Brownie Cookies
These Brownie Cookies are just like a chewy, fudgy, chocolate brownie but in cookie form! They’re incredibly easy to make and delicious too!
Are you more of a fudgy or cakey brownie kind of person? When it comes brownies, I’m 100% team fudgy. If you’re anything like me, then I think you’ll love today’s recipe — these homemade brownie cookies!
These cookies are just like my homemade fudgy brownies but in cookie form. This recipe also uses two different kinds of chocolate, so they’re extra chocolatey and taste just like the corner piece of a super fudgy brownie.
I’ve also included instructions for how to freeze the cookie dough and prep it ahead of time! And if you love chocolate chips or walnuts in your cookies, I’ve included options for how to add them!
Ingredients for This Recipe
These brownie crinkle cookies use a lot of typical ingredients that you’ll find in most cookie recipes. Most of these are pantry-staples!
- Flour: I use 1 cup of all-purpose flour for these cookies. Just make sure you spoon and level your flour so they don’t turn out too cakey.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: I use natural unsweetened cocoa powder, but dutch-processed would probably be okay since we’re using baking powder in this recipe. I explain more about the difference between both kinds of cocoa powder here.
- Baking Powder & Salt: The baking powder adds a little lift to these cookies.
- Unsalted Butter: I found one stick of butter to be just a little too much, so there are only 6 tablespoons of butter instead.
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: I love to use a combination of granulated and brown sugar in most of my cookies. The brown sugar adds moisture and helps make them chewy too.
- Eggs & Pure Vanilla Extract: The eggs help make the cookies chewier and the vanilla adds flavor.
- Melted Semi-Sweet Chocolate: It’s best to stick with real chocolate in these cookies, Baker’s and Ghiradelli are great options!
How to Make Brownie Cookies
These cocoa powder cookies are just as easy as any other cookie recipe on my site, here’s exactly how I make them:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: It helps to sift the dry ingredients too, this will remove any lumps of cocoa powder.
- Cream the butter and sugars together: Make sure your butter is at room temperature and mix it with the sugars for 1 to 2 minutes or until they’re well incorporated.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract: Room temperature eggs are best. If you forget to set them out ahead of time, you can place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Melt the chocolate and add it to the cookie dough: To keep things simple, I just chop up the chocolate and melt it in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave in 20 to 30 second increments.
- Add the dry ingredients: Once all of the wet ingredients are mixed together, you’ll mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.
- At this stage, you can stir in some chocolate chips or chopped walnuts too.
- Cover the cookie dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour: This will not only help make it easier to scoop the cookie dough, but the cookies will bake up thicker too!
- Once this cookie dough is chilled, you can scoop it out with a spoon or cookie scoop: I really love to use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, because I find it makes the perfect size cookies. This cookie scoop is similar to the one that I use.
- Bake: The cookies will take about 10 minutes in the oven, you’ll know they’re ready when the tops are set and start to crack.
Want your cookies to be perfectly round? I suggest using a cookie scoop and rolling them into balls with your hands before baking them. Once they come out of the oven and are still warm, use a spoon to help re-shape any cookies that aren’t perfectly round. I do this with all of my cookies and it works perfectly!
FAQ’s
Can I Prep the Cookie Dough in Advance?
You can let the cookie dough chill in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If you do, the dough will be pretty firm, so I suggest letting it sit on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes before you try to scoop it.
Can I Freeze These Cookies?
The cookie dough and baked cookies will freeze well for up to 3 months. If you need to prep these further in advance here’s how I freeze my cookie dough and cookies:
- To freeze the cookie dough: Scoop balls of the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for several hours or until the cookie dough is completely frozen. Then transfer to a freezer bag or container for storage. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or bake from frozen for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
- To freeze the baked cookies: Store baked cookies that have cooled completely in a freezer bag. You can thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then bring them to room temperature on the counter a few hours before you plan to serve them.
Can I Add Mix-Ins?
Yes! Walnuts and / or chocolate chips can be added to these chocolate brownie cookies. Use 3/4 cup of chocolate chips or 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. If you want to use both, use 1/2 cup of each.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour for these cookies, avoid scooping it from the container. Instead, stir the flour around, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level it off.
- It’s best to sift the dry ingredients together to remove any large lumps of cocoa powder.
- For the semi-sweet chocolate, I suggest using chocolate bars and not chocolate chips. I usually buy two four-ounce bars of chocolate, Baker’s or Ghiradelli are great options!
- Once you’ve mixed up the cookie dough, it is best to let it chill for one hour so it’s firmer and easier to scoop. If the cookie dough is too hard to scoop at first, let it sit on the counter for 10 to 15 minutes.
More Easy Cookie Recipes To Try!
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Classic No-Bake Cookies
- Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Lemon Cookies
Brownie Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour , spooned & leveled
- 1/4 cup (22 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter , softened
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) brown sugar , packed
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate , melted and slightly cooled
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, then whisk until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1-2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the melted chocolate and continue mixing until fully combined. Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed until just combined. Cover tightly and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour.
- About 15-20 minutes before you plan to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough, roll into balls, and place on the prepared baking sheets making sure to leave a little room between each one.
- Bake in separate batches at 350°F for 9-11 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set and start to crack.
- Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dough was rock hard after just an hour in the fridge. Not sure why, but definitely not scoopable. I let it sit out for a bit. Cookies still turned out good. Next time I may either roll them before chilling or just chill for less time.
If you make them again, you can just scoop the cookie dough first and let it chill for 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
Cookies turned out like brownie bites! They taste great, I used Splenda instead of sugar. I am borderline diabetic.
So the. recipe for these brownie cookies has set my house on high alert! I am constantly being asked when am I going to make a new batch and my pregnant daughter-in-law has proclaimed them to be her most favoritie cookie of all time and she says the “baby” keeps asking for them! I just discovered the recipe right around Christmas and have made several batches. I always follow the recipe to the letter, however my most recent batch was very dry and crumbly when I tried to roll them, even after letting them set out on counter extra time to soften before rolling. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you
So glad you love the cookies, Gia! I’m not sure why the last batch would be dry. Are you using different ingredients or measuring anything differently (like using cups instead of a food scale)?
Hello! Can I make this with only cocoa powder without chocolate chips?
You do need the semi-sweet chocolate for this recipe. If you don’t have any on hand though, you can use my double chocolate cookie recipe here and just leave out the chocolate chips.
Yum yum and more yum!
I always find normal brownies too sweet and dense for me, so brownie cookies are the perfect balance!
Also, I wanted to make some plain and some with nuts so I just rolled half the balls in chopped pecans and caramel pieces, bomb dot com! ?
Thank you for the recipe. I made them yesterday, They were so easy to make and came out exactly as you depict above. They are delicious and not overly sweet I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet chips because I wanted to finish up a bag I already had. They worked perfectly. In fact, some bits didn’t completely melt and they showed up as tiny chunks in the cookies, which actually ended up being a ‘happy accident’.
I will definitely make them again. A keeper
Hi,
Can you make this recipe without melting chocolate?
Thanks
You do need the melted chocolate for these cookies, but I do have a regular chocolate cookie recipe here that only uses cocoa powder.
hi there! just wondering, do i keep it in the fridge or freezer for an hour?
You chill it in the refrigerator.
thanks! it turned out great 🙂
I made these and they were amazing …. but they were thick and they did not spread a lot .. do you know why ??
The same happened when I baked them today
I made these last night for the first time. Taste s SO good and full of chocolate flavor. However, they didn’t crack as shown in the picture. And recommendations to improve the batch? Thanks in advance.
They tend to crack in the last minute or so of baking. You may just need to bake them a bit longer and see if that helps.
Hello! I baked them today and it is so yummy! I baked two batches. First batch it turn out with crinkled brownies, but my second batch did not. Do you know why?
Hi, Jenny! It could be how long you baked them or maybe your oven temperature wasn’t quite hot enough for the second batch. If you make them again, you can try letting them bake just a bit longer and they should start to crinkle.
Holy cow! I have never eaten a brownie cookie much less made one! And, I’ll be making these again real soon! followed the directions as written using Ghiardeli semi-sweet chips. I rolled them into balls directly then rolled them in granulated sugar like a peanut butter cookie and put those in the fridge for about 15 minutes (okay, not exactly as written!). Baked for 4 min then rotated the pan and three minutes later the tops were cracking and they looked just like the picture and were still soft and gooey inside! I got almost 40 cookies, probably scooped them smaller. Perfect in every way! Highly recommend!
These turned out so great! I used a 1-1 gluten free flour replacer and they didn’t flatter out quite as much as the ones you’ve pictured but they’re super yummy!! Great recipe.
These brownie cookies are the BEST! I made one batch and am now making a huge second batch because they are so good! Thanks!
So glad you liked the cookies, Maggie!
I love these cookies!!!! My only problem is that the bases of them are becoming burnt on the baking sheets….any advice?
Are you using a darker colored baking sheet? If so, try using a lighter one or reducing the oven temperature slightly. It’s also best to bake cookies on the center rack in your oven.
Wow. Just wow. My life recently changed when I upgraded my vanilla to Rain’s Choice. A recipe HAS TO BE GOOD for me to use my gold (aka vanilla). When I read your recipe, I knew that I couldn’t even use Ghirardelli for these gems. I’m so glad I paid for Callebaut! I made these this morning and am already chopping my block for the next batch. Perfect with coffee. I can see these becoming a weekly bake. Thank you.
So glad you liked the cookies, Stephanie!
Hi, these look so good! Do you use light or dark brown sugar? Xx
Either one is fine, but I typically use light brown sugar.
Do we have any eggless option
You may be able to use flax eggs, but I haven’t personally tried it in these cookies.
Omg!! These cookies are absolute PERFECTION ?
Thank you, Arpita!
I have been looking for a chocolate cookie recipe like this for ages (it feels like)! So glad I found this. And the Oatmeal raisin ones is always a hit! Thank you!