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These brownies were the happiest accident! A failed attempt at shortbread chocolate chip cookies led me to a recipe for something that tasted a lot like cookie dough and I knew I needed to find a home for it. I was torn between brownies and cheesecake bars, but decided to start out with these brownies. And wow, the end result is pretty incredible.
The first step is making your faux cookie dough bites, and then you'll make a fudgy and delicious brownie batter. There is no fancy equipment required in this recipe, so even though the end result has an incredible look and taste, they're relatively easy to pull together. You can use a stand or hand mixer for the cookie dough bites if you'd like, but as long as your butter is at room temperature it's quite easy to do this part by hand.
I used Guittard chocolate for both the cookie dough bites and the brownie batter. I recommend using chips for the cookie dough pieces to replicate a classic cookie dough bite. For the batter, I used a semisweet chocolate bar instead, but chips would work well here too.
I've had other cookie and brownie combos but I always found that one or the other was lacking in flavor or texture. Either the cookie layer was too dry, or the brownie was too cakey. That is not the case with this recipe. The cookie pieces have the perfect cookie dough like taste and bite, and the brownies are chocolatey, chewy, and fudgy. The two come together to create an extremely fun and playful brownie that is perfect to enjoy at home or share with loved ones.
I recently made these brownies (successfully!) gluten free, and can confidently say it's a recipe that will work well with a gluten free flour replacement. I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 flour, and I highly recommend weighing it using the gram weight shared in the recipe rather than measuring by cups.
Ingredients:
Cookie dough
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature 113g
1/3 cup granulated sugar 64g
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour 90g
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (2oz) semisweet chocolate chips
Brownie batter
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter 113g
2/3 cup (4 oz) semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup light brown sugar 64g
2/3 cup granulated sugar 128g
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour 60g
1/3 cup cocoa powder 36g
1/2 teaspoon salt
Total time: About two hours including chill time before slicing
Prep time: About 30 minutes
Bake time: 23-28 minutes
Servings: 16
Cooking instructions:
Make your cookie dough bites. In a medium bowl, combine your room temperature butter and granulated sugar using a spatula or large spoon. Continue mixing until the sugar is completely incorporated into your butter - you should see no streaks of butter only. Add in your vanilla extract, and mix until fully combined into your butter and sugar mixture.
Next, add in your flour and salt. Move slowly to avoid over mixing your dough. Once a dough has formed, which means your flour and salt are both just mixed into your butter mixture, add in your chocolate chips. Continue using your spatula or large spoon to fold in your chocolate chips until they are evenly dispersed.
Grab a plate or line a baking sheet. Use a teaspoon to scoop and round out your cookie dough pieces and place each onto your plate or baking sheet. Once you're done, place them into the fridge to cool.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, make your brownie batter. In a large bowl, melt your butter in the microwave. Add in all of your semisweet chocolate, stir to coat your chocolate with the melted butter, and then place back into the microwave for another 15-30 seconds. Leave your mixture be for about a minute, and then stir to combine your chocolate and butter fully.
Into your bowl, add in both sugars and stir to combine using a large spoon or spatula. Then, add in your vanilla and eggs one at a time. Using your same spatula or large spoon, stir together with speed to combine for about a minute. You can also use a whisk for this step.
At this point, you'll incorporate your dry ingredients. I recommend sifting in your flour, cocoa powder, and salt first. I used a mesh strainer rested on top of my large bowl and added in my dry ingredients. Then you can lightly tap the sides of the strainer with one hand while holding the handle in the other to sift your dry ingredients clump free into your wet ingredients. If you don't have a strainer, just check for any large clumps in your cocoa powder before adding in to your wet ingredients. Using the same spatula or large spoon, fold your dry ingredients in. Move slowly here and be sure to only mix as much as necessary.
Finish prepping and baking your brownies. Line a 9x9in square pan (or you can use an 8x8 pan and increase the cook time a bit) with parchment paper. I recommend ensuring all sides of the pan are lined, or you can lightly grease the uncovered sides.
Remove your cookie dough bites from the fridge, and disperse about half on the bottom of your pan. Then, dollop your brownie batter in portions on top of the cookie dough bites. Using a spoon or offset spatula, move slowly and spread your brownie batter across to mostly cover your dough bites. Place the rest of your dough bites across the top of your batter, and gently press them down.
Place your brownies into the oven for 23-28 minutes. You don't want to over bake your brownies and every oven is different, so keep an eye on them. Once done, the top should be shiny and the center should be just firm but wiggle a bit if you shake the pan. They are meant to be fudgy so don't worry much about under baking.
Once fully baked, allow your brownies to cool for about an hour or so at room temperature. For the easiest slicing, place your brownies into the fridge or freezer for an hour or two before slicing. At a minimum, place your brownies in the fridge for an hour after coming to room temperature.
When you're ready to slice, you can remove your brownies from the pan or slice in the pan. My preference is to slice into 16 squares out of the pan. You can also leave them as larger squares, cutting into 9 pieces total. Once they're sliced, you can store the pieces in the fridge for about 5 days, or store in the freezer to eat any time! They will taste great just out of the freezer, but I usually give them about 10 minutes at room temperature before enjoying.
Carb and serving info:
Carbs for full recipe: 489
Carbs per serving (1/16): 31
Carbs per serving (1/9): 54
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.