I love chocolate. I mean, I really, Really LOVE chocolate. And a brownie is one of my favorite ways to consume chocolate. I really love the chewy, fudgy center pieces, but my favorite pieces are the edges - all crunchy and chocolaty, best piece in the pan is the corner piece for sure.

I discovered the brown bag of Brownie Brittle a while back and consumed an entire bag during a lunch break! Nothing but the crispy parts of a brownie, this stuff was food from the gods, no doubt! If any of you have had this delicious treat you understand - and you also know that they charge a pretty penny for a bag of that crispy goodness.

So I went scouring the internet, searching for a recipe that would give me my fix whenever I wanted it, had fewer ingredients that I can't pronounce and costs a fraction of what a bag will run you at the store. I took bits and pieces of several different versions and came up with what I believe is an awsome treat - the crispy edges of a brownie - I hope you enjoy!!

Step 1: Ingredients

1 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/3 c. butter
1 c. susgar
1 t. espresso powder (or 1 T. strong, black coffee)
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. flour
2 T. cocoa powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. mini chocolate chips
1/4 c. toffee pieces
2 egg whites

Step 2: Prepare Pan & Preheat Oven

Line a 1/2 sheet pan (12 x 18) with parchment paper, then lightly butter paper.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Step 3: Melt Chocolate and Butter

Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl and melt, using 30 second bursts and stirring each time, until chocolate and butter are melted completely.

Step 4: Prepare Chocolate Mixture

Stir in the sugar, espresso powder (or coffee) and vanilla. Set this aside for now.

Step 5: Blend Dry Ingredients

Wisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Set this aside for now.

Step 6: Beat Egg Whites

Using a hand mixer, or a wisk if you are feeling spunky - I wasnt this day - beat egg whites to soft peaks, 2-4 minutes approximately.

Step 7: Fold Together

Add the chocolate mixture to the beaten egg whites, folding gently. Add the flour mixture and fold to combine all ingredients. Don't over mix this, try to keep it light from the egg whites, too much stirring can deflate the whites.

Step 8: Spread Batter in Pan

Spread the batter in the prepared pan. This recipe will fill a 1/2 sheet pan (18 x 12). Spread as thin as you can, keeping the batter level. Sprinkle your topping of choice - I used mini chocolate chips and toffee pieces - try finely chopped nuts, mint or peanut butter chips, or for the purist, leave it simply chocolate.

Step 9: Bake

Bake in the center of a preheated 325 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Step 10: Cut Into Small Pieces

If you would like to have more uniform pieces then at the 20 minute mark pull the pan out and cut - I used a pizza cutter. If not, you can skip this step - bake an additional 5 minutes, and move on to the cooling, then break into pieces. If you chose to cut like I did, return pan to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes.

After 5 minutes, turn the oven off and allow the pan to cool inside the closed oven. It will be hard, REALLY hard - you should probably taste one every few minutes to make sure they are doing okay.

Step 11: Enjoy

After you take a picture, on your grandmothers serving dish just to prove you made this delicious treat, make yourself a cup of coffee and sneak off to your bedroom, or the laundry room - somewhere no one will bother you and EAT THEM!!! This is such a tasty treat, sharing will be virtually impossible. I plan to make this and add small bags to my Christmas food gifts this year...maybe, we will see!

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