Show your Valentine how much you love them with these Hugs & Kisses brownies! This boxed brownie is leveled up with mini chocolate chips and a Nutella swirl to make them even more chocolatey and decadent, while still being super easy to make.

Tips:

You can use any boxed brownies that you like! My favorite are Pillsbury chocolate fudge or Ghirardelli double chocolate.

It’s best to make the brownies ahead of time because you have to wait until they are completely before cutting them. Otherwise your brownies will not cut as easily into the heart / square shapes and the frosting will melt. I find it easiest to bake the night before, then assemble the day I’m going to serve them.

Use whatever frosting you’d like! I’m a big fan of French buttercream and find that it pairs really well and doesn’t overpower the brownies. However, it is more labor intense to make, so do what works best for you and your time constraints!

Hugs & Kisses Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 box brownie mix, you favorite brand

• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

• 1/4 cup Nutella

• Pink frosting, any kind you’d like - I made French buttercream, see below for recipe

• M&Ms cupid’s mix

• Heart icing decorations

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, prepare brownie mix according to the box. Add mini chocolate chips into the batter and fold in until just combined. In a parchment lined 9x9 square cake pan, pour in brownie batter and evenly smooth out the top

• In a small bowl, heat Nutella for 30 seconds and stir. If the Nutella doesn’t have a runny consistency yet, heat again for another 15 seconds and stir. Drizzle over the top of the brownie batter and swirl into the batter with a butter knife. Bake according to the directions on the brownie box

• Let brownies cool completely, remove from pan and cut the brownies into 3 columns. Take heart shaped cookie cutter and cut 3 brownie hearts in one of the columns. Cut the other two columns into 3 rows for a total of 6 square brownies

• Frost all the brownies and place heart icing decorations in the middle of the heart shaped brownies and place M&Ms in an X and O pattern on the square shaped brownies. Store brownies in an airtight container, depending on the frosting you use, they may need to be store in the refrigerator for safe keeping. With French buttercream, I store them in the refrigerator and take them out 30 minutes prior to serving

French Buttercream Recipe

• 1 egg

• 1 1/2 tbsp water

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 7 tbsp butter, softened

• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• pink food coloring

Instructions:

• Beat egg in an stand mixer with the whisk attachment until it has tripled in size

• In a small saucepan add water and sprinkle sugar over the top. Over medium heat allow sugar to melt into the water creating a syrup. Heat the syrup to 240 degrees F

• Slowly and carefully stream the hot sugar syrup into the egg while the mixer is on low to medium speed. Continue beating, once the egg mixture is completely cool from the hot sugar, add in the butter one tbsp at a time. Be careful not to add in before the egg mixture is cool or the butter will begin to melt. Once the butter is fully added and whipped together, pour in the vanilla extract and pink food coloring. Beat until combined and creamy. Use right away or store in the refrigerator