The story of these crispy, crunchy and absolutely addicting brownies comes from a restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii called the Side Street Inn. My family and I were on vacation and – in traditional tourist fashion – were scouring Yelp for a tasty dinner spot. The Side Street Inn had four stars, two dollar signs, and over a thousand reviews. One review was a whooping 774 words long! And as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Given the 1,655 pictures on Yelp, it was safe to say that this restaurant was worth at least 1,655,774 words of praise! 😀
After our meal, it was evident that the opinion of a thousand Yelpers had led us to a tasty meal indeed. Bless the people that saw 700 or 800 reviews, and decided it was worth it to add just one more. Either that, or the people running the Side Street Inn had some very dedicated family members willing to pen 1000+ reviews. In any case, I believe the true measure of a good restaurant comes with dessert. In theory, dessert should be one of the best parts of any meal! It’s the customer’s (and future Yelper’s) last impression of the restaurant.
The chocolate peanut butter crunch brownie did not disappoint. It’s a warm, rich, fudge-y brownie topped with a layer of peanut butter and chocolate melted together and mixed with light, crispy wafers. And if that didn’t entice you enough, it was served with cold, creamy ice cream and a cherry on top. Hungry yet? 😉
In a quest to recreate this glorious dessert at home, my family also took one to go for further analysis. The true mystery was the wafer cookie. It had the crispness of a Rice Krispie, yet it was thinner than a piece of paper and delicate enough to accidentally snap whilst merely pinching it. I was thoroughly befuddled. On that trip, we never did figure out what the magical wafer cookie was.
It wasn’t until a trip to a bakery supply store months later when a certain box of thin, crispy wafer cookies caught my eye. Feuilletine!! A confection so esoteric, elusive, and difficult to spell that even checking it for spelling just now left Google baffled and asking me if I meant “fettucini” instead. No, this was not a creamy Italian dish but instead a beautifully delicate box of French wafer cookies. I purchased a box, and at long last concluded that THIS was that magical ingredient in the brownies. I still would be using it today for this recipe had it been more readily available and less expensive than the princely sum of $8.50 for a box that could only made appx. 1.5 batches of brownies.
Luckily, I found that Special K was an excellent substitute for feuilletine. It’s light and cripsy, but still sturdy enough to hold up to the peanut butter chocolate concoction and not get crushed or soggy. My dad affectionately calls these “candy bar brownies” since they are as tasty and addicting as candy – especially when stored in the fridge and eaten chilled. And they are DELICIOUS!!! If it’s not clear already, I LOVE these brownies. I could eat them all day, and surely will now that I have just whipped up a batch for this post. Do yourself a favor and make a batch! You won’t regret it 🙂
| Servings |
bite-size brownies
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- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolcate chips
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter can sub with Nutella or cookie butter if allergic
- 1 T butter
- 1/4 cup sated peanuts can omit if allergic
- 3/4 cup Special K cereal
Ingredients
Brownies
Peanut Butter Crunch Topping
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- Melt butter in microwave, mix in sugar. Add in vanilla extract and combine
- Add in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Mix in cocoa powder, then add in flour and baking powder and combine.
- Pour into an 8" square baking pan lined with parchment paper sling and bake at 350 F for 18 min. Leave brownies in pan to spoon over topping.
- Melt together chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter together in the microwave at 30s intervals until smooth. Gently fold in salted peanuts and Special K. Pour over brownies - no need to let brownies cool first. For best results, refrigerate brownies in the pan, then remove form pan with parchment paper sling. Slice into bars and enjoy!
