was not good at all. The brownies were very dry and the sugar frosting was overly sweet. Wasted a lot of ingredients. I will not make this again.

    1. Hi Sophie! I am really sorry to hear that. Is there anything that could have gone wrong while making this? I would love to help! xTieghan

  10. 5 stars
    Amazing!!! I was asked to bring a devilicious sweet dessert to a Halloween party and made these! The frosting is so buttery and decadent! Brownies so moist and chocolatey. I chose dark chocolate and left the chopped nuts out of frosting but still put the bourbon candied pecan halves over the top making it easy for guests who prefer no nuts to easily remove. They were a hit!! Thank you Tieghan!❤

  11. I just love your recipes. Pecans are my favorite in cookies or what ever they are the best. Thanks for sharing these awesome recipes with us.

    1. I would not freeze them frosted, but you can freeze the brownie portion and then frost after frozen. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe. Thank you! ?

      1. Great – will definately let you know – am using as dessert for a dinner party tomorrow and frosting right before i serve!

        Many thanks!!!!!!

      2. how are you supposed to mix the frozen butter mixture with the sugar and remaining butter..? It is so rock hard! Or do you wait until it comes to room temperature?
        Apologies probably me being the dumb one!

        Thanks!!

        1. Hi! The butter should be at room temperature. So very soft to touch and easily spreadable. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂

  12. Hi Tieghan,

    I was wondering, if I wanted to bake the brownies in a 9×9 inch pan (I like my brownies taller) how much do you think this would affect the baking time? Am planning on making some for coworkers this week. Should I add another 10-15 minutes?

    Thanks,
    Gwen

    1. Hey Gwen! So I think this might be a lot of batter for a 9×9 inch pan. I haven’t tried it, but that is just my thinking. I would give it a test run first and yes, another 10-15 minutes should do it. Let me know if you have questions. Hope the brownies are a hit! Thank you!