Brownie Brittle Recipe

Have you ever tried thin, crispy brownie brittle?  It’s like the best part of a brownie edge.  Crispy with just a bit of chew and full of chocolatey goodness.  Our brownie brittle recipe nails this delicious sweet on the head.

We give you our homemade brownie brittle recipe as well as an even easier recipe that uses a boxed brownie mix.  Your choice, I guess it depends on what ingredients you have on hand.  Time wise it’s not all that different.

The idea actually came from Virgina Willis’ chocolate brookies.  My recipe ended up extremely different and morphed into brownie brittle instead of cookies.  Virginia’s are delicious but more labor intensive, and we’re all about making it simple and easy!

How To Make Our Brownie Brittle Recipe

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.

Stir dry ingredients together. 

In separate bowl whip the egg, egg white, both sugars and vanilla with a whisk.  You can use a fork but the whisk goes faster. 

Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix with a fork until incorporated. It will resemble dry pancake mix. Don’t use the whisk here or the mix will get all gunked up in the whisk.

Add oil and mix until incorporated.

Oil a half sheet pan (13” X 18”), make sure to get the corners of the tray.  Spread brownie mix in a thin layer covering the whole tray.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and score the brownie brittle into squares, don’t cut all the way through.  Continue to cook an additional 5 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, not wet.

Transfer to a cooling rack by sliding the parchment paper off the tray onto the rack.  When the brownie brittle is cool just break apart at the scores.  Or skip the scoring and let cool and break into irregular shapes.

What is scoring?  Lightly cut the brownie brittle into rectangles using a pizza cutter or knife.  You don’t want to cut all the way through. The scoring makes it easy to break into pieces once the brownie brittle has cooled.

Substitute the toffee bits with mini chocolate chips or your favorite chopped nuts.

For extra flavor add 1 teaspoon espresso powder to the cocoa mixture.

Why Add Cornstarch and Espresso Powder?

The cornstarch helps crisp up the brownie brittle. It’s optional, but if you have some cornstarch around it will help.

Espresso powder enhances most chocolate recipes.  It kind of acts like adding lemon to food which brightens the flavor, the coffee powder acts the same way by waking up the flavor.  Again, an optional ingredient, but also a secret weapon to the chef.

How To Make Brownie Brittle From a Boxed Brownie Mix

There are days you want the deliciousness of a brownie brittle treat, but you don’t have all of the ingredients to make it from scratch. No fear. Do you have a box of brownie mix at home?

Measure 2 1/4 cup of the brownie mix. Whip the egg and egg white together. If you have vanilla add it with the egg mixture.

Add the dry mix to the whipped eggs and mix with a fork. Now follow the regular directions.

Boom, done in a matter of minutes.

Your grocery list will now be brownie mix, eggs, vanilla (optional), canola oil and toffee bits.

Why Not Just Make Brownies?

Because the brownie brittle is the best part of the brownie.  They even make special pans so that each brownie has two crispy sides or edges.

The best thing I like about brownie brittle is that it gives you the decadent, indulgent taste of a brownie without all the calories…………..no, this isn’t a diet brownie.  But since it’s thin you can use portion control a lot more than a big thick brownie.

Plus the toffee bits take the brittle over the top taste wise.

Is Brownie Brittle A Diet Food?

um………no. But as I said earlier in the post, it is good for portion control. You can grab a small piece, and because it’s so thin you don’t need to feel guilty.

I like to keep the brownie brittle in a freezer bag in the, yep, the freezer. That way I can grab a small piece anytime I want one. They taste great cold.

The reason I even asked if brownie brittle is a diet food is the germination of my recipe came from Virginia Willis’ cookbook Lighten up y’all. Her explanation is similar to mine. Virginia’s are actually cookies and much thicker than my brittle.

Substitute Ingredients For Brownie Brittle

Toffee bits – sub with mini chocolate chips or your favorite chopped nuts.

Granulated sugar – you can use all granulated (white table sugar), brown sugar or powdered sugar.  I like the texture with the half and half mixture we use in this recipe Cornstarch and vanilla – optional

How To Store Brownie Brittle

Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days, for a week in the refrigerator or freeze as long as you like. After 3 months the texture will start to deteriorate.

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Or view all of our dessert recipes.