Brownie cookies are extra rich, extra fudgy cookies that perfectly mimic the texture and taste of brownies in a cookie shape.
I think I have found one of my new favorite cookies! These brownies cookies are rich in chocolate and have a fudge-like texture that I find absolutely irresistible. One of the major pros of these brownie cookies is just how moist and chewy they are. Their resemblance to brownies is uncanny. But they come in a cookie package! And it’s like every bite is encased in crust. Delicious!
One interesting thing about these brownie cookies is that so much chocolate goes into them. Not just cocoa powder but bars of baking chocolate as well. That is something I’ve never really done before and it’s what gives these cookies such a rich and fudge texture. It’s kind of amazing to me how much one ingredient can impact a recipe.
Check out the Make section of MCG for more fun recipes like desserts and savory dishes.
Ingredients
Most of the ingredients in this recipe follow what you would expect for a cookie flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla. And then, because it’s chocolate, adding cocoa powder or some sort of chocolate chip makes sense. But like I said above, this recipe also adds baking chocolate to give a fudgy texture. I also used espresso powder to bring out that rich chocolate flavor as well.
Process
Making the Dough
To start, I melted the 2 chocolate bars. I cut them into small pieces before putting them into the microwave. Bursts of 10-15 seconds is what works best I’ve found because I didn’t want to overheat and overcook the chocolate. You can use a double broiler for this process which will reduce the risk of burning the chocolate. I just find the microwave to be a faster and easier solution. It works well as long as you’re careful.
While the chocolate is cooling down, I made two other mixtures. The first is the one with the “dry” ingredients. This included the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. I really do like how the cocoa powder makes it easier to see when all of the powders have incorporated into each other.
Then I went onto the large bowl where I would be putting everything together. I started by beating together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. I chose to use dark brown sugar, but light brown sugar also works. The dark brown sugar just gives a stronger depth of flavor from what I’ve found.
Adding the eggs, vanilla extract, and the melted chocolate. The melted chocolate needed to be relatively cool but not cold as this point. If it is too hot, it can interact with the other ingredients in a negative way. Having something cook before the dough gets to the oven is not what I want.
To finish off the dough, I added the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combine. This is a case where the dough can overmix, so I wanted to be a little delicate with this process. Which was difficult because the dough was so thick. Once everything was together, I added in the chocolate chips.
Shaping and Baking
I did throw the dough for the brownie cookies into the freezer for a few minutes, just to give the butter a chance to resolidify and get a more fudgy texture. The main issue with cooling the dough it can become just one giant chunk.
And even when thawed, the cookies will not spread as much as they might have before. This is partially due to the chocolate reforming as well. Because I wanted the cookies to have a decent spread, I didn’t keep them in the freezer that long. The fridge for 10 minutes also works but I am impatient.
Then I made the dough into little cookie balls. I was aiming for a smaller cookie, so the dough only ended up being about 1 to 1 ½ inches. Then all that was left to do was placing cookie balls on a baking tray and cooking them in the oven!
Reflections
These cookies are absolutely delicious and completely irresistible. I was pleasantly surprised by the chewy texture of the cookies and how they just melt in the mouth. The multiple layers of chocolate (bars, chips, and powder) really gave depth of complexity. This was also complemented by the espresso powder because it has the ability to really enhance the chocolate. Writing this article tempted me to make these cookies again… I’m going to go bake!
Lessons
Espresso Powder and Chocolate
Why do these two ingredients go together so well? And how does it make something absolutely delicious to me when I hate the taste and smell of coffee? Espresso powder has a very similar bold and bittersweet flavor as chocolate. So, in a chocolate forward recipe, it can punctuate the flavor and really enhance the depth of complexity for the chocolate.
recipe
Brownie Cookies
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- Melt the 2 chocolate bars in a micro-wave safe bowl using the microwave in 20 second increments. Stir after each burst to see if the chocolate if fully melted. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla extract after scraping down the sides of the bowl. Scrape the bowl again before adding the melted chocolate. Mix until well combined.
- Slowly mix the flour mixture into large bowl until just combined. Then stir in chocolate chips. Let chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Scoop dough into ball approximately 1-1 ¼ inches wide. The cookies will barely spread so make large dough balls to get larger cookies.
- Bake for 12-13 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
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