Chocolate Brownies with a Pretzel Crumble

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare a 9×13” baking pan with a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pan. Spray the whole thing with baking spray.

Make the pretzel crust: In a small pan over low heat, melt the butter.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the pretzels into a fine crumb.

Put the crumbs into a bowl, and mix the sugar in with the crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well.

Press the pretzels into the bottom of the baking dish. Set aside and make the brownie batter.

For the brownies:

In a small pan, melt the butter over low heat. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside.

In a heatproof bowl, whisk the boiling water into the cocoa powder and stir until smooth. Stir in the unsweetened chocolate pieces and the melted butter and oil. Stir until melted then add it to the bowl of a standing mixer. It will look very separated, but don’t worry!

Add the eggs and yolks one at a time with the mixer on, and beat until very smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Whisk well to combine.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and combine at low and then medium speed. Add the bittersweet chocolate pieces and combine using a wooden spoon.

Pour the batter into the baking dish on top of the pretzel crust.

Bake the brownies at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with only a couple crumbs.

Let the brownies cool and then cut into squares.

Serve upside down (pretzels up) with a scoop of brown butter ice cream!