Brownie Brittle

  
Have you tried it? If you haven’t, you certainly need to.  Yum!!!!  Funny how things become “things” isn’t it?  It seems people either like the crunchy edges of brownies from the pan, you know the ones that are just a hair away from being burnt… Or they like their brownies really gooey and almost undercooked.  Hey, it’s a brownie…so no matter how you make it how can it be bad – right?

Well, one lady Shelia G. has made a business out of selling what a lot of people have probably been throwing away for years.  It seems she started the craze by giving those crispy brownie edges a name and making them on purpose.  She called them Brownie Brittle and the rest is history.  You can find Shelia G.’s goodies in most stores OR you can make some of your own.  Need a recipe for Brownie Brittle?  We’ve got that!

Homemade Brownie Brittle

1 1/2 sticks of butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate (we like Baker’s chocolate)
1 cup sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)

Add ins:
1/2 – 1 cup chocolate chips
OR
1/2 – 1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 – 1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees before you begin making the batter.

Melt the butter and add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted as well.  When the chocolate is fully melted stir in the sugar and mix well.  Add in the egg whites and stir well again. Add the vanilla, then the flour, salt and espresso powder if you are using it. (Just a note – the espresso powder has the tendency to enhance the chocolate flavor.  Some people don’t  like the extra caffeine it adds or think they can taste the coffee so if you don’t like coffee or are wanting to avoid caffeine you might want to leave it out.)

Stir all the ingredients well for a minute or two to thoroughly combine everything.  Spread the batter on to a baking sheet lined with a silpat liner or parchment paper lightly oiled.  Spread the batter as thin as possible.  Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and, using a spatula, press them into the batter.  OR  sprinkle with almonds and coconut and press into the batter.

Bake for 15 minutes in the oven.  Remove and score the batter.  Cut it into 36 squares…making 6 cuts each way.  Reduce the temperature in the oven to 250 degrees and continue baking for another 15 minutes.  Turn off the oven and leave the pan in the oven until the brownie brittle is cool…probably about 1 hour.  Remove the squares to a wire rack and let them cool completely.  They will crisp up more as they finish cooling.  Store in an airtight bag.  They will keep for a week…well in theory they will keep for a week…in reality they will probably be gone in a couple of days 🙂