A snappy, crunchy, easy made-from-scratch recipe for brownie bark. Tastes just like a crisp, chocolaty, brittle brownie!
So, brownie bark…
Let me say that again… Brownie… Bark…
Well, those are two words that I never thought I’d want to pair together.
Because when you think brownies, you think words like soft, chewy, fudgy, and melt-in-your-mouth, right? Not something crispy, thin, and brittle like bark.
This is definitely… different.
But have you had the store-bought brownie bark before? I bought a bag on a whim a few weeks ago (never go grocery shopping on an empty stomach) and it was addictive. It’s crisp, thin, brittle and like eating a crunchy, snappy brownie. It’s almost more like a candy or a crunchy cookie or a sweet potato chip rather than a brownie.
I finished off the bag in about 30 seconds. It was a teeny, tiny bag that had a pretty high price tag for only 30-seconds of face-stuffing. Four measly ounces of crispified brownies doesn’t make it very far in my house.
So I set about making my own recipe.
I pulled out some of my favorite brownie recipes as starting points, ultimately settling on this cookie recipe, and removed all of the things that make it soft. Out went the egg yolks, the brown sugar, the corn starch. I even added water to thin the batter. It hurt my heart a little bit.
But here we are, and I’m glad to say that I have no regrets about eliminating all of the wonderful parts of those brownies.
The batter is simple to make, spread it evenly and thinly (very thinly — think potato chip thickness) on the pan and watch it carefully through the oven door while it bakes. You don’t want your edges to burn (though if they do, just snap them off).
Spread it, bake it, cut it (cut it in the pan while it’s hot and then let it cool) and drizzle some dark chocolate for good measure.
I’m kicking myself for not weighing out how much brownie bark this actually made, but I’m going to say it was the equivalent of at least two or three bags of store-bought.
Enjoy!
Brownie Bark
A snappy, crunchy, brittle and EASY made-from-scratch recipe for brownie bark.
Ingredients
- 4 Tbsp butter 1/2 stick
- 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips divided
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp water
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate melting wafers optional
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
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In large, microwave safe bowl, combine butter and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir well. Return to microwave and heat for 15 seconds at a time (stirring after every 15 seconds) until chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined.
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Stir in cocoa powder and then sugar (mixture may be thick, that's OK).
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Add egg whites and vanilla extract, stir well.
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In separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
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Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture until completely combined.
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Stir in milk and water until evenly combined.
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Divide the batter between the two prepared cookie sheets, pouring half onto one sheet and half onto the other.
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Use a spatula to spread the batter thin (think the thickness of a potato chip) and evenly (try to keep the edges even, otherwise they will be more likely to burn). Sprinkle each half with 2 Tbsp of the remaining chocolate chips.
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Bake (it's best to bake the sheets one at a time) for 15-17 minutes. Keep a close eye on the brownie brittle so that the edges don't burn.
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Remove from oven and immediately use a large knife or pizza cutter to cut shapes into the brownie brittle.
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Allow the brittle to sit, undisturbed, until cool.
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Break brittle along the cut lines that you made with knife/pizza cutter.
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Set pieces on wax paper or cooling rack and melt your dark chocolate chips or melting wafers at 15-second increments (stirring between each) until completely melted.
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Use a spoon or knife to drizzle chocolate over brownie brittle pieces (you may also transfer the melted chocolate to a small ziploc bag and snip a small hole in one of the corners and drizzle the chocolate that way).
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Allow the chocolate to set and harden before serving and enjoying.
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joy says
oh this is bad ( in very good yummy sort of way) … I should have never clicked on this recipe on pinterest … not only do I want to make this right now ( and I probably will) but then I saw all your other chocolate recipes!!!
time to stock up on cocoa powder and chocolate chips 🙂
thank you for posting. I cant wait to give it a try.
Joy says
Hi Sam, wanted to let you know I made the brownie britttle tonight…. it is wonderful! And the house smelled so yummy while it was baking. Also wanted to let you know I weighed it before we ate it, 21 oz. far more than that measly 4 oz. bag 🙂
Drizzled it with white chicolate… so pretty.
Sam says
Hi Joy! I’m so glad you liked the brownie brittle so much — it really does make the house smell great, too, doesn’t it! 🙂
And THANK YOU SO MUCH for measuring it! I knew it was more than the 4 oz bag 😉
Thank you so much for coming back and commenting to let me know how it turned out! Have a wonderful day!!
kim says
Outstanding! I have made two batches so far, and its the best!
They get a great crisp to them, and the coco powder makes for such a rich, deep chocolaty yumminess!
Made them exactly as you wrote the recipe, just had to play with my oven/time some. they are thin and cook fast. mine were done in about 10 min. but a touch to soft. so I turned off the heat, and put the pans back in till the oven was cool. worked perfect!!
I tried about 6 other recipes, and was never happy. The search as stopped! these are amazing!!!
thank you for sharing
Sam says
Love love LOVE hearing this, Kim! I’m so glad that you were happy with the recipe, my goal was to make it as accurate as possible and I’m so glad you liked it as much as I did!!! Thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Becky says
My son brought me a bag of brownie brittle at the store today and I asked him how much it would cost.. He said $4. I said no way. But I came right home and searched for brownie crisps recipes on the net because that’s what I always do. I go home and get a recipe to make it myself. I’m gonna make us some brownie brittle. It will be a ton cheaper, freshly-baked, and maybe even tasste better. I love to cook and with 5 kids and all their friends coming and going I do a lot of cooking so we can eat yummy things and still stay within our food budget.
Sam says
I hope you LOVE the brownie brittle, Becky! It is definitely cheaper than the store-bought, and goes much further!
Jenny says
Hi Sam, I would like to ask is it ok to skip the eggwhites or is there any substitute? Thank you.
Sam says
Hi Jenny, I’m sorry but I don’t know that anything else would work quite as well, unfortunately 🙁
linda t. says
Can I use regular Hershey’s cocoa vs. Dutch? I read that recipes with Dutch cocoa are usually leavened by baking powder, but this Brownie Bark recipe isn’t. I bought a bag of Brownie Brittle and have quickly become addicted!!! But there’s so little in the bag!
Sam says
I think this recipe would be OK with regular Hershey’s! I hope you love it!
Datleen says
I don’t see how much butter to use???
Sam says
It’s the first ingredient listed under the Ingredients heading (4 TBSP). 😃
Regina says
Hi Sam!
I just made this amazing and excellent recipe!! So delicious we can’t stop eating it after they left the oven!!