Halloween Brownies are fudgy, from-scratch brownies with a bright orange cream cheese swirl, topped with Halloween sprinkles and candy eyeballs. They're the easiest way to turn a pan of brownies into a spooky party treat!
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Who doesn't love a Halloween treat that looks impressive and spookily festive but is really just an easy-to-make pan of brownies?
These Halloween brownies start with a rich, fudgy batter made with melted chocolate, butter, and cocoa powder. Then, an easy bright orange cream cheese swirl runs right through the middle, so every square gets a little bit of cheesecake and a whole lot of Halloween color.
Obviously, I added a finishing touch of Halloween sprinkles and candy eyeballs pressed onto the top. Because candy eyes take any and all fall desserts from good to super fun and Halloween-ready.
If you're putting together a Halloween party spread, these fit right in next to my Halloween Party Popcorn and Halloween Trail Mix.
These brownies also happen to be some of the only Halloween desserts on my blog that don't involve candy corn!
🧡 Why this recipe works
The brownies are super fudgy: melted chocolate and cocoa powder give the brownies a double dose of chocolate flavor and the granulated and brown sugar combination keep them rich and chewy.
The orange swirl makes them even more Halloween festive and more delicious: a quick cream cheese layer gets tinted bright orange, so you get the Halloween look and a cheesecake brownie in one pan.
No complicated decorating involved: you just scatter sprinkles and press in candy eyeballs while the brownies are hot. Those, combined with the sprinkles and eyeballs, make this dessert look impressive without any decorating skills necessary.
🗒️ Ingredients
Here's everything you need for these Halloween brownies (be sure to view the recipe card at the bottom of this post for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions):
- Unsalted butter
- Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate: I recommend using a chocolate bar rather than chocolate chips, which tend to melt unevenly.
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Halloween sprinkles: optional for topping
- Candy eyeballs: optional for topping
And for the cream cheese swirl:
- Cream cheese: softened
- Granulated sugar
- Egg yolk
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Orange gel food coloring
🍫 Recipe tips
- I recommend using a double boiler for making the brownie batter as it makes it easy to control melting process and to get an even batter.
- If you don't have a double boiler, you can always make your own by placing a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water in the pot). Just make sure the bowl fits perfectly over the pot as you don't want steam escaping and getting into the chocolate.
- Melt the chocolate and butter at a gentle simmer and stir just until the butter and chocolate are just melted and smooth.
- Fold the dry ingredients in gently. Stop as soon as you don't see any streaks of flour or cocoa. Over-mixing can make the brownies cakey instead of fudgy.
- For the cream cheese swirl, make sure the cream cheese is slightly softened before beating as cold cream cheese can leave lumps in the swirl. I like to beat it with a hand mixer so it's completely smooth before adding the color.
- Add a little gel food coloring at a time until you get a bright pumpkin orange color. Gel colors are concentrated, so a small amount goes a long way.
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- Reserve about ½ cup of brownie batter to dollop between the cream cheese dollops to get a marbled look on top instead of a solid orange layer.
- Swirl the brownie batter and cream cheese swirl together gently with a few drags of a knife. You don't want the colors to muddy.
- Add sprinkles and candy eyeballs right when the brownies come out of the oven. If you wait, it will be harder to get them to stick.
- Then let the brownies cool for at least 15 minutes (I set them on a wire rack) before slicing.
And you're ready to enjoy Halloween brownies that are super fudgy and chocolatey, with a tangy, cheesecake swirl running through every square.
The sprinkles add a little crunch and the candy eyeballs make each piece look like a little monster. Which is always fun during the Halloween season!
They're the kind of treat that disappears from a party table in minutes. And nobody needs to know the decorating took you less than a minute!
⏲️ How to store
Because of the cream cheese swirl, store leftover brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
I like to let them sit out for a few minutes before serving so they soften back up a bit.
🎉 Variations on recipe
Once you have the brownie base down, there are so many ways you can change them up. Here are some ideas:
- Instead of making them from scratch, use a box of fudge brownie mix for the base and top it with the same orange cream cheese swirl.
- Swap the orange gel coloring for purple or green or use a combination of colors.
- Stir ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice into the cream cheese swirl for a festive flavor.
- Fold mini chocolate chips or peanut butter chips into the brownie batter.
- Chop up Halloween Oreo cookies and scatter them over the top before baking.
- Press candy corn into the top instead of candy eyeballs.
- Top with chopped leftover Halloween candy, like peanut butter cups or Kit Kats.
- Swap some of the cocoa powder for black cocoa for an extra dark, spooky brownie.
- Drizzle melted white chocolate across the top in lines to make mummy brownies, with the candy eyeballs peeking out.
- Pipe melted white chocolate in circles and drag a toothpick from the center out to make a spiderweb.
Honestly, you can make these Halloween brownies appropriate for any holiday or season by using different colors of cream cheese swirl and different sprinkles and toppings.
👻 More Halloween treat recipes
If you're hosting or attending any Halloween parties this season, be sure to check out some of my favorite treats for a crowd:
And I have even more Halloween recipes where those came from!
I'm so happy to have these Halloween Brownies in my spooky season lineup. They're fudgy, festive, and the decorating takes less than a minute.
Bring them to your Halloween celebrations and let me know what everyone thinks in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
Halloween Brownies
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter
- 4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chopped (I recommend using chocolate bars, chopped. Chocolate chips won't melt well)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Halloween sprinkles optional for topping
- Candy eyeballs optional for topping
Orange Cream Cheese Swirl
- 6 oz cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- Orange gel food coloring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
- Add butter and chopped chocolate to a double boiler (or in a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan with water) and bring water in the bottom of boiler to a simmer. Stir gently until mixture is just melted and smooth.
- Whisk in both sugars, eggs one at a time, and vanilla. Fold in cocoa powder, flour, and salt just until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, beat cream cheese swirl ingredients together until smooth (I like to use a hand mixer). Tint with gel coloring to a bright shade of orange.
- Reserve about ½ cup of brownie batter and spread the rest in the bottom of the prepared pan. Dollop cream cheese mixture over it, add remaining brownie batter in between, and drag a knife through to gently swirl.
- Bake 30-38 minutes, until the cream cheese is set and a toothpick inserted into brownies comes out mostly clean with moist crumbs.
- Remove brownies from oven, add sprinkles, and gently press in candy eyeballs. Let pan cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before removing brownies from pan and slicing into squares.
Notes
- Because of the cream cheese swirl, store leftover brownies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
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