Brownies with feuilletine crunch

Level-up your brownie game!

Hello friends! On the heels of the feuilletine newsletter I wanted to suggest a way to show off your fancy flakes, store-bought or homemade. So…let’s level up some brownies!

Until recently I’d always preferred plain brownies, no additions and no frosting — just pure nuggets of chocolatey goodness with a little sprinkle of flaky salt. But now I like some texture, usually via chocolate chips…or, if I’m feeling fancy, a feuilletine layer and slick of ganache. To keep the sweetness in check I use mostly bittersweet chocolate throughout the base and crunch layer (I like 55% in the base and 70% in the crunch); but I mix some milk chocolate into the ganache so the whole package isn’t too austere.

One more note — this is the recipe from my book but with all egg whites swapped in for the whole eggs. Compared to the whole egg brownie, using only egg whites creates a softer, more intensely chocolate-tasting brownie that’s an especially nice contrast to the crunch layer. But if you don’t have a glut of egg whites, feel free to sub in an equal weight of whole eggs (about 3 large) for the whites.