Malted Milk Brownie Bark is super crunchy and super chocolaty. Each munchable square of this brittle brownie treat is like the crunchy corners that everyone fights over on a pan of brownies! Make an extra batch to share in care packages and holiday gifts!
Why you'll love this recipe
These pop-in-your-mouth squares have intense chocolate brownie flavor enhanced with the warm taste of malted milk.
Chocolate can be a tricky ingredient. Most Monday Box recipes for chocolate candy, cookies, or cakes are reserved for cold weather months.
Chocolate melts in care packages during warm weather. However, as soon as the temperature drops, chocolate baking season begins!
This crunchy brownie bark, made with cocoa, chocolate chips and chocolate sprinkles, is a great Chocolate Season opener!
If you love this brownie bark, be sure to try our Brownie Brittle recipe with chocolate chips and Gluten Free Brownie Brittle.
Chocolate is also a tricky because unethical sourcing of cocoa is a huge human rights issue.
Did you know that 70% of the world’s cocoa is harvested using human trafficking, child slavery, and abusive labor practices?
I wrote a post giving more details if you would like to learn more and there are links at the bottom of this post which I urge you to read. Chocolate companies have accepted these horrific human rights violations in order to keep the prices of chocolate lower.
I have been on a personal mission to find ethically sourced cocoa and chocolate ingredients for the past two years. And guess what?!
Finding cost effective, incredibly delicious, substitutes for the mainstream brands (Hershey’s, Nestle’s, etc.) has been EASY. This is what I found out.
Frequently asked questions
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Chocolate labels may list the country of origin of the cocoa. Cocoa from outside of West Africa is almost always ethically grown and harvested.
Organic chocolate is generally ethically sourced.
Smaller “bean to bar” chocolate companies and shops, choose their sources for both ethical and culinary reasons.
Chocolate labels may have the symbol of organizations that oversee ethical sourcing. Look for any of these symbols.
Buying ingredients that are ethically sourced doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive.
Aldi’s grocery chain has a large selection of inexpensive chocolate bars with the UTZ symbol by the brand Moser Roth and peanut butter cups by the brand Choceur with the Fair Trade Certified symbol. Aldi’s also stocks beautiful seasonal chocolates like foil wrapped Santas for Christmas, foil wrapped coins for Chanukkah, Easter eggs, and Valentine hearts all with the UTZ symbol.
Whole Foods supermarket brand, 365, is all fairly traded and ethically sourced. The excellent 365 brand chocolate chips are comparable in price to mainstream brands. The chips are available in semisweet jumbo, regular, and mini. White chocolate chips are also available in regular and mini.
There are several brands that make ethically sourced cocoa powder. Whole Foods carries 365 brand cocoa powder (my favorite for its dark, rich color and flavor) and Equal Exchange. Dagoba cocoa powder is available in many supermarkets. Dagoba is the ethically sourced division of Hershey’s.
Many popular recipes use whole or crushed Oreos. Unfortunately, Nabisco does not trace the sources of the cocoa it uses. Newman’s Own brand (with ethical sourcing on all of its products) is available at most supermarket and produces Newman O’s, which are an ideal substitute.
365 brand cocoa powder
Horlicks malt powder or European Ovaltine (UTZ) from an international supermarket or online.
365 brand semi sweet mini chocolate chips
De Ruijter milk chocolate sprinkles (UTZ) Did you know that the Dutch eat chocolate sprinkles on their breakfast toast?! In the Netherlands, De Ruijter sprinkles are on every supermarket shelf! In the United States, you can find them at World Market, international supermarkets, and online.
Where can I learn more?
Related recipes
Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies have a rich, dark chocolate dough studded with white and milk chocolate chunks. A chocolate lover's dream cookie!
Chocolate Chip Mocha Cookies are chewy cookies with a chocolate and coffee dough full of chocolate chunks.
Marbled Chocolate Chunk Cookies are part chocolate cookie and part chocolate chunk cookie marbled together in a swirl of deliciousness!
Chocolate Sandwich Cookies are crunchy, delicious, and make great gifts. The crisp chocolate wafer cookies are sandwiched with melted mint chocolate.
Chocolate Coconut Cookies are like a Mounds candy bar in cookie form. These soft, chewy brownie cookies have chocolate chips and shredded coconut inside!
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Malted Milk Brownie Bark
Ingredients
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder alkalized, Dutch process
- 2 tablespoons malted milk powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- 2 large egg whites
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon powdered milk
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
- 4-5 tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa, malt powder, and espresso powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy.
- Mix in the sugar, oil, and vanilla.
- Whisk in the powdered milk, then add flour mixture and mix until combined. (The batter will resemble cake batter in consistency.)
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and use a spatula to spread, as thin as possible, into a rectangle approximately 10.5” x 12.5”.
- Distribute sprinkles over batter.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and use a pizza wheel to cut the brownie crunch into squares. Do NOT separate.
- Return to oven and bake an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking sheet before separating cookie pieces. The Brownie Crunch crisps as it is cooling. If for any reason the cookies aren’t completely crisp once cool, return them to the oven for a few minutes of extra crisping time.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 weeks.
Notes
- For dark chocolate color, use Dutch process (alkalized) cocoa. Regular cocoa will work but the color will be lighter and the chocolate flavor not as rich.
- Spread the batter as thin as possible, yet still solid without holes, approximately 10 ½ by 12 ½ inches.
- Double wrap short stacks of 4 or 5 pieces of Brownie Crunch in plastic wrap before placing in airtight containers.
- Make sure to pack without wiggle room using tissue paper if necessary.
- Plastic storage containers offer more protection than ziplock bags against breakage.
Nutrition
First Published: November 5, 2018. Last Updated: April 13, 2022. Updated for additional information and better reader experience.
Lyn
Delicious and easy to make!
Wendy Sondov
I'm glad you enjoyed the bark, Lyn.It's one of our favorites!
betty
my bark didnt look anything like yours. no crackly top and it wasnt dark like yours either. Yours look thicker than most barks also and mine were not. my bark isnt beautiful like yours and i am an experienced baker. 🙁
Wendy Sondov
Hi Betty. Here are my guesses as to why your brownie bark looks different than mine. First, my bark did not have a crackly top. The top was smooth and only cracked a little when cut. Thickness of this cookie depends on how thick or thin you spread it in the pan. The recipe gives the dimensions that I spread my batter to (10 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches). The dark color is totally dependent on the cocoa used. Using Dutch process ( alkalized ) cocoa will provide a darker color to all baked goods. I hope this helps.
betty b
Hi Wendy,thank you for replying. im going to give it another try. I have such a crappy oven and I will blame it on that! hahahah
take care
Mindy Benham
Just made these using an egg substitute and they turned out great. But when is the powdered milk meant to be incorporated? The instructions include the 2 tablespoons malted milk powder but not the 1 tablespoon powdered milk. Thanks!
Wendy Sondov
Hi Mindy. I'm sorry about that! Thanks for pointing out the missing powdered milk! The milk powder is added in step #5 right before the flour mixture. I corrected the recipe card. Leaving out the milk powder would make the bark slightly less crunchy, but luckily has no effect on the flavor. 🙂
Erlene
I never gave much thought to where the chocolate I use is source, but thanks for bringing that to my attention. Thanks for sharing your brownie bark recipe on MM. Pinned and will be featuring it on tonight's party.
Salt Valley
These look super tasty. Thanks for sharing.
Jan Thomas
Perfect gifts to make for the holidays! thanks for sharing on our gifts from the kitchen link up for Celebrate 365 Blog Party
Miz Helen
Your Brownies look amazing! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and hope you will come back soon!
Miz Helen
Carlee
These look delicious and it is always good to know where your food comes from. Thanks for the lesson!
The Monday Box
Thanks, Carlee. I agree that knowing where you food comes from is important. I just didn't realize that where it comes from can mean there is human traffic and child slavery involved! Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge provides power to create change.