Brownie Brittle

Crisp, crunchy, and utterly delicious, this brownie brittle packs the flavor of a brownie with a texture that will keep you coming back for more! This is an amazing year-round snack, but it's also a great DIY gift for the holidays.

You may have tried store-bought brownie brittle, but we promise it's even better when you make it at home, and it's a super simple process. Just whisk together your dry ingredients, whip up eggs and sugar, add the rest of the wet ingredients, combine the two, spread it all out on a sheet pan, top with chocolate chips, and bake!

The hardest part is waiting for the brittle to cool to room temperature before breaking it apart (which is so satisfying, by the way) and digging in. Placed in a tin, this makes a classy and delicious edible gift your friends and family will love to receive. Who doesn't like brownies, after all?

This recipe is part of our 2025 Recipe Advent Calendar. If you missed the first few days, try our Christmas Tree Crackers or Homemade Cocktail Cherries next!

Jump to:

• What You'll Need To Make This Recipe
• How To Make This Recipe
• Storage
• Lexi & Beth's Top Tips
• Frequently Asked Questions
• More Holiday Dessert Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Reviews

What You'll Need To Make This Recipe

• Egg whites and sugar: You'll need to whip these up together to create a light and fluffy base for your batter. We used large eggs, so if your eggs are on the smaller side, you may need to use 3 egg whites.
• Cocoa powder: We used 100% cacao naturally unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Espresso powder: This is optional, but it helps to make the brittle taste extra chocolatey.
• Mini chocolate chips: The brittle is pretty thin, so we like to use mini chocolate chips so you're not getting big mouthfuls of chocolate in every bite. Regular chips would work too, but we definitely prefer the minis.
• Vegetable oil: This is a key component to the classic brownie flavor, and we don't recommend substituting with olive oil since you want your oil to have a neutral flavor.
• Flour
• Baking soda
• Vanilla extract
• Kosher salt

How To Make This Recipe

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 325˚F / 160˚C. Prepare a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add a few drops of oil (or a few spritzes of cookie spray) to the corners of the baking sheet to get the parchment to adhere.

STEP 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Set aside.

STEP 3: In separate large mixing bowl, whip together the egg whites and sugar with an hand mixer until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

STEP 4: Add in the oil and vanilla extract, and mix until well incorporated.

STEP 5: Add the dry ingredient mix into the wet ingredient mix in two batches, mixing until no dry streaks remain. Do not over mix.

STEP 6: Pour the batter out onto the prepared baking sheet. Use an offset spatula to evenly spread batter onto the prepared baking sheet. It should be about ⅛th of inch thick and extend to the edges of the paper.

STEP 7: Sprinkle mini chocolate chips evenly over the top of the batter.

STEP 8: Bake for 20-23 minutes, until the edges just barely start to darken.

STEP 9: Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, break apart the brittle, and enjoy!

Storage

Once cooled and broken apart, you'll want to store the brittle pieces in an airtight container to prevent them from becoming stale. They should keep for 5-7 days.

For gifting, we'd recommend placing them in a zip top gallon freezer bag and putting the bag inside a tin. Wrap with a bow and give to your friends and family!

Lexi & Beth's Top Tips

• Spreading the batter out: This is probably the most challenging part of the recipe. To make this easier, there are two things we'd recommend: 1) Use some cooking spray or drops of oil to get the parchment paper to stick directly to the baking sheet. Otherwise, the parchment will slide around on top of the baking sheet. 2) Use an offset spatula to spread the batter out. The long, flat surface of the offset spatula makes the process much easier.
• Whipping the egg whites and sugar: You'll want to mix these with a hand or stand mixer until they're very light and fluffy, which should take about 5 minutes.
• Variations: We kept ours simple and topped it with mini chocolate chips, but you could also try:
  • Flaky salt
  • Broken-up candy canes
  • Caramel candies
  • Pieces of peppermint bark
  • White chocolate
  • M&M's
  • Mini marshmallows
  • Nuts like pecans, walnuts, almonds, or pistachios

Frequently Asked Questions

More Holiday Dessert Recipes

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