Brownie cookies
Brownie cookies have all the flavor of a dense, fudgy chocolate brownie, baked as individual cookies. The tops crackle with a shiny, paper-thin crust, the edges are slightly crisp and the centers are chewy and moist, with chocolate that melts as you bite in.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 11 min
- Rising or chilling
- 20 min
- Total time
- 56 min
- Method
- Oven-baked
Ingredients
Instructions
Step 1
Put 170 g chopped dark chocolate and 30 g unsalted butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water on low heat, and stir until melted. A water bath melts the chocolate smoothly without scorching or seizing. The mixture is ready when it's glossy and smooth, with no lumps of chocolate, and the rim of the bowl feels just warm.
Step 2
Whip 100 g eggs with 100 g granulated sugar, 50 g brown sugar and 4 g vanilla extract on high speed for about five minutes. Whipping the eggs for a long time creates the signature shiny, thin crust on top. The mixture is ready when it's pale, doubled in volume and falls in a thick ribbon when you lift the whisk.
Step 3
Pour the melted chocolate into the eggs and fold gently, then sift in 60 g all-purpose flour, 12 g cocoa powder, 2 g baking powder and a pinch salt, and finally add 80 g chocolate chips. Mixing only as much as needed keeps the air in the eggs, which makes the cookies lighter. The dough is ready when it's an even dark brown with no dry streaks and looks like a slightly thick brownie batter.
Step 4
Let the bowl of dough rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes, uncovered. As the butter and chocolate cool, the dough thickens and becomes easy to scoop without spreading. The dough is ready when a spoonful holds its shape and the surface has set slightly.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 175°C while the dough rests, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Brownie cookies bake very quickly, so the oven must be at the right temperature from the start. The oven is ready when the heating light switches off and the heat inside is even.
Step 6
Use two spoons to scoop the dough into walnut-sized balls and place them about 5 cm apart on the sheets. Generous spacing lets the cookies spread without touching. Each sheet is ready when the balls are the same size with plenty of space around them.
Step 7
Bake one sheet at a time at 175°C for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through for even baking. Taking them out a little early keeps the centers chewy once cooled. They're ready when the tops are shiny and crackled and the edges have set, but the centers still feel soft when pressed lightly.
Step 8
Leave the cookies on the sheet for about 10 minutes before moving them to a rack to cool completely. Fresh from the oven they're very soft and will break in half if you lift them right away. They're ready when the bottoms have firmed up and they keep their shape when lifted with a spatula.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Hand mixer
- Small saucepan
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Kitchen scale
Tips
- Use dark chocolate with about 55 to 70 percent cocoa; anything too bitter makes the cookies dry and less mellow.
- For bigger, chewier cookies, scoop balls twice the size and bake two minutes longer.
- Sprinkling a few flakes of sea salt on the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven makes the chocolate flavor pop.
Storage
The cookies stay chewy in an airtight container at room temperature for about four days. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to a month, then thaw them at room temperature for about thirty minutes.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The tops don't have a shiny, crackled crust.
- The eggs and sugar weren't whipped long enough. Next time, whip until the mixture is really fluffy, pale and falls in a ribbon before adding the chocolate.
- The cookies spread out thin as paper.
- The dough was still too warm when scooped onto the sheets. Let it rest ten minutes longer or chill it in the fridge for a while to thicken before scooping.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
