Have you bought the brownie brittle from the grocery store? I know that I pick it up and put it back almost every time I am at the grocery store. I have to put it back because I know that I will eat basically the whole bag…in..one…sitting. Sad, I know. A few years ago, I found this recipe from Carla Hall while she was on the Chew for brownie crackers and I made it. I haven’t thought about it in a while, but since the brownie brittle has been calling my name, I thought it was a good time to pull this one out and give it another try. It is a great alternative to fudgy brownies and worth a try!
To prepare, place about 1 inch of water in a small sauce pan and bring it to a simmer. Make sure you have a heat safe bowl that will fit over it but not touch the water. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray it with grapeseed oil (or any other oil/cooking spray). Set it aside.
The ingredients needed for this recipe are, 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 egg whites, 1/3 cup all purpose flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt & flaky salt for topping. (I ended up doubling the recipe because I wanted to have enough to share – the doubled measurements are pictured above)
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set this aside.
In the heat safe bowl, combine the butter, chocolate, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Place the bowl over the simmering water and stir until all the ingredients are melted and combined. Pull the bowl off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, about 5-10 minutes.
Add the egg whites to the batter and stir. Then add the dry ingredients into the batter and stir until it is smooth.
Pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and spread it out until it reaches the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the flaky sea salt on top before baking. I decided to dollop some Biscoff cookie spread on to the top of one side of the batter also – I wasn’t quite sure what would happen during the baking.
Bake in the 375 F degree oven for 8 minutes, then take the pan out and bang it 3 or 4 times on the counter to knock the air out of it. Rotate it 180 degrees and place it back in the oven for 8 more minutes or until it has dried out and is crisp. Allow the brownies to cool completely on the baking sheet to finish drying out. As you can see above, the batter actually rose up higher than I was anticipating and enveloped the Biscoff spread creating some crazy pockets of yumminess later. But…the batter actually also spilled out onto the bottom of my oven…I still have some work to do to figure out pan size.
Once it is cool, break it into pieces and serve.
Final Thoughts:
- This is not actually a very pretty looking recipe when all is said and done, but it is quite a delicious treat – and slightly addicting
- These brownie crackers would be delicious with different toppings – the Biscoff worked well
- They would also be wonderful served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
- The edges are the only thing on mine that really get crispy, the rest is still chewy but a much different texture than most brownies.
- It is really easy to double this recipe – but it is probably best baked in 2 pans
Recipe: Brownie Crack-ers
Ingredients
- grapeseed oil/cooking spray (for greasing)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 egg whites
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray/grapeseed oil spray.
- Place 1-inch of water in a small saucepan and place over medium heat until simmering. In a medium, heatproof bowl, add the butter, chocolate, sugar, dark brown sugar, and vanilla. Place on top of the simmering water and allow to melt. Stir until smooth. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Stir in egg whites.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt and whisk to combine. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Stir until smooth. Pour batter onto the prepared baking sheet and spread to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with sea salt (or other toppings)
- Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes, pull the pan out and bang on the counter 3 or 4 times to knock out the air and rotate the pan 180 degrees and return the pan to the oven for 8 minutes or until the brownies are dry and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Break the brownie brittle into pieces and serve.
Adapted from Carla Hall on the Chew
Allie and the Oven 