Reliable assessment of structural integrity of fuel cells requires the knowledge of the mechanical properties of their individual components, in particular the fracture toughness. A technique is presented to measure the critical energy-release rate/fracture toughness of thin ceramic layers such as the anode material (NiO–YSZ) in a fuel cell. The approach involves a new specimen geometry which consists of a thin ceramic glued onto thick steel beams to form a double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen. The fracture toughness values, measured from truly sharp cracks, are obtained over a range of applied energy-release rates: from crack growth initiation to fast fracture.