For my son’s second birthday party I’m thinking of a construction theme as he is mad for anything with wheels and trucks are his favourite.
As I’m about everything cake, giving guests lolly bags just doesn’t seem right. Instead, I came up with the idea of making favour bags containing chocolate honeycomb brownies and a toy truck as a gift.
Here’s how it’s done….
Start by cutting butter into cubes and add 150 grams of dark chocolate. You can also use dairy milk if you would like the brownies to be super sweet but I’ve always found brownies are richer with dark chocolate. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a glass bowl over a low heat. Whilst the chocolate and butter is melting sift and combine all dry ingredients.
Don’t forget to check the melting chocolate and keep stirring every few minutes to avoid lumps and burning. Once melted, remove from heat to cool slightly… oh, look at the chocolate…yummy!
Time to add the eggs one at a time and then vanilla. Don’t worry if the mix is very dry and lumpy – this is normal.
Stir in the melted butter and chocolate. The mix will again be lumpy but that’s ok as it helps with the brownies chunkiness!
Mix in chocolate chips. If I wasn’t adding honeycomb I would have used bigger chocolate chips but these are the perfect size when adding another chocolate ingredient.
Preheat your oven to 170 degree Celsius (340 Fahrenheit). As I wanted thinner brownies for the favour bags I have used a 33 x 23cm (13 x 9 inch) rectangular tin. If you would like thicker brownies use a square tin however I would recommend doubling the quantity of the mixture so you have enough for the favour bags.
Pour in half of the brownie mix. The the texture will be a bit like a paste so you will need to spread it all over the tin. My favourite part… as I might have had a piece of honeycomb or two… chop honeycomb pieces in half and press into the mix. Allow space between otherwise the brownie will become one big honeycomb piece!
Pour remaining brownie mix over honeycomb pieces, don’t worry if the honeycomb is sticking out slightly as the brownies will rise during baking to cover.
Yum brownies baking! Bake for 35 – 40 minutes. You want the brownie to be a bit goey so when it hardens it will be moist.
The finished brownie! Allow 10 minutes to cool in pan before removing otherwise you risk it breaking into pieces.
The real fun begins – making the favour bags!
I would recommend making the favour bags the afternoon or morning prior to your party so the brownies are kept fresh. Refrigerate the brownies for at least two hours before cutting into small squares as this will limit breakage when packing into the favour bags.
Slice the brownies into small squares…look at that honeycomb!
Here is the assembly line for the Construction Party favour bags. You can really add any type of chunky chocolate you like. I’ve used chopped honeycomb and chocolate chips, but you might like to add Maltesers or yellow M&M’s.
Add three to four pieces of brownie to the favour bag. I’ve chosen cellophane bags so the brownies and gift can be clearly seen and look oh so good on display!
Time to add the honeycomb and chocolate chips plus any other chocolate you desire.
Add your gift, tie off with a ribbon and thank you tag.
I love these trucks from Mega Bloks . Inexpensive but a great toy that any boy would love! You can also buy other styles of truck for girls as well. If you are in Australia I purchased mine from a local Woolworths on sale for $1.95 each.
Matchbox also have a really great range of construction vehicles to, which I have included in the favour bags as well.
Makes approx 8 to 10 favour bags. If you are trying to save you could also make without the gift.
Here is the finished product! Happy Construction Party!
- 225 grams (8 ounces) unsalted butter
- 1¼ cups of sugar
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup of cocoa powder
- 2½ cups of plain flour
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla
- 150 grams (5 ounces) dark chocolate
- ½ cup of chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to a moderate 170 degrees Celsius (340 Fahrenheit)
- Melt 150 grams (8 ounces) of dark chocolate and unsalted butter together in saucepan or microwave
- Mix all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Sugar, cocoa and flour
- Gradually mix in each egg one by one
- Add vanilla extract
- Add melted chocolate and butter. Mix well until all combined
- Mix in ½ cup of chocolate chips
- Mixture will be fairly stiff and moist
- Pour half the brownie mix into 33 x 23 cm pan (13 x 9 inch)
- Slice honeycomb and layer
- Pour remaining brownie mix over the honeycomb layer. Brownie mix will be the consistency of a paste so you will need to spread the mixture over the honeycomb
- Bake for 40 minutes
- Brownies will come out of the oven a bit gooey however will harden once cooled