What Makes This Recipe So Good
These Hocus Pocus spellbook brownies are a ridiculously easy treat, and they’re SO much fun to make. Don’t panic if your artistic skills won’t get you a showing at The Met anytime soon – these are totally foolproof. You can let your kiddos get in on the decorating action, too, and make a whole spooky day of it.Unlike Winnie’s Manual of Witchcraft and Alchemy, we’re skipping the human-skin cover and going with something much more palatable… chocolate! The brownie tops give these edible spellbooks that perfect “skin cover” texture, so you still get a visually spooky treat that’ll look amazing on any Halloween party snack table.You’ll use your favorite boxed brownie mix for these brownies, so they can be every bit as fudgy or as rich or as crackly as you want them to be! Make them vegan or gluten free, or you can even use my Perfect Paleo Brownies recipe for paleo Hocus Pocus spellbooks.
Chef’s Tips
The cookie icing is super easy to make yourself, but you’re welcome to use store-bought black cookie or royal icing if you’d rather. I really like that this one doesn’t end up hard and crunchy, but it firms up enough that you can stack the brownies safely without worrying about smudging, smearing, or smooshing your design. To be sure you’ve got the right icing consistency, just lift your whisk! The icing will drizzle off the whisk and onto the surface of the icing in the bowl below – if it stays on top for a few seconds before settling back in to the rest of the mix, you’re good to go.I used a little activated charcoal to get that rich black coloring to my icing. You can use actual black food coloring if you want, just be careful not to overdo it. Too much food coloring throws off the flavor of the icing (and the brownies) and can really ruin an otherwise delicious treat.Line your brownie pan with parchment paper first, leaving enough parchment paper hanging out on either side so you can use it to lift your Hocus Pocus brownies out of the pan after baking. It’s way easier than trying to fish them out with a spatula, and you’re way less likely to break or damage the brownie books.
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