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.
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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!
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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.
I made these cookies following the recipe exactly, and everyone loved them. Super easy, and the quantity is huge. The dough thickens quickly after it cools. I refrigerated them because I made the dough ahead of time, and they came out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, I made these today and they tasted amazing, but the top didn’t have that shiny, crackly finish like yours. Any idea why? I’m thinking maybe the type of bittersweet chocolate used (like couverture maybe gets the shiny top), so what kind of chocolate did you use? Any help would be hugely appreciated, thanks!
Hi Lee, I use Ghiradelli chocolate. I’ve also heard that how much you beat the eggs in can impact the shiny/crackly top of brownies.
Do i need to store the cookies in the fridge or an air tight container will do? How long do these cookies last?
HI Nayan, You can keep these in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
I made these cookies and got flat pancakes like so many others here and finally realised my mistake after going over and over the recipe and trawling through the comments… I used baking soda instead of powder. I am so used to using soda in all my cookie recipes I didn’t notice the difference when reading the recipe. I have yet to try them with baking powder but I am sure that will make a big difference :))
These cookies are Ah-MAZING!
they came out decadently gorgeous!
I threw in some peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips at the end and it was a hit among my housemates.
As I was making them I was trying to think of reasons as to why these cookies would come out ‘flat as a pancake’ for other users. One thought I had was, I if you only use one scoop when putting your dough on the pan, instead of the double scoop, your cookie will be on the thinner side after baking.
I really don’t know how else these could become flat, maybe a forgotten ingredient or the process used. Baking is truly a beautiful adventure of art and science.
Hello again, this is my second comment for these cookies…because they’re that good. People please don’t give up on this cookie. I’ve made this recipe at least a dozen times exactly as written and they turn out perfectly every single time! I get in trouble if they aren’t on my Christmas cookie tray. They are one of my husband’s favorite cookies, he says they are definitely better than brownies LOL. I use Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips melted in the microwave. I use a wire whisk to mix everything together, beating the eggs & sugar thoroughly before adding the chocolate, and then the flour. I scoop all the batter onto my cookie sheets right away after mixing and then bake them one sheet at a time. If you wait to scoop, the batter becomes too thick. There is NO need to add more flour than the recipe calls for. As far as crackly shiny tops, my first cookie sheet always looks best. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do.
I made the recipe with the following modifications:
Increase flour to 1 1/2 cups
Refrigerate dough at least one to two hours prior to baking.
Use a 1 tbs cookie scoop
When you take cookies out of the oven let rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then move to a cooling rack.
The cookies turned out EXACTLY like the picture doing this.
** Personally, the next time I make them which I will they are delicious, I will use less bittersweet (only 10oz) and add 6oz of semi sweet to the melted chocolate part of the recipe.
Good luck, they really are worth the try.
I made these exactly how the receipe says, and they turned out fantastic! They looked like the picture, and everyone said they were declicious! I used 60% buttersweet Ghiradelli chocolate. I was thinking of making them again, but using 8 ounces bittersweet and 8 ounced semi-sweet?. Do you think that would be OK?
Hi Amanda, Yes! I don’t see why not.
We tried this recipe as written – what a waste. We followed the instructions to a T but the cookies didn’t bake properly. We put them in and they spread flat and burnt in the bottom and everything else refused to bake until we took the mess out of the oven and let it cool. Very disappointed.
There has to be a typo in the recipe. No matter how I made this recipe they just melted in the oven and didn’t turn out like cookies at all. I also let the dough chill, but it didn’t make a difference. I also tried adding more flour. They’re just brownies, nothing cookie about it.
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!
I followed your tips Christie and they came out PERFECT. Thanks so much you star xxx
Definitely needs more elaborate instructions, mine basically flattened into a pan of brownies. If it’s a cookie you want this is not the recipe for you unless you want to read through the comments and piece together a better instruction list.
OH… MY… GOD!!!!!! Those cookies were UNBELIEVABLE, I haven’t eaten something so chocolaty in SUCH a long time!!!! The cookies in the first batch came out completely flat, so I put the cookie dough in the freezer for 3-4 minutes. Then I used my ice cream scoop to take bits from the dough that I shaped in little balls, and I put them in my preheated oven… The results were, needless to say, AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! They taste exactly like brownies, very chocolate brownies, but they have the size of a cookie, so no more crumbs and dirty dishes in cutting your brownie, and you can dip them in a glass of milk and they become so chewy… I’m making another batch this week, I completely loved them! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!
P.S: I put some walnuts in the dough too, it worked great…
I added 1/2-3/4 cup more of flour, used 4 oz bittersweet chocolate and 12 oz semi sweet chips, and replaced the chips with Andes Creme de menth baking chips……sooo yummy. Cookies turned out perfect nice and fluffy and with the added flour it makes more cookies (40 for me) which it’s always a bonus for my family!
I just made these, they just turned out perfect! I followed the recipe the only thing i did different was adding a crushed candy cane! I also loved that they were not too sweet! thank you
Just made this! Super yummy and turned out looking beautiful! Thank you!:))
Taking Christmas to our grand daughter in Europe. Need cookies that will pack well and improve with age, three – four weeks.
I made these and they turned out well! At the 12-minute mark in the oven, i took the cookies out and they were all way too runny in the middle, so i cooked them for 4 more minutes, and they were successful. They puffed up a lot more after the extra 4 minutes in the oven, too. Thanks for the recipe!
so i made the cookies and at first the batter was really liquid-y so I added more flour (ended up adding 2 cups of flour so that it ended up being cookie dough consistency) they tasted amazing but the cookies were flat. After that I make another batch and with the original recipe and they were still flat and i couldn’t make them round because the batter was too liquid-y
Hey,
I tried these cookies and the batter turned out REALLY runny so i just added some flour (maybe as much as twice the amount in the recipe) and they turned out great. The batter was a bit too sticky anyway but they were great as cookies. Bake for 12 minutes, not 10!
Just got the first batch out of the oven, second is in now. They look just like the picture!! cannot wait to try these. Going to an Oscars party tonight and asked what kind of goodie I should bring. Well, my friend said she was craving something chocolatey, these will blow her away! Thank you for sharing your always wonderful recipes!
the ratio of chocolate and liquid to 1/2 cup of flour is way off. I needed to add nearly an additional cup of flour to get somewhat of a consistency that didn’t spill all over the baking sheet!
This is my second comment on these great little chocolate bites.
I make mine somewhat differently from the recipe as written. I melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave, then set aside. It becomes really thick and sturdy, which scared me at first but has since worked out very well for me. I weigh out 75 grams of flour. I mix the eggs and sugar with my little hand blender for about 2 minutes on medium high. This is more of a souffle or meringue technique, but the eggs become lighter colored, really thick (I won’t say doubled in volume).. I think this is what creates the shiny top and crackles. Then follow the recipe. When it comes together, the batter is really thick.and almost holds the scoop shape on the baking sheet. I bake for 5 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for another 5. Cool for a few minutes on the sheet then remove the whole sheet of parchment off the cookie sheet to cool completely. Have not had a failed batch yet! I hope this helps anyone having trouble because the cookies are really delicious and easy.
I’ve made these cookies at least a half dozen times and I’ve never had an issue with runny batter. I melt the dark chocolate and butter in the microwave on low, stirring often (to avoid burning) until it’s melted through. Then I mix everything by hand. I scoop all the batter onto cookie prepared cookie sheets right away otherwise my batter gets too stiff to scoop, then I start baking each sheet. I also think scooping the batter onto the sheets at the beginning helps the cookie maintain the shiny, glossy, crackly finish when they’re done baking. I also weigh my flour and chocolate. I’m no expert but this has worked for me every time. These cookies are amazing and delicious! They’re one of my hubby’s favorites and his family requests them every year for Christmas. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hello! These are absolutely divine but mine came out very thin. I was hoping they would rise in the oven. The flavor and texture are right on but I;d like them to be :puffier:, any suggestions? thanks¡
Did you whip the eggs?
No, just whisked them together with the sugar and vanilla.
Hi Jeno, You might try refrigerating the cookie batter for about 30 minutes or so before baking, and see if that helps.
Are these just as good after being frozen? I am thinking of making them for Christams, but I like to make cookies ahead. Any recommendations on thawing and such?
Hi Sara, I have not frozen these, but I would recommend wrapping in plastic wrap and using a freezer-safe ziploc bag.
I made these yesterday for church potluck and they were very popular. I was a bit worried about the batter since it was a little thin, but actually the cookies came out fine. I did add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and I only need 12 oz to make the cup amount required for the recipe. I did let my chocolate cool some before adding it to the egg mixture and stored the batter in the fridge between baking each sheet. Might try to add a teaspoon or two of instant coffee powder or instant espresso powder next time. Not a fan right out of the over and warm but they are really good the next day!
Definitely for the chocoholic. Mine were a little flat but otherwise turned out good. I agree, will be good as an ice cream sandwich
If i add the nestle chocolate chips in place of the cooking chocolate will it taste fine? I cant wait to try this recipe.
Hi Maha, Technically you could melt chocolate chips instead of chopped chocolate, however if you can get good-quality chocolate I would use that. Because these cookies have such a concentrated flavor, you’ll notice a big difference with the quality of chocolate you use.
DEAR MS., Two cups of flour;3/4 salt;1 cup semisweet chocolate chip will set it off.