Brownie cookies

These cookies are loosely based off of my favorite brownie recipe, and what could be better than a cross between our favorite chocolate dessert and a cookie?!

I have made brownie cookies before and always found them to be too crispy or not chocolatey enough. These are incredibly fudgy in the center just like the perfect brownie center, and a light crisp around the edges just like you would expect from a cookie. There are two types of melted chocolate and of course cocoa powder as well to bring out the deep chocolate flavor!

Butter is always important, but when it comes to brownies I firmly believe that chocolate is the most critical ingredient. So, if you're looking for an ingredient to splurge on I would encourage you to focus on the chocolate. For my semisweet and milk chocolate, I tend to go with Guittard. For this recipe in particular I used their chocolate disks, but their chocolate chips or baking bars would be perfect too. Ghiradelli is also a great option and their bars are easier to find! For cocoa powder, I used the unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder from Valrhona. We don't use a lot in this recipe so it's a splurge that will last for other recipes too and I really just love the bold, chocolate flavor it brings.

When it comes to baking these cookies, know that they will continue to bake and set once they leave the oven. You'll know they're ready to remove from the oven once the shiny top is formed and the center is slightly poofed up. If they still giggle a little, that is completely okay and to be expected. In the photos below, one was taken about 10-20 minutes out of the oven and the second is from the following day. If I had baked the cookies any longer, they wouldn’t be fudgy the next day. They should be a bit on the gooey side when fresh out of the oven!

For this recipe, we won't use any special equipment. You will get a little bit of an arm workout whipping your egg and sugar together so know that you CAN use a stand or hand mixer for that piece, but I found that it was easy enough to get the end result we want - a shiny brownie top - without a mixer.

This recipe really is low fuss. You will dirty a couple of bowls, but there is no chill time required which means you can have these delicious brownie cookies in about an hour! I left them plain, but you could absolutely top the cookies with a chocolate drizzle, frosting, or glaze of some sort. There is no chill time required so your dough will be quite soft to the touch. I recommend using a scooper to portion out your dough. A spoon can work too but just be patient. If you're looking for cookie scoops, I love these scoops from Cook'n Feel (I use the medium scoop usually for cookies) or this large scoop from Oxo.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter (8 tablespoons) 113g

• 2/3 cup (4 oz) semisweet chocolate

• 2/3 cup (4 oz) milk chocolate

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar 64g

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 144g

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour 87g

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder 35g

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Total time: Under an hour

Prep time: About 15 minutes

Bake time: 10-12 minutes

Servings: 13 cookies

Equipment:

• Cookie sheets

• Parchment paper

• Whisk and spatula (or large spoon)

• Cookie scoop

Cooking instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and take out any refrigerated items, including your eggs.

Finely chop your semisweet and milk chocolate and set aside.

In a medium, microwave safe bowl add your butter. Place into the microwave to melt. Then, add in all of your chopped chocolate, stir to coat your chocolate with the melted butter, and place back into the microwave for another 15 seconds. Leave your mixture be for about a minute, and then use a spoon to combine your chocolate and butter until smooth.

Into a large bowl, add in both sugars and your eggs. Whisk to combine and continue with speed until your sugar and egg mixture lightens in color - this should take about 2 minutes.

Add in your vanilla extract and whisk until fully incorporated.

Next, pour in your butter and chocolate mixture and whisk until fully combined being sure to reach down to the bottom of your bowl.

At this point, you'll incorporate your dry ingredients. Add in your flour, cocoa powder, and salt. You can start to combine with your whisk and then I recommend switching to a spatula or large spoon to fold your dry ingredients in. Move slowly here and be sure to only mix as much as necessary.

Use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out your dough. It should make about 13 cookies, 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons per cookie. Space out your dough onto lined cookie sheets, I used parchment paper.

Your oven should be heated to 350 degrees. Place your brownie cookies into the oven for 10-12 minutes. You'll know they're done when you see the shiny top but the cookies are still soft in the center. Remove from the oven and allow your brownie cookies to cool - knowing that they will be gooey for the first hour or so out of the oven, and then perfectly fudgy later on!

You can store your brownie cookies at room temperature or in the fridge for about 5 days in an airtight container, though they'll be freshest for the first day or so. You can also store the fully baked cookies in the freezer to eat any time!

Carb and serving info:

Carbs for full recipe: 444

Carbs per serving (1 of 13): 34

Carbs from chocolate (in case you use a different kind): 144

Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.