Better-than-Brownies Chocolate Cookies
Better-Than-Brownies Chocolate Cookies are a chocolate-lover’s dream! Dense and fudgy, just like a brownie, with the portability of a cookie! They’re quick to make and are a great addition to any bake sale, party, or holiday cookie tray.
The title essentially says it all. Well, sort of. Having trouble deciding between making cookies or making brownies? Your problem is now solved – bake up these beauties and you get the best of both worlds.
I tried to determine if I really think these cookies are better than brownies. That, of course, required serious research. Research, in this case, would be defined as taste testing. And the result is – I just can’t choose. These are basically brownies in cookie form – they are rich, dense and fudgy, and they even have that characteristic shiny, crackly top that brownies are know for.
If you’re craving something super chocolately or even brownies, but you HAVE to make cookies (maybe it’s a picnic or party or cookie table or holiday cookie tray), then these are your do-not-pass-go, do-not-collect-$200 answer.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
To be totally honest, these are not for the faint of heart, and if you are only a fair-weather chocolate fan, these will either fully convert you or may be too much for you. My husband (who usually thinks I put too many chocolate chips in chocolate chip cookies) declared these “too chocolatey”. Since I am an all-chocolate-all-the-time chocolate fan, it goes without saying that these cookies razzled and dazzled me to the point of wanting to hide them from others. I didn’t really hide them, but I was tempted. Actually, it wouldn’t hurt to stash a few of these in the freezer for when chocolate hunger pangs strike.
I have a number of other chocolate cookies on the site, but these are, by far, the richest, densest and most like a brownie that you’ll find. I hope all of my fellow chocolate lovers enjoy these!
One year ago: Baking Basics: Vanilla Beans 101
Five years ago: Pretzel Dogs
Six years ago: Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread
Nine years ago: Cheddar Ale Spread
Better-Than-Brownies Cookies
Ingredients
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 eggs
- 1⅓ cups (266.67 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1 cup (180 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In the meantime, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.
- Add the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until completely combined. Add the flour mixture in three batches, folding it gently into the batter with a spatula. Once all of the flour is incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop 1½ tablespoons of dough (or use a medium cookie scoop) onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they are firm on the outside. Like brownies, do not over bake! Leave to cool completely on the baking sheets, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. These can also be frozen for up to two months.
Notes
- I use Ghiradelli 60% cacao chocolate for these cookies. It's not SUPER bittersweet, but I think you could use semisweet chocolate if you prefer.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on July 22, 2009.
Ok, I just made them, and they are DE-LISCIOS!!!!!!!!!! Perfectly chewy! Also, I hate cutting brownies, these are much easier to serve and eat.
So, my dear dear cousin… when can I start making requests for our visit? ;)
These look sinful! I just wanted to thank you for my tea towel, I love it!
I am thinking of making these for a bake sale, I always try to make something a little different than a standard chocolate chip cookie… will post again if I do make them. Has anyone made them and if so do you think they are a good bake sale item?
I think those are going to be my next recipe to bake!
It looks so yummy, I saved it in my recipe box, I will definitely try it. I’m a chocoholic and this is driving me nuts.. Thanks for sharing the recipe :)
Seriously better than brownies?
Wow, these look sooooo good! And no espresso or coffee in it! yes! I’ve seen so many brownie cookie recipes that have either or in them and ew!
These are so good, but I use gluten free flour.
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
Mmmmm!!!! Love a brownie kind of cookie. I’ve made a similar one that I really like, but these definitely have more chocolate as I look at the ingredients!
And concerning what other things you should post–picture me sitting at a table with a spoon in each hand, rhymithically pounding the spoons on the table and shouting, “ice cream, ice cream….” ; ) jk
Pretty much everything you post looks fabulous! Great photography skills as well.
These look amazing, as always!!
beautiful cookies! I’m waiting for that one to topple over, into the milk….perfect for us chocoholics
I love these cookies! We always finished them with a good dusting of powdered sugar. Yum!
A very very similar recipe is my favorite!! I also vary them by making brownies out of the same recipe, with a touch more flour, for the same taste, with different texture! Yours look delicious though!
The dunked one looks like it’s crying to be eaten :) I like your idea for favorite ethnic dishes. If you could give me a good pad thai recipe I’d love you forever :)
I found this recipe on tastespotting, and though I usually never make chocolate cookies, but you totally won me over here!
I love that crisp looking exterior and the gooey center… Looks like a brownie trapped in a cookie’s body ;)
Ooooh, can’t wait to try these!
Darnit girl, I just made chocolate cookies last week and now I’m dying to try these! Guess I’ll add another chocolate cookie to the list!
OH, those look SO good! I know I could eat the whole plateful in one sitting! ;)
You have the best recipes and this one has to be one of the most chocolatey (how do you spell that?)
I am on my way to the kitchen to make these after the salmon loaf and eggplant. Dinner has to come first or we will be eating cookies for the main course.
Pure decadence!
I just made these cookies an hour ago… and I had 2 cookie sheets with 15 cookies in each and 1 cookie sheet that has 6 cookies… the first 2 cookie sheets, I baked it for 10mins. The cookies stick to the pan, though it has that cracks that the pictures have, and it’s a pancake-like thin, I can’t even lift any one of them…
The last batch with just 6 cookies, I baked it for 12mins. It’s same as the picture, and taste incredible (though a bit sweet for me, even though I put just a cup of sugar) …
So the bottom-line, make sure you check the doneness right… It’s hard to tell but now I learned my lesson… I just wasted more than $10 for the ingredients… Well, I can still eat the 5 cookies remaining in the last batch! :)
BTW, mine was very scoopable… I did let the chocolate-butter mixture cool to room temp. Then I let the batter sit for 20 mins, before preheating the oven and scooping it to my cookies sheets…
These look really good, esspecially with that glass of milk! Yum
You know ever since high school, I’ve always like brownies more than cake or cookies. I even have brownies for my birthday. These look like something I’ll have to try. Thank you for sharing.
Wowee! I bookmarked this page on Delicious at the speed of light! As soon as it’s cool enough to turn the oven on again (maybe November here in Texas!) I’m making these!
All I have to say is I am wiping the drool off of my face.
Thanks!
I can’t show this to hubby, or else I’ll have to make them today! =) If only I had time…
Seriously yummy!
These look amazing!!! I can never get enough chocolate!
i saw the picture on tastespotting and clicked it in less than a second! WOW. a cookie that has got that brownie surface. i’m loving it! have bookmarked it. thank you for the recipe. i think i may just have found the cure to my monday blues/dark days of depression and so forth. love it. xx
Your cookies look terrific – so rich and delicious! Love that first pic!
Hi all.
I see the last comment is from 2013, but I comment on the first post, hoping this might help some who want to make this recipe. I was a bit afraid after reading all the comments of the cookies that turned out flat or the dough, liquid. I am french, so I had to translate all the measure (cups) into weights – I saw someone was asking for the weights.
Anyway : As your recipe worked perfectly for me, I’d like to share a few info:
– add salt
– yes! let the chocolate/butter cool down before adding it to eggs, etc.
– weights : 400g of chocolate to melt, 6 soup spoons of butter, about 270g sugar, 150g flour, 120g of chocolate chips.
It is actually TOO tough, as a mixture. Great to scoop, but hard to mix with a spoon! :)
*lest post is from 2011.. obviously.
After seeing so many comments on the cookies coming out flat I was a bit apprehensive about trying this recipe, but the pictures looked so good I had to try. Also,like Mag, i’d like to share a few tips: When preparing the batter I let the butter and chocolate cool down completely before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients but when I did a 3 cookie test-batch they came out flat. I covered the batter and put it in the fridge for a full night’s rest. When I baked the cookies in the morning they came out beautiful, chubby and chewy as seen and read in the post. Also straight after coming out of the oven, I sprinkled coarse salt on them which made them even better.
So here we are in 2014, and I tried this recipe after reading all the reviews. It works, people! Here is how I did it, without weighing ingredients or using special flour:
1. The chocolate and butter mixture needs to be cool enough to stick your finger in the middle without getting burned.
2. After you prepare the batter, refrigerate it for 1.5 – 2 hours. It will go in the fridge looking like the brownie batter everyone complained about, and come out looking like cookie dough. Voila! You still need to use two tablespoons to drop the cookies onto the pans, but it’s solid enough.
3. Bake right away and put your dough in the fridge in between batches. This prevents too much spread with every cookie dough ever. Cool at least almost-completely on the baking sheets (torture for the few-panned bakers like myself) or you will have messy-destroyed hot brownie, not a cookie.
4. Make sure you bake it enough. Yes, beware of over-baking. But they will rise a bit and perhaps look almost done, and still fall flat when you cool them if you don’t bake them long enough. I made big cookies (2 tbsp dough, roughly) and did 12-14 minutes instead of 10-12. Mine were crackled-brownie looking, puffy in the center, gooey on the inside, perfection like the picture, but bigger (I made 22 cookies from the recipe).
And I just did the recipe like it says, with a little common sense!