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.
OMG! Yum-o!! I made these tonight for the first time and they came out great! I let the melted chocolate mixture cool a bit before adding to the egg mixture. The first batch I scooped out, the batter wasn’t very thick and it spread out a littlebit on the baking sheet. But when it was done… It turned out just like your pictures!
Also I noticed, as I was waiting in between batches, the batter got thicker and it was definitely more ‘scoopable’. Awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I just made these cookies today. I noticed that when I used the parchment paper with my pans, the cookies became thin. So I tried a tray without parchment paper and they came out thicker. I haven’t tried to take them off the pan, yet. I did take one of the thin ones off to “taste test”……Oh my word, delicious!! Definitely will make these for a group hangout this summer!
Michelle, may I just say that I AM YOUR BIG FAN and YOU ARE A BAKING GENIUS! I made these yesterday because my friend Nicole was having a bad week and needed some chocolatey comfort. Since cutting and packing brownies, Nicole’s all-time favourite dessert, were always somewhat resource unfriendly (I used to wrap individual pieces in a piece of cooking foil…), I decided to make your better-than-brownies chocolate cookies. I didn’t want to make my friend sugar high, so I omitted chocolate chips, used baking chocolate blocks, and yes… my dough was super runny in the beginning… but after letting it sit there for about 10-20 min, they were scoopable. PEOPLE! If you’re using baking chocolate, GIVE YOUR BATTER ABOUT 10-20 MIN AND YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SCOOP! (Or 5 min in your fridge if you’re living in a warm place.) Resist the temptation to add more flour ‘cuz this recipe is PERFECT as is. Trust me, I am really bad with first-trial recipes, and this recipe worked like magic.
Mine were so good Nicole almost cried. Now my hubby is angry that I packed all of them for Nicole, so I’ll be baking with cocoa powder substitution (3 tablespoons cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon oil = 1 oz. bittersweet chocolate). I’ll see how that alters the consistency of the batter and let y’all know if you’re reading the replies and suggestions as I always do when trying a new recipe ;)
Question: Tried this recipe again, this time using the cocoa pwoder+oil… And it didn’t work for me at all. I tried to measure it by grams, gave me some cake-like puffed up yucky stuff, and then did it by tablespoon, and the consistency of the batter was similar to the one I had when I made it with baking chocolate… but when I baked them, they were all wrong! The surface of the cookies were all bubbly, as in, small bubbles filled the surface… No cracks… What did I do wrong? Would someone PLEASE help me out!
Hi Angela, It sounds like the oil substitution just may not work with the consistency of this particular cookie.
Hi! These look amazing!!
I made mine and they didn’t turn out quite the same… They spread out and they are sticked up on the parchment paper… Maybe I should have keep the batter refrigerated a little bit… Seen as hot as Brasil is… And they turn out with a plastic-kind-of-look on the surface… Help please?
WOW!!! these cookies look so great! I just HAD to make them! Even though I’m not a cookie or chocolate lover, but hubby is. So I made them just now and pulled them out of the oven a few minutes ago. They look just the same als yours yyyyyaaaaayyyy!!!
My batter was not runny at all, but more on the thick side. I let the chocolate cool off before mixing it and when I was folding in the flour it already got thicker and thicker.
The smell of the cookies is wonderfull and I’m sure they will taste als good als they look! Thanx so much for another recipe!
Hi-hat I just made these cookies for my boyfriend and they came out great. They look just like your pic. I have tried other recipes for cookies and all have come out great…love them.
I made these last night, testing them out as an option for an upcoming cookie exchange. They. are. amazing. I let the batter sit for about 15 minutes, and they weren’t runny at all. Also, this batch made about 35 cookies! Thanks for the great recipe! Now I just have to stop eating them!
Just recently moved to australia from colorado and living in a share house with about 15 others. Made these for our “makeshift” thanksgiving…seeing how everyone else is european, and they all loved it!! I was worried because the dough was runny, but turned out great. Thank you! Just another bonding experience for the roommates!
The more chocolate the better! :)
Hi, do we have to add the extra cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips? Will it make a difference in the taste?
You don’t have to if for some reason you don’t want to, but it does add to the chocolate flavor of the cookies.
I did these cookies today – they are great! I’m from Austria, so I blog in German, but if you like, you can visit my blog and take a look at the pictures I made. I added orange zest to the dough and decorated them with orange icing and a bit of leftover orange zest.
Thanks for the recipe!
Nadja
I attempted these gorgeous badgirls! I halved the recipe and the results were okay. Mine look moer like what a typical chocolate chip cookie would look like in appearance. How did yours come out with such a glossy finish and stayed together? mine spread out a bit. :(
I have had these on my list for some time…and I can’t believe I just didn’t take the time to make them before. They are absolutely delicious and the chocolaty smell throughout the house is simply intoxicating! :) What a great recipe – it’s forever saved in my recipe box!
I’ve made these cookies multiple times, and they are delicious! One time, the batter did spread while baking, but I used foil with nonstick spray to line the tray, so that was probably the problem. Thanks for the recipe!
This recipe does not work as posted. Is the half cup of flour called for accurate? I ended up with batter, not dough, and I should have added flour to the batter until it thickened. However, I just poured it in a pan and baked it like brownies, but even that never set up properly. Please let me know if you have any suggestions, or corrections to the recipe.
The half cup of flour is indeed accurate. I had great success with this recipe, and the cookies are fabulous. Many readers have had the same result, while others have had trouble with the batter being too thin. It does need to sit to thicken up and can be helped along by refrigerating it until it’s the consistency of fudge.
tried this recipe.. however, they did turn out runny like some others have said.. with that said, i’m completely satisfied with the taste though. i wonder what i did wrong because i followed the recipe to the letter. thanks for the recipe and i’m still going to try this again so i can get a better result
These turned out so yummy! They were a big hit at the party I brought them to :)
I have one question though: is there a way to make them thicker? They turned out really thin and were kind of flimsy as I took them off the sheet, but I don’t think I made any missteps. Would adding more baking powder do anything?
Hi Lena, They are meant to be on the thin side so they have that fudgy texture of brownies. I would try chilling the dough longer, if they spread a little too much.
Okay I’ll try that next time, thanks! :)
I just made these tonight and they are delicious! I feared they might be too runny but they came out perfect. No need to add salt or extra flour :)
Thanks for sharing.
I tried this recipe I think 3 times…. but always seems really runny, even cooling the melted chocolate completely (as recommended), and letting the batter sit for 30 mins… Nothing happened.. Though the last time is not a pure success (I achieved that nice shiny-crackly top), but it came out almost a cookie-like except really really thin and it stick to the pan (even though I used parchment paper) and fell apart when removed..I found a BROWNIE-COOKIE recipe from Martha Stewart (Outrageous Chocolate Cookies) and had a very huge success at my first try… But I still want to achieve that cookie texture in the pictures that I can’t stop thinking how can I perfect this recipe and trying this out..hehe
I just made it now, but it came out really flat and it spread out like crazy on the sheet, but besides that it looks and smells perfect. I’m still waiting for it to cool down to try it.
Thanks for the recipe. ^_^
So, I just came across this and I HAVE to make them :) I will probably attempt to make this sometime this or next week! It’s always been a habit of mine to check reviews before I decide to waste time & money making something that I’m not familiar with… & I’m happy to have come across some advice on how to handle the batter. Although, I figured that you’d have to let the heated mixture cool before you add it to your cold ingredients. Maybe that’s just because I’m familiar with making chocolate cheesecake :P Either way, I wanted to say thank you for sharing your recipe! I can’t wait to try it!!!!
I made these this afternoon. Batter was super super runny and spread like mad on the baking tray. So I gave up with that and put the batter in cupcake cases, now I have brownie cupcakes. Nothing’s ever a failure when it comes to chocolate.
I think however I must have made a mistake with measuring. Or something. British v American measurements are always insanely confusing!
I just made this really delicious cookie. Very easy. Very tasty. And a great chocolate hit.
You and I must have different ‘medium’ cookie scoops, because I made FIVE dozen tasty little treats! It’s a good thing I planned to give these away to our pediatrician’s office and second grader’s class.
i made these today and they were really runny and didnt turn out like the shape of yours :( how come its like this?! was so disappointed :(
To those of you who had runny cookies:
I have tried this recipe many many times in desperation. They look so good that I just could not give up after several failed attempts!
The ratios are correct. Do not add extra flour. Simply let the mixture sit for 20 minutes after mixing. It will set!
Made these last night, they were amazing!! The batter was on the thin side, but not runny. Definitely scoop-able. And they came out just like the picture. I didn’t let the batter sit at all. I did beat the eggs with a fork before adding the sugar (it’s a habit, I did it without thinking) and I used bittersweet chocolate chips. Oh and out of laziness I melted the chocolate and the butter in the microwave. I’m not sure why people are having the “wafer thin” issue, I don’t know enough about the science of baking! But mine were perfect.
Oh, and a bit of salt doesn’t hurt either
I had the same runny batter problem. Thought about making brownies with it. Went ahead and added another cup or so of flour. I baked them on greased cookie sheet. You would have to use parchment for sure without the extra flour, and even so I imagine the batter would be way too thin unless you let it sit for a while and harden up. So, those are your choices. Wait or add flour or make brownies. Either way, some note should be made in the recipe as to letting the batter/dough sit or chill for a while. I was confused, for sure.
Just an update! My honey said these cookies we’re one of the best I’ve ever made! Yes, the batter will SEEM runny, but DON’T add more flour because they’re be more cake like if you add more flour. That’s the beauty of these cookies, the fact that they’re like a cross between a cookie and a very chewy, fudgy brownie! Absolutely perfect Michelle! Thank you so much for sharing!
I just made these decadent morsels. My first batch was really thin, and since I didn’t use parchment paper they fell apart (but still tasted awesome). Not to be discouraged, I added around 2 Tbsp of flour to the recipe and buttered and floured my pan. They turned out perfect! I love the intense chocolate flavor and my roommates love me!