Da [chocolate cherry] Bomb

Yep, tryin' new things in the new year. This time: Chocolate Cherry Brownie Bombs. You pretty much can't go wrong with a name like that, right?

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I've been intrigued by cake pops since they started gaining popularity a few years back, but I've never screwed up the courage motivation to give 'em a go. These are kind of a hybrid - Perfect for a first timer because if they turn out ugly, they're getting covered by chocolate anyway, and no sticks to deal with either. Win.

Score: Fresh brownies in the bowl, the crunchy crust for me!

Shout out to the amazing Lisa of WineAndGlue for coming up with this gem. They're hitting a work baby shower (are these kids raining from the sky, or what?!) today... Here's hoping they're as tasty as they look!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Brownie Bombs (as seen on WineAndGlue.com)

• 1 box of brownie mix and the fixin’s it takes to make them
• 1 can of chocolate frosting
• 3 to 4 cups of milk chocolate chocolate chips
• 1 can of cherry pie filling

1. Bake the brownies as directed and let cool completely.  Do not overcook the brownies, crunchy brownie bits don’t make for good bombs.
2. Crumble the made brownies and mix in about 3/4 a cup of chocolate frosting.  If you’ve made cake pops before, you want a similar consistency.  You may need to add a little more, but you want to start out on the low side and add more if you need it.
3. Once you have it the consistency needed (stays together easily but isn’t too sticky to roll into balls), start with about 1 TBSP of brownie frosting mixture.  Form it into a ball, but then make a hole in the middle that you can drop one cherry from the pie filling into.
4. Top with a little more of the brownie/frosting mixture and do your best to seal the cherry in.
5. Once you have all your bombs made, pop them in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
6. While they are hardening up in the freezer, melt your chocolate.  You may need a little more or a little less depending on how heavily you coat the bombs.
7. After the 20 minutes, take them out of the freezer and keep them in the refrigerator.  Working one bomb at a time, drop it into the melted chocolate, pull it back out, and tap off the excess chocolate.
8. Place it on wax paper and wait for it to dry completely.

*FYI: I used a 'family size' box of brownie mix in a 13x9 pan, followed the directions in the recipe, and got about 20 bombs. Also: Mine are not perfect, shiny little bon-bons like the ones in Lisa's picture, but dang it, they're not bad for a first timer!