Honeycomb Crunchie Brownies!

Easy and delicious super chocolatey honeycomb Crunchie brownies, stuffed with chocolate chips and Cadbury’s honeycomb Crunchie pieces.

These are my classic fudgy brownie recipe as the base, with a proper UK twist, loads of Cadbury’s Crunchie folded all the way through and piled on top. Here’s the quick version before we get stuck in:

• Texture: a rich, fudgy middle with a shiny, crackly top
• Tin: a 9×9 inch square tin, for lovely thick brownies
• Bake time: around 25 to 30 minutes or so
• The twist: I freeze the Crunchie pieces first so the honeycomb keeps its crunch

It’s an easy brownie recipe you’ll want to make again and again, and the honeycomb is what makes it a bit special.

Crunchie brownies

So when I do recipe request posts on my social media channels, I always get lots and lots of them. This is expected, and I love doing it because my list of recipes to do is really really long, and I need that! I always love new inspiration. But recently… Crunchie brownies were 100% the top of the list. 

Conveniently I had already baked these several times, so I just thought I would publish the post a bit quicker than I planned because when you guys want a recipe, I want to give it to you!! I love anything to do with honeycomb as well, so this was perfect. 

In this post I’ll take you through the base brownie, how to keep the honeycomb lovely and crunchy, the best tin to use, and exactly when to pull them out of the oven for that perfect fudgy middle.

What is Honeycomb?

Honeycomb is a light and airy sweet typically made from sugar, golden syrup (or honey) and bicarbonate of soda. It is very quick and easy to make, but also it’s very quick to buy from the shops… hello Cadbury’s Crunchie bars. 

I would say that honeycomb itself is a bit of a controversial sweet in the same way that marmite can divide people. I personally love honeycomb, and I do love it when it’s covered in chocolate even more! That means, mixing it into brownies is the perfect combination. 

Honeycomb can be used in many different recipes such as a No-Bake Honeycomb Crunchie Cheesecake, or even a Crunchie Tiffin recipe like I have – but sometimes when you bake with it, it can change! I found that to make it work in the recipe, I needed to freeze the crunchies first. 

Freezing Crunchie pieces

It can last sometimes without freezing, but often brownies can take an absolute age to bake – and if the crunchies are in too long they will start to dissolve. If you don’t want to risk this, I would just top the brownies with Crunchie instead! However, if you don’t mind it like me… carry on!

You also need to make sure that the honeycomb bars are chopped into large enough pieces. I usually use the 32g crunchie bars, and chop them into 5 or 6 pieces – but no smaller. You want the pieces to be about an inch in width so that they do not dissolve into nothing in the oven! Although, if they do, it usually just makes a nice chewy caramel texture. 

If some pieces do dissolve a little, please don’t panic, it really isn’t a disaster. What happens is they melt into pockets of chewy caramel through the brownie, which honestly is still lovely. To keep as much crunch as possible: freeze the pieces until solid, keep them at least an inch big, and don’t overbake. If you’re really worried about it, hold some Crunchie back and press it onto the top the moment the brownies come out of the oven instead.

The brownie base

For the base brownie, I used the same base like my other brownies such as the Raspberry Brownies and Mars Bar Brownies that have always been a hit on my blog – as why change something that works right?! But honestly – I love it. The key is to stick to the ingredients (I’m looking at you dark chocolate haters) and mix CAREFULLY. 

Make sure the eggs and sugar are whipped up nice and moussey – make sure to carefully fold in the dark chocolate butter mix, and the flour and cocoa powder. Carefully add in the other ingredients, and bake.

The light brown sugar and dark chocolate base is deliberate. It’s rich and properly chocolatey without being too sweet, which is exactly what you want to balance all that sugary honeycomb.

Key ingredients

Here’s what each bit is doing, so you know why it’s in there:

• Dark chocolate: the backbone of the flavour, it keeps the brownies rich and stops them being sickly sweet. Please don’t swap it for milk here.
• Unsalted butter: melted with the chocolate for that dense, fudgy texture.
• Eggs: whipped up with the sugar, they give the volume and that shiny, crackly top.
• Light brown sugar: adds a subtle caramel note and moisture. You can use caster sugar, but brown gives a lovely depth.
• Plain flour: just enough to hold everything together, folded in gently so they stay fudgy not cakey.
• Cocoa powder: extra chocolate hit and that deep colour.
• Mix-ins (Crunchie + chocolate chips): the honeycomb Crunchie pieces (frozen) and optional chocolate chips are what make these special.

Choosing the best tin

I always make these in a 9×9 inch square tin, which gives you thick, fudgy brownies. The tin matters more than people think:

• Metal tin: my go-to. Metal conducts heat evenly and gives clean edges and a good crackly top.
• Glass or ceramic dish: it works, but it heats more slowly, so expect to add a few extra minutes to the bake and check for that slight wobble.
• Bigger tin: if you only have a larger tin, the brownies will be thinner and bake quicker, so start checking around 20 minutes.

Whatever you use, line it with parchment so you can lift the whole slab out easily to slice.

Bake time and doneness

I have a fan oven, so just use any shelf, but generally, the middle is best (unless your oven is a lil’ weird). If you find your brownies do take longer – it can be a few things. Usually, it’s the oven itself not being the right temperature, but there is always a fix. Add some foil, and bake for longer!

I find the best time to take out brownies is an ever so slight wobble, and then to ‘set’ the brownies in the fridge once cooled for a few hours. I don’t really trust the skewer test, as they have chocolate in them they may always have something on the stick, but it definitely should be covered in the batter!

Bake time is really the main lever for texture, so here’s roughly what each does in a 9×9 inch tin at 180C/160C fan:

• Around 25 minutes: very gooey and soft in the middle, for the proper fudgy lovers
• 27 to 30 minutes: set edges with a slight wobble in the centre, my sweet spot
• 32 minutes and over: firmer and more cakey, if that’s how you like them

Because these are loaded with chocolate chips and honeycomb, the skewer test won’t help you, there’ll always be something on the stick. Go by the wobble instead. A slight wobble in the middle means they’ll firm up beautifully as they cool and chill.

How to get crackly tops on your brownies

That shiny, paper-thin crackly top is all down to the eggs and sugar. Whisk them together for a good 5 minutes until they’re pale, doubled in volume and moussey, so the sugar properly dissolves. Then fold everything else in gently so you keep all that lovely air in the mix. That’s genuinely the whole secret, well-whipped eggs and sugar plus a careful fold.

Finishing touches 

The fridge creates the best fudgey texture that you can find brownies get in coffee shops etc – it makes it amazing. Also, topping your brownies with even more delicious goodness from some more Crunchie stuff, and even some Crunchie spread (sorry if you aren’t in the UK, it’s an amazing thing) and then it’s done! 

You can definitely use homemade honeycomb if you want to, or a different type of honeycomb compared to Cadbury’s – just stick to the recipe in freezing them and don’t chop the pieces too small! You’ll love them as much as I do. Enjoy!

Frequently asked questions

How long do these brownies keep? Stored in an airtight container at room temperature they’ll keep for up to a week, though the honeycomb is at its crunchiest in the first day or two, so they really are best fresh.

Can I freeze them? Yes. Freeze the baked, cooled brownies (undecorated is easiest) well wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, then decorate if you like. The honeycomb softens a little after freezing, but they’re still delicious.

Can I use a different tin? You can. A 9×9 inch tin is my go-to for thick brownies, but see “Choosing the best tin” above for how metal, glass and larger tins change the bake time.

How do I make them gooier or more set? It’s all in the bake time. Pull them earlier for a gooey middle, leave them a little longer for a firmer set. See “Bake time and doneness” above for the exact ranges.