Once you taste these chocolate brownie cookies, you will immediately fall in love with them! Soft, rich and fudgy texture with crinkly and shiny tops sprinkled with some sea salt flakes, they are impossible to resist!
The cookies come together in less than 30 minutes, with no chilling time required, making this hybrid of the brownie and cookie super-easy and simple to prepare. Follow my tips and suggestions for a perfect brownie cookies every time!
If you are unfamiliar with brownie cookies, let me bring you up to speed. In simplest terms, brownie cookie, or 'brookie' (as they are sometimes called) is a cross of brownie and a cookie. They have all of the characteristics of chocolate brownie, but shaped into a cookie.
They're really easy and quick to make, and the best part is that unlike most of the cookies, they don't require any chilling time! The hardest part is waiting for them to cool down.
If you prefer more traditional brownies, make sure to check out my Easy Homemade Brownies recipe or my popular Chocolate Cherry Brownies. In fact, I have the whole category dedicated to bars and brownies recipes, where everyone will find something delicious to suit their needs.
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Ingredients and substitutions
To make this brownie cookie recipe you will need:
- Chocolate - I prefer to use the dark chocolate bar, with minimum 70% cocoa solids. It gives these cookies rich and deep chocolate flavour, which other chocolates may not deliver. You could also use milk chocolate, but the texture and flavour will be just slightly different. Chocolate can also be replaced by chocolate chips ( sweet chocolate chips or semi sweet chocolate chips) or chocolate discs.
- Butter - Use salted or unsalted butter. Cut the butter into small cubes, as this will warm it up quicker and speed up the melting process.
- Sugar - We are using two different types of sugar here: white caster (or granulated) and soft light brown sugar. White sugar will add more sweetness, while the brown sugar will also enhance the flavour with buttery, caramel-like notes.
- Eggs - 2 whole large eggs are required in this recipe. For my US and Australia based readers, you will use 2 extra large eggs.
- Flour - Only a small amount of plain / all-purpose flour. You can also use self-raising flour here. If you do, omit the baking powder and salt from the dry ingredients, as the self-raising flour already has both of them added.
- Cocoa powder - Use the best quality cocoa powder you can get, it really makes a huge difference in the taste and appearance of these chocolate cookies! I always use the Green & Blacks organic cocoa powder. Make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch processed).
- Sea salt - Optional, but highly recommended ingredient. A pinch of flaky sea salt on top of the cookies balances out the sweetness and adds an extra crunch.
Instructions
Watch the video in the recipe card to see how I made this cake.
This simple recipe comes together in no more than 15 minutes, but it requires you to prepare few things in advance.
Hint: Before you start, make sure you have all of your ingredients measured/ weighted, and line your baking trays with baking paper. Timing is very important to get the texture of these cookies just right, so stick to it!
Start by mixing the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and set them aside. Use a heatproof bowl to place over a pan of gently simmering water to melt your butter and chocolate. Stir it every now and then, allow both to melt completely and set aside, while you whip the eggs and sugars together.
Beat the eggs with sugar for 5 minutes exactly. You want to create, light, fluffy and shiny mixture, this is what will give your cookies that beautiful, shiny top. Once it's ready, pour in the melted butter and chocolate and combine together again, for about a minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
The batter should be quite wet, but thick and fudgy. Scoop the cookie dough right above prepared baking sheets and leave plenty of space between each cookie. They will puff-up and spread out quite a bit as they bake. Adding flaked sea salt on top of them is optional, but I highly recommend it, because it just balances out the sweetness of the chocolate sooo well!
Variations
- Double or triple chocolate brownie cookies - Why not try adding a handful of chocolate chips to the cookie batter, turning them into double chocolate brownie cookies? You can use dark, milk or white chocolate chips, or a mix of all!
- Sandwich cookie - Whip some cream and pipe it on top of the back of one cookie, then grab another cookie and sandwich together. YUM!
- Add chopped fruit or nuts - You can experiment with adding small amounts of finely chopped fruit to your cookies, like cherries (just like in my Chocolate Cherry Brownies), strawberries or raspberries. You can also add chopped nuts. Hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans will work really well here (like they do in my Tahini Brownies recipe).
- Espresso powder - Adding a pinch or two of an espresso powder / fine coffee granules greatly enhances and intensifies the chocolate flavour. Don't worry, you won't taste the coffee in your bake, I promise!
- Peanut butter - Try stirring few tablespoons of peanut butter into the cookie batter (3-4 Tbsp). It will add more delicious flavour and texture to your brookies.
Equipment
- Handheld electric mixer or freestanding mixer with balloon whisk (but it is possible to make this recipe by hand, with kitchen whisk instead).
- Baking sheets / baking trays - You will need a couple of them, as these cookies are quite big (I normally fit 5 cookies per tray).
- Baking paper / parchment paper - To line the trays with. You can also use the silicone baking mat instead.
- Cookie scoop - This kitchen gadget comes really handy here. It helps to achieve the same size of cookies, and makes the whole batter distribution much easier. An ice cream scoop will also work, but it needs to be one with the spring mechanism, to release the batter easily into the baking tray. If you don't have one of those, use a tablespoon as a measure (2 tablespoon per cookie).
Storage and freezing
Once baked, store the cookies in the airtight container for up to 4 days. They will keep well at room temperature, and should stay soft and fudgy.
Chocolate brownie cookies are also suitable for freezing for up to three months. Allow the cookies to cool completely, then freeze them flat on the baking tray, until they are frozen. Transfer to the freezer-friendly container. Thaw in the fridge overnight, or at room temperature.
FAQ's
Why are my brownie cookies flat?
These cookies will puff up a little while they are baking in the oven, and will flatten a bit while they are cooling. Using a cookie or an ice cream scoop will help to produce a thicker cookie. If you don't have one, use a tablespoon measure, scooping about 2 tablespoon of batter per cookie. If you use less batter, the cookies will come out flatter (still delicious!).
My cookies are cakey, why is that?
You have overbaked them. Make sure to stick to the baking times from the recipe, they only need 12 minutes in the oven. Remember that the cookies will continue to cook after they have been removed from the oven.
The top of my cookies is not as shiny as yours, why is that?
You probably didn't whip the eggs and sugars for long enough. Make sure to whip them for 5 minutes, until the mixture is light, fluffy and almost double in volume. You want to whip as much air as possible into that mixture.
Also, once you have mixed all of the ingredients together, bake the cookies straight away. Do not let the batter sit for longer than it has to. If you leave the batter to rest, it will harden and become grainy, resulting in the cookies loosing their shiny top and crinkled appearance.
Can I replace the eggs in this recipe?
Eggs are a crucial ingredient in these chocolate brownie cookies. Whipped eggs and sugar are what keeps these cookies moist and fudgy. They're also responsible for that shiny, crackly, paper-thin crust on top. You could use simple sugar syrup as an egg replacement, like in this recipe for Fudgy Vegan Brownie Cookies from Loopy Whisk, but I haven't tested that method myself.
Top tip
Stick to the time recommendations from the recipe. Eggs and sugar have to be mixed for long enough to whip enough air into them. This is what will help to achieve that shiny, crackly top. Once all of the ingredients have been mixed, scoop the cookie batter onto the trays and bake straight away. If you allow the batter to sit for too long, the cookies will loose their crinkled appearance and their shine.
Allow the cookies to cool after baking. They will be too soft too handle, if you try to eat them straight away. Cooling them for at least 20 minutes will allow them to firm up and set.
To pin this recipe and save it for later, use the button on the recipe card, or on any of the photos above.
If you try this recipe, or any other recipe on Anna Banana, please take a moment to rate the recipe and/ or leave me a comment. I love hearing from you , but it also helps the other readers who are thinking of making the recipe.
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Brownie Cookies
Equipment
- 2 medium/ large baking trays
- baking paper/ baking parchment
- electric mixer
- cookie/ ice cream scoop
Ingredients
- 200 g dark chocolate (I used 70% solids) finely chopped
- 125 g unsalted butter cubed
- 125 g caster or granulated sugar
- 90 g soft light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 130 g plain flour
- 3 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 teaspoon flaked sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (160 C fan). Line the baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
- Add chopped chocolate and cubed butter into a medium heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stirring occasionally, allow the chocolate and butter to melt completely. Remove the bowl from the top of the saucepan and set it aside.
- Place both sugars, eggs and vanilla extract in a bowl of an electric mixer (or freestanding mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), and beat on medium- high speed for 5 minutes exactly. The mixture will become pale and fluffy and shiny. Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the eggs mixture, and beat on medium- low until incorporated, about a minute.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add dry ingredients mix into the egg and chocolate mixture and stir together until just combined. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl to make sure all ingredients are mixed together.
- Using the cookie/ ice cream scoop, form the cookies, releasing the cookie batter just above the baking tray to avoid any spills. Make sure to leave plenty of room between each cookie, as they will spread during baking. Sprinkle the cookies with flaked sea salt and place them in the oven.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 20 minutes, before removing them into a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Please note that all my recipes are developed and tested in metric grams. I recommend that you use digital scales for a more accurate results. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Video
Notes
- Chocolate - I recommend using dark chocolate with min 70% cocoa solids. Dark chocolate produce richer, deeper flavour and works best in baking. Alternatively, you can use milk chocolate, but it can result in the texture and appearance of the cookies being a bit different.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in January 2021. It has been updated with new photos, revised recipe and tips in May 2022.
Hannah Gray says
Made these for the first time at the weekend, they were amazing and will now be my 'go to' for a treat!
Fazz says
These cookies are amazing. The best recipe I’ve ever found. Perfect for a chocoholic! I’ve made it twice and both times it turned out so beautifully. The cookies spread just as pictures and had the crackly top. These cookies are absolutely delicious, soft, fudgy and gooey interior with beautifully crinkled, shiny and slightly chewy exterior. Thank you so much for sharing this easy, fun and delicious recipe.
Anna says
Thank you SO MUCH for your positive feedback and this fab review Fazz!
Liana says
Hi Anna,
The cookies are amazing! They taste so good, I have baked them so many times. One small question though, my batter was super sticky, it became this messy blob because I needed to shake the scoop quite vigorously to release the batter onto the baking tray, and I couldn't get all the cookies to be relatively uniform in size because of this. Does that have anything to do with the amount of flour I use? But other than that, the cookies are divine!
Joker says
Hi
Should I have to rest the mix first?
Because i tried to bake it but the cookies come out very flat.
Anna says
Hello, no, there is no resting time for these cookies. Sorry to hear the cookies came out flat. Could be due to raising agents OOD?
Sue says
Hi Anna,
I'd like to make these smaller using a 1Tbsp would this change the cooking time?
Anna says
Hey Sue, I would suggest reducing baking time by half, if using 1 tbsp measure. Hope this helps!
Ny says
Hi Anna, could I bake these from frozen or do I have to bake them fresh ?
Sabine says
My family loves this cookies. I bake them every week since Christmas. Thanks Anna for the detailed instruction and all the tips.
Anna says
I'm so happy to hear that Sabine, thanks for this positive feedback!
C fisher says
I loved these and so dod my partner.
I went to make them a second time but didnt have enough butter so i used peanut butter instead. The dough is a little firmer so you need to use a spoon to squash down each scoop but still cook for same time. Tho this way they are nicer the next day
Anna says
Hi Chloe, thanks so much for the review, so happy to hear that you and your partner enjoyed these! And thanks for the tip with using peanut butter, great to know that it works, and I will definitely be trying that next time!
Mimi says
Hi Anna great recipe but you have the temperature wrong for Fahrenheit. It should be 320 degrees.
Orit says
I tried several recipes for Brownie Cookies, and this is certainly the best ones! The cookies turned out luscious, thick, fudgy, with shiny with crackly top!
I liked the instructions and the tips, and most of all the video. Thanks to it I could see that my batter was too runny and I was able to add more flour and fix it. I guess every flour is different and also I live in a pretty humid environment, that's why I need more of it.
I used a cookie spoon of 40ml, and I got 13 quite large cookies. I calculate that if you use a 2 TBSP measure which is 30 ml you would get about 17 cookies and they will be quite smaller. So I would consider adjusting the instructions for using 2 TBSP measure if you don't have a cookie spoon, to about 3 TBSP.
Overall, a really winning recipe, which I will definitely keep and bake again!
Anna says
Hi Orit, thanks very much for your feedback and for trying the recipe. So happy to hear that you found the video and the tips helpful!
Glynis Ellis says
I made these & they are lovely & easy to make. My batter was quite runny & did not stay in a formed state & I was exact with the measurements so I added an extra 20g of flour & it was perfect, it was a batter without being runny. I think it could be the flour…they do vary. Anyway the cookies are fantastic & I will make again. Thank you
Whitney says
I enjoyed this recipe beautiful and thick and glossy, I used just spoons so should invest in an icecream scoop but they still worked went more round when they cooked. Will cook again.
Anna says
Thanks for the review Whitney, an ice cream scoop makes it much easier to scoop the batter out, but I'm glad to hear that it worked with spoons too!
Vivian says
These are the perfect brownie cookies!!! The perfect fudgy texture with a crisp outing and chocolatey taste without being too sweet. My new go-to chocolate cookie recipe.
Anna says
Thanks so much for this positive feedback Vivian, I'm so happy to hear that this recipe is to your liking!
Sumaya says
I made these brownie cookies over 15 times and everyone who's tried them is obsessed!! I keep getting requests every other day to make them 🤣
I have a question tho, i noticed the first batch that comes out of the oven is crakly on top and goegeous, but from the 3rd batch onward there are no cracks. The taste is still amazing they just don't crack (i noticed also after 10-15 mns the batter gets thicker, could this be contributing to the no cracks?).
Thank you again for sharing this absolutely amazing treat!unaya
Anna says
Hi Unaya, thanks so much for this positive review, I'm so happy to hear all of that! You're absolutely right, the chocolate in the batter will start to set the longer you leave it standing, so you should bake the cookies straight away, to ensure they will have crackly tops. Hope this helps, but feel free to ask any questions.
Liz says
I have a family full of chocoholics! We all loved these cookies!
Anna says
Glad to hear that you and the family enjoyed these Liz!
Terry says
Looked more like brownie mix than cookie mix. What did I do wrong?
Anna says
Hi Terry, the batter for these cookies is quite wet, but definitely not as runny as brownie batter. Did you stick to the exact quantities of the ingredients from the recipe?
nikki says
Great instructions and wonderful recipe ... my son said best cookies ever ! thank you .
Anna says
Hey Nikki, thanks so much for this positive feedback, so happy they're approved by your son too! 🙂
Ashley LATHROP says
Hi, these look amazing! Do you have to use caster sugar or can I use regular sugar?
Anna says
Hi Ashley, regular sugar is fine too. Hope this helps!
Toni says
My kids really loved it! They couldn't stop eating them!
Jessica Formicola says
Two of my favorite desserts combined into one! These cookies look incredible and I can't wait to try the recipe!
Neha says
I need to make these. They just look so delicious, gooey yet crisp on the outside.
Anna says
Hah, thanks Neha, I really hope you will give them a try, I honestly think you are going to love these! X
Millie says
Brilliant Anna, thank you. I can always rely on your recipes.
Kimberly says
These look amazing! I can’t wait to try them out. Dutch processed cocoa powder okay or just regular unsweetened?
Anna says
Hi Kimberly, Dutch processed cocoa would be perfect! Happy baking!
Lorelis says
Hi!! If the cracks are not made when baking them, could it be that the oven has a low temperature? More baking powder? Thank you!!
Anna says
Hi Lorelis, you are right, both of these could be the reason why you are not getting that crackly top. Overmixing the dough could also lead to lack of crinkles on top, as you will develop more gluten in the cookie dough mix. Try setting the oven temp higher, and use the right amount of leavening agent. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Mariano says
Delicious cookies!!! Can’t wait to make them again. Thanks for the very clear instructions and tips!
Anna says
Pleasure all mine! So happy to hear you've been enjoying this recipe, thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment and review!
Nazma says
Hi anna
I want know how to bake this cookie perfectly in the oven,
And oven temperature, pre-heating, placing positions in oven, can you clarify this???
Anna says
Hi Nazma, all that information is included in the recipe card. The cookies should be baked in the middle shelf in the oven at 180°C (160°C fan).
Uma Gupta says
Any substitute for eggs? I don't eat eggs. Appreciate your help. Thanks
Barbara klepfer says
I too would like to know a substitute for the eggs. My grandson has an egg allergy.
Anna says
Hi Barbara, thanks for your question. Eggs are a crucial ingredient in this recipe. Whipped eggs and sugar are what helps to keep the cookies really fudgy and moist, they're also produce the shiny top and crust. I know that using the sugar syrup as an egg substitute can work, like in this recipe for Vegan Brownie Cookies from Loopy Whisk blog, but I haven't tried that method myself. Hope this helps!
smita says
jus tlove love lovemaking it. have just taken it out of the oven but is is very soft! is that okay?
smita says
Oaky, success! this is by far the best cookie i have ever tasted. Thanks a lot.
Anna says
Hi Smita, I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and these cookies! They will be soft straight from the oven, but will set while they cool down, as you probably noticed. Thanks for taking time to leave this comment and rating, I really appreciate it!
Laura says
Definitely the best chocolate cookie (Brookie) ever. And I have made A LOT of cookies. All the family loved them !
Anna says
Hi Laura, thanks so much for this great review and rating! I'm over the moon to hear that you and your family enjoyed these cookies! They're definitely a favourite in our house 🙂