Brownie Cookies
If a brownie and a cookie had a baby, you would get these delicious brownie cookies. The chocolate brownie cookies have a crackly top and are fudgy and chewy on the inside. No need for brownie mix, this is the best brownie cookie recipe if you have a chocolate craving!
Ingredients for Brownie Cookies
- Semisweet chocolate – Use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. You could also use dark chocolate.
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar + granulated sugar – This combination of brown and white sugar adds the perfect amount of sweetness and helps to create the chewy texture of the cookies.
- Eggs – Large eggs, room temperature.
- Vanilla extract – Vanilla extract enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Instant espresso powder – Instant espresso powder enhances the chocolate flavor. You won’t taste the coffee, I promise.
- Salt – Contrasts the sweetness of the cookies.
- All-purpose flour
- Dark cocoa powder – Unsweetened dark cocoa powder adds even more chocolatey flavor to the cookies.
- Flaky sea salt – Optional. Sprinkle over the cookies before baking for a salty sweet flavor.
Tools & Supplies for Making Brownie Cookies
How to Make Brownie Cookies
- Prep and preheat: Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Line baking sheet pans with silicone baking mats or parchment paper sheets.
- Melt the chocolate: In a heat-safe bowl, melt the semisweet chocolate and butter in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
- Whip the eggs and sugars: Whip the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs for 3 minutes until light and pale. Add in the vanilla extract and instant espresso powder and mix well.
- Make the cookie batter: While mixing on low, slowly pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture until fully combined. Add in the all-purpose flour, dark cocoa powder, and salt, and mix on low speed until the cookie dough is well combined.
- Bake the cookies: Portion the brownie batter using a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and place on the prepared baking sheet pans. Sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt. Bake the cookies for approximately 13 to 14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips
- To more easily remove the cookies from the baking pan, cool the cookies on the pan for about 5 minutes. Use a very thin spatula to lift the cookies off the pan. If there is any cookie stuck to the spatula, wipe it off before continuing.
- Adding the flaky sea salt is optional, but highly recommended. It gives the cookies a little crunch and also creates the perfect sweet and salty flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store the cookies?
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.
Why is there no baking powder or baking soda in the recipe?
- There are no leavening agents in this recipe because they are not needed. To create the perfect chewy brownie texture in the cookies, we are whipping air into the eggs and sugars which helps the cookies to rise a bit while baking.
My cookies don’t have a crackly top. What did I do wrong?
- If your cookies do not have a crackly top, you likely did not whip the eggs and sugars long enough. This helps create the perfect chewy texture and signature crackly top in the cookies.
Can I omit the instant espresso powder?
- If you don’t have instant espresso powder, you can simply omit it from the recipe. It helps enhance the chocolate flavor of the cookies, but won’t create problems in the recipe if it is not added. And no, the cookies won’t taste like coffee.
Other Brownie Recipes You Will Love
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Brownie Cookies
Yield: 13 cookies
If a brownie and a cookie had a baby, you would get these delicious brownie cookies. The chocolate brownie cookies have a crackly top and are fudgy and chewy on the inside. No need for brownie mix, this is the best brownie cookie recipe if you have a chocolate craving!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (180 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 tbsp (84 g) unsalted butter
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 (2) eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) instant espresso powder optional
- ¾ cup (94 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (22 g) dark cocoa powder
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- flaky sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Prepare baking sheet pans with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the semisweet chocolate chips and unsalted butter. Heat in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool while completing the next step.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, whip the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and eggs for about 3 minutes until light and pale. Add in the vanilla extract and instant espresso powder and mix on low until combined.
- While mixing on low speed, slowly pour in the melted chocolate to temper the egg mixture. Continue to mix on low until the chocolate is well combined.
- If you are using a stand mixer, switch to a paddle attachment. Add the all-purpose flour, dark cocoa powder, and salt. Mix on low speed just until the brownie batter is combined and smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Do not over mix the brownie batter.
- Portion the brownie batter with a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and place on the prepared baking sheet pans allowing room for spreading. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before baking, if desired.
- Bake the cookies for approximately 13 to 14 minutes until the edges of the cookies are set and the centers are soft. Cool the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Store the brownie cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.
Made This Recipe?
Please leave a comment with a star rating to let me know how you enjoyed the recipe!
About Courtney
Baker | 80s Lover | Cookbook Author
Courtney is a self-taught home baker and cookbook author of “Girls Just Wanna Bake Cupcakes”. She loves to create new and unique recipes while simultaneously listening to 80s music.
This is literally the best cookie recipe I’ve ever made! I love brownies and while box mix brownies are the best, I am convinced that if a box can do it, I should be able to do it better. Anyway, I have yet to make brownies as good or better than the box mix ones, however these cookies might even be better than normal brownies in my opinion since they have the perfect taste and texture. They are crisp on the sides but the middle is soft and fudgy. I LOVE THEM!!!
Hi Ruth! So thrilled to hear you loved this recipe! I’m honored that you feel it is best cookie recipe you’ve ever made! If you love the taste of box mix brownies, you have to try out my cocoa brownie recipe – it’s easy to make and I think is a good homemade version of a boxed brownie!! https://cakemehometonight.com/cocoa-brownies/ Thanks so much for the positive review!
I love it
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I’ve made them twice.. perfect both time!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Recipe is almost perfect!! It turned out amazing but i wish the cookies were a little thicker and i think 3 tablespoons is a bit too much for one cookie but that’s my opinion🤷♀️🤷♀️
Hi there! You can definitely make them a bit smaller if you prefer a smaller cookie. You would just have to reduce the bake time by a couple minutes. These cookies are a bit thinner to mimic the texture of a chewy brownie. When testing the recipe, I did attempt to make a thicker version, but the texture was more cakey than chewy/fudgy brownie, so I went with the one that tasted more like a brownie. I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe overall! Thank you for your review and feedback.
I love this recipe, but there’s a lot of sugar…
Hi there! There is sugar in this recipe because it is a dessert. If the amount of sugar in the recipe is reduced, it will honestly not taste very good and would not turn out well. If sugar intake is something that you are mindful of, enjoying these cookies in moderation is a great idea! I am a bit confused why you would rate the recipe as “2 stars” when you love the recipe?
i would put 5 stars but i can’t take this recipe with 200g of sugar like-
Hi there! The 200 grams of sugar in the recipe is divided between 13 cookies with is approximately 15 grams of sugar per cookie. Unless you are eating the whole batch of cookies all at once, you are not consuming all that sugar in one sitting. This is a dessert recipe and desserts are often sweet and contain sugar. Also, if you are saying you would put 5 stars – does that mean you tried the recipe and enjoyed it? 🙂
That is so silly to give two stars because you couldn’t take this recipe and maybe you shouldn’t of made it but to give two stars for something that’s delicious and because you couldn’t eat it just doesn’t make sense to me. that’s a personal issue not a recipe issue.
I’ve made these twice now and for some reason they failed each time. They ended up coming out like a brownie pancake instead of cookies. It was really flat, but tasted delicious. Is there something I’m doing wrong?
Hi Rose! I’m sorry to hear that! My initial thought is perhaps you need to whip the eggs and sugar a bit more to create more air. Since there are no leavening agents in the recipe, the air whipped into the eggs and sugar is what creates lift and also the crackly texture. Another option could be to chill the cookie dough for a little while before baking. Climate and environment can have an affect on baking, so that could also be a contributing factor.
Hiii
Why is there no baking powder or soda?? But it looks absolutely amazing will definitely be trying!! Also if I don’t have esspresso powder what do I do??
Hello! Great question! There are no leavening agents in these cookies to give it a chewy and fudgy brownie texture. The rise in the cookies is created by whipping a ton of air into the eggs and sugar which helps create lift and gives the cookies the signature brownie texture. It also gives them the shiny, crackly appearance. If you don’t have espresso powder, you can simply omit it. It helps enhance the chocolate flavor of the cookies, but it is totally fine if you don’t have it.
These look amazing. I may have to pipe some expresso cheesecake batter into a muffin pan, and then use it as a filling for a brownie cheesecake sandwich.
That sounds absolutely amazing!!
Should I refrigerate the dough for 12 hrs 24hrs like the other cookie recipes? Or should I bake them directly and as said in the recipe to bake it directly for shinny top I have a small oven so what should I do so that all my brookies looks tastes the same?
Hi Noora! No need to chill the cookie dough for this recipe! Scoop and bake right away!
The flavor and texture of these is fantastic. But despite mixing them as the recipe detailed (and scooping with a 2T scoop instead of 3T), mine turned out incredibly flat. They spread to 5”. I baked just 3 at a time, and after the first pan I added 2 T of flour to the remaining 3/4 of the batter. Next pan was also flat but not as bad. Then I added another 1 T to the remaining half of the dough/batter. That was enough, but maybe next time I will add 5T of flour.
I also baked them in a convection oven, which took 11 minutes.
Also, I am at 4300 ft so sometimes my baked goods need a little extra flour, just not as much as this did. So I recommend that anyone who makes this bake just 1 cookie as a test the first time and see if it needs extra flour. I got the best finished result when I added enough flour to get a dough that made it like regu
Hi there! I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor and texture of the cookies! I’m glad you were able to make those adjustments. I don’t know much about high altitude baking, but know that recipes can be impacted.
I notice there isn’t any rising agent, baking powder or baking soda, is that correct? Won’t the cookies come out very flat as a result?
Hi there. That is correct. There are no leavening agents in this recipe. The rise in the brownie cookies is from whipping the eggs and granulated sugar for several minutes until light and pale. This adds air into the mixture and contributes to the rise, texture, and crackly top.
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These look awesome for the chocolate lovers (Which most are) but I’d love to see similar with a blondie type cookie.
I’ve tried many of your delicious recipes, I’m sure you could create one
Omg I have made your brownies and cookies….I can’t wait to make these….I have had everyone love your recipes that I’ve made!!!
Thanks again for all your yummy dishes!!
Thank you so much for trying out my recipes! I am so happy to hear you are enjoying them! 🙂