December can be dangerous.

Especially when I find myself inspired to make things like chocolate Christmas trees that perch on sprinkle-coated brownies.

And it all started because I was hungry when I walked past the candy melts in the grocery store.  Never shop hungry.

Anyway, the result was these adorable chocolate Christmas trees, which I placed on top of little, square brownies that represent crunchy Christmas presents.  :)

Before baking the brownies, I coated the top with nonpareils.  While the brownies were baking, I melted the green candy in a baggy in the microwave (at 50% power).

Once the chocolate was melted, I snipped off a very small point on the corner of the baggy, and squeezed out the chocolate onto waxed paper in the pattern of a Christmas tree.

To make the trees, I went back and forth, tracing out a triangle shape.  Make sure the lines are thick enough and enough of them are touching each other.  If the lines are too thin and too far apart, the trees will probably break.  Also, be sure to draw a “trunk” at the bottom of the tree, so that you can stick it into the brownies.

As soon as you draw a tree, stick a flower or star-shaped large sprinkle at the top, preferably in yellow to represent the tree star, and sprinkle nonpareils over the rest of the tree, to represent the ornaments.

I used Christmas colored nonpareils, but you could also use the normal multicolored ones.  I used the same nonpareils for the brownies and trees.  And for the tree star, I used flower sprinkles that are available year round.  Those are easy to reuse for other holidays, since all I needed were a handful of the yellow ones.

Let the trees completely cool and harden.  A couple hours is best.  You could also draw them on a cookie sheet that you place in the fridge if you’re in a hurry.

Once the brownies and trees are both completely cooled, cut the brownies into squares.  In the center of each brownie, use your knife or a toothpick to break through the shell of sprinkles and make a little hole for the trees.

The chocolate trees are fragile, so you don’t want to have to put much pressure on them to get them into the brownie.  Gently, but securely, insert the trunk of the tree into the hole in the brownie while holding the tree as close to the bottom of the “branches” as possible, instead of pushing it from the top.

You don’t need a whole bag of candy melts to make trees for one tray of brownies.  About half should do it.

But I made extras because these chocolate trees will keep fresh in a container for, well, at least the rest of the season.  I’m saving my extras for the cookie trays.  :)