Chocolate Brownie Cookies: aka Brookies
Sometimes called brookies, these chocolate brownie cookies are thick, rich and irresistibly fudgy. It’s the best of both worlds in one bite. And the best part? You can whip up a batch and bake them in just twenty five minutes.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my cookie and privacy statement for further details.
Sometimes nothing will do to sort out those chocolate cravings than a chocolatey bake. This one is one of my favourites. It’s particularly good for making a decadent Sunday sundae dessert.
Dive Right In
- Why You’ll Want To Make These Brookies
- Easy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
- Ingredients
- How To Make Chocolate Brownie Cookies
- Flavour Variations
- How To Make A Brookie Sundae
- Other Chocolate Cookie Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- Pin It
- The Recipe
Why You’ll Want To Make These Brookies
- Best of both worlds – Soft and fudgy like a brownie, but with a crisp top and edges. They also have the hand-held ease of a cookie.
- Deep chocolate flavour – Rich, satisfying and perfect for serious chocolate cravings.
- Freezer-friendly – The cookies keep well for four to five days, though the outer crispness disappears the longer they’re kept. Should you need to freeze them, you can do so for a couple of months.
- Great for sharing – Ideal for bake sales, gifting, enjoying with friends and family or turning into brookie sundaes. See recipe further down this post.
- Quick and easy – No chill time, no fancy equipment and just twenty five minutes from start to finish.
- Small batch friendly – Makes eight large cookies, but it’s easy to double the recipe if you feel you need more. You probably will.
Easy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
I first came across the concept for brownie cookies in the book Paris Pastry Club by Fanny Zanotti. Nice as the recipe is, I would dispute her name for them, which is Better-Than-Brownies Cookies. The recipe, I found, was okay, but the quantities weren’t clear and it didn’t produce the fudgy result I was expecting.
There was no picture for them in the book, so I didn’t really know what they were meant to look like. I parked them for a while. Fast forward a few years and I now have my own recipe for chocolate brownie cookies.
Mine are made with wholemeal flour, but they’re still rich, fudgy and decadent, so don’t worry. It’s a no-chill dough, so there’s a bit of melting, a bit of whipping and a bit of stirring and then straight into the oven.
It’s a small batch recipe in that it only makes eight cookies. However, they’re quite large ones. One cookie is generally enough to satisfy, I’ve found. If you like you could make twelve smaller ones.
Chocolate brownie cookies are satisfying as an afternoon treat and excellent for making decadent sundaes for dessert.
Ingredients
The ingredients are all straightforward for this recipe and don’t really need much in the way of explanation. I’ve written a few notes below on the all important chocolate elements as well a couple of others.
Chocolate
In order to get rich chocolatey notes, you need to use dark chocolate. What cacao percentage you use though is up to you. I go with 70% which seems to hit the right notes, not too strong but not wanting.
Cocoa Powder
Make sure you use unsweetened cocoa powder and not drinking chocolate. Again, we’re after the chocolate hit here and not extra sweetness. You can use cocoa powder or cacao powder, both are good.
Flour
Wholemeal flour gives a nutty flavour and a bit of fibre to these brookies. You can use wholemeal spelt or one of the other heritage flours instead if you prefer. I haven’t tried the recipe with gluten-free flour, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. You’ll will get a different texture though.
Sugar
There are two types of sugar needed for this recipe, soft brown sugar and golden caster sugar. The mix gives both flavour and a crisp crackly top. I use muscovado sugar for its added complexity of flavour.
How To Make Chocolate Brownie Cookies
Although these brookies are quick and easy to make, electric beaters or an electric whisk make whipping the eggs and sugar together an awful lot easier.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for cooking temperatures and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Melt Chocolate
Place the butter in a small saucepan and start to melt it over a gentle heat. Break or chop the chocolate into small pieces and add to the melting butter.
The partially melted butter prevents the chocolate from burning. As soon as the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat, then stir and leave to cool a little.
Step 2. Whisk Egg
Whilst the butter and chocolate is cooling, whip the sugars, egg, salt and vanilla extract together until thick and tripled in volume. This takes about five minutes with electric beaters, but longer by hand.
Carefully pour the melted chocolate into the whipped sugar mixture down one side of the bowl. Beat briefly on a low setting until everything’s combined. Or fold it in by hand. I always do this bit by hand as I love the artistic swirls the process creates.
Step 3. Add Dry Ingredients
Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the batter and fold it in carefully until just combined. A figure of eight motion works quite well.
Discard any bran that’s left in the sieve. Either throw it on the compost, use it to deter slugs or add it to another bake.
Step 4. Create Cookies
Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Scoop heaped tablespoons of the dough onto the tray, placing them well apart as they will flatten and spread during baking. An ice cream scoop is good for creating a uniform size. I didn’t use one this time.
If liked, scatter a few sea salt flakes over the top of each cookie. I don’t generally do this as I prefer not to add too much salt to my diet.
Step 5. Bake
Bake in the centre of the oven for eleven minutes. Leave to cool and firm up for a couple of minutes. Then, using a thin metal spatula or fish slice, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Top Tips
The quantity given in the recipe card below makes eight large cookies. If you prefer twelve smaller ones, bake them for eight to nine minutes rather than ten to eleven.
If you want them gooey, rather than soft in the middle, bake for 9 minutes before removing.
For uniformly round cookies, shape them using a round cutter as soon as they come out of the oven. Use a cutter that’s slightly larger than the cookie and gently swirl the cookies around inside it.
Flavour Variations
- Chocolate chunks – Add a handful of dark, milk or white chocolate chips or even chopped chocolate for pockets of melty goodness.
- Coffee hit – Add ½–1 tsp of instant espresso powder to the batter to deepen the chocolate flavour.
- Nutty twist – Fold in a handful of chopped walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts for crunch and contrast.
- Spiced version – Add a pinch or two of ground cinnamon, ground cardamom or chilli powder for subtle spicy notes and warmth.
How To Make A Brookie Sundae
I invariably use some of the cookies for an adapted version of the next recipe in Fanny’s book which is a banana-split (ish) sundae. Only I use my own chocolate sauce recipe – of course!
Basically, just layer broken pieces of brookie, sliced banana, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce in a tall glass. I use one brookie per sundae. Eat with a long spoon and enjoy. It’s super simple, but so very good.
I have a lot of chocolate sauce recipes on the blog and they’re all delicious. For the sundae I made a fudgy one as fudgy brookies were the order of the day. The ingredients are as follows: 100ml double cream, 30g dark chocolate, ½ tsp dark muscovado sugar and a small pinch of sea salt.
Heat the cream until steaming. Chop the chocolate and add along with the sugar and salt. Leave for a couple of minutes for the chocolate to melt, then stir. Leave to cool or pour on whilst still warm.
Other Chocolate Cookie Recipes You Might Like
- cacao nibbed chocolate cookies
- chocolate cardamom shortbread cookies
- chocolate mint cookies (made with fresh mint)
- chocolate pistachio biscotti (gluten-free)
- embossed chocolate biscuits
- raspberry chocolate & hazelnut cookies
And if you’d like more ideas on what to make with chocolate, you’ll find plenty of inspiration in my chocolate recipes collection.
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these chocolate brownie cookies, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or tips for making brookies?
Please rate the recipe too. And do tag me @choclette8 on Instagram with your images, I love to see your take on my recipes.
For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?
If you’d like more biscuit and cookie recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Chocolate Brownie Cookies. PIN IT.
Chocolate Brownie Cookies: aka Brookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 60 g unsalted butter
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 50 g light brown sugar (I used muscovado)
- 50 g golden caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 75 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- pinch fine sea salt
- sea salt flakes for scattering over the top (optional)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the chocolate over a gentle heat. Stir then leave to cool a little.60 g unsalted butter, 100 g dark chocolate
- Whip the sugars, egg, salt and vanilla extract together until thick and tripled in volume – about 5 minutes with electric beaters.50 g light brown sugar, 50 g golden caster sugar, 1 large egg, ½ tsp vanilla extract, pinch fine sea salt
- Carefully pour the melted chocolate into the whipped sugar mixture. Beat briefly on a low setting until everything's combined.
- Sieve the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the batter and stir until just combined. Discard any bran that’s left in the sieve. Either throw it on the compost, use to deter slugs or add it to another bake.75 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat), 1 tbsp cocoa powder, ½ tsp baking powder
- Scoop heaped tablespoons onto a lined baking tray, placing well apart as they will flatten and spread during baking. An ice cream scoop is good for creating a uniform size. If liked, scatter a few sea salt flakes over the top of each cookie.sea salt flakes
- Bake in the centre of the oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 12 minutes. Leave to cool and firm up for five minutes, then using a spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
This post contains affiliate links which are marked with an asterisk* or (affiliate link). If you buy through a link, it won’t cost you any more, but I might get a small commission. Thank you for your support of the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Good morning Choclette,
why do you discard the bran please?
Hope you’ll have a relaxing weekend.
Cheers
Sigi
Hi Sigi. I don’t always discard the bran in bakes, but because these ones are meant to have a smooth and fudgy mouthfeel, large pieces of bran can be disconcerting. I use a wide gauge sieve so most of the bran goes through and only the largest bits are captured. But if you don’t mind a bit more texture, it’s fine to include all of the bran. Hope that helps.
Thank you, good to have options. The sieved once for guests, the branny ones if it’s just me 😉
Cheers
That’s exactly it 🙂