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!
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.
Hello,
I’ve made your cookies for the past few years and I add chopped walnuts (heavenly good!). Question; my husband is type 2 diabetic and has changed his diet but wants this cookie in a keto recipe. I have monk fruit sugar and chocolate chips and coconut flour, but need to to if I may substitute powder unsweetened cocoa for the 16oz chopped bittersweet chocolate & if so how much in dry measurement and how much should I change the amount of sweetener (receipt call for 1 1/3 c of sugar)?
I would truly appreciate your help with this.
Thank you.
Been meaning to give my review on another of Michelle’s triumph’s!
This recipe comes out as exactly like pictured every time!
First off no need to chill dough, this is basically a brownie batter, not a cookie dough.
Just give it a few minutes as you’re pre-heating your oven, as like a brownie batter it will begin to thicken as the chocolate tries to solidify, and as you scoop the batter it will be more manageable.
The only thing I do different is add a 1/4 Tsp of kosher salt, and leave out the chocolate chips, my family doesn’t like chips in brownies. And for the absolute best Brownies, check out Michelle’s “The Baked Brownie” recipe, it’s awesome!
These are one of my favorite chocolate cookies! I chill them a bit before scooping. Otherwise the dough/batter is just unmanageable.
Sometimes I use ¼ teaspoon mint extract instead of vanilla extract. Also, they are better the day after baking.
I had no trouble with the dough consistency as other reviewers have mentioned. The dough was very easy to mix and scoop onto the cookie sheets. The cookies are delicious and very rich. I gave 4 out of 5 stars because this recipe SCREAMS for some salt!! Next time I will add some salt and then the cookies should be perfect!
Greetings from Bangkok! I tried this recipe today and the brownie cookies are just sooo good! Very chocolaty and giving the sense of having brownie and cookies at the same time!!!
Unfortunately, mine does not form a beautiful shiny cranky top. Not sure what could be the reason.
Michele, could you please help suggest? Thank you :)
My daughter-in-law made these cookies and they were the MOST delicious chocolate cookies I have even eaten!
Thoughts on adding espresso powder to these? How much?
Hi! I love your website and use it often. Looking forward to making these cookie brownies. You mentioned that they would freeze well for up to 2 months. Is this after they are baked or the cookie dough? Thanks !
I had to try these. I’m always on the lookout for new or interesting recipes.
I am a baker by trade, and reading this recipe I was absolutely positive there was no way it could make viable dough or batter of any sort. Although I had hopes… I followed it to the letter, but sadly I was correct. The ratios are completely wrong, you won’t get anything but a baked, inedible mess.
I’ve found this to be the most fail safe recipe I’ve ever used. It is my new favorite.
Excellent recipe, VERY rich. I also noticed that the batter was very soft and would have been too lose to shape as cookies. I followed a previous poster’s tip to refrigerate the dough (45 min or until firm) and it worked like a charm. I made the cookies on the smaller size, about 2″, and baking them for 12 minutes was perfect. Cooked through but deliciously chewy inside. Recommended!
I love a good chocolate cookie! These cookies look so good! The crinkles on top are simply stunning ♥
Hello from Germany!
I just discovered your blog today and these cookies looked so good that I made them on the spot! (I have never donw this with any other recipe of any blog before…). We LOVE them! I did halve the recipe and used a mix of 70% and 78% chocolate because that’s what I had on hand — and had to omit the chocolate chips since we didn’t have any.
Thank you so much for this delicious treat!
Hi Julia, So awesome to hear you loved these cookies! Thanks so much for stopping back to leave a review! :)
I notice the recipe uses 4 eggs and very little flour. Is this a mistake or am I confused?
Hi Donna, That is not a mistake, they’re very truffle-like.
I just discovered this recipe which looks fantastic. I put the dough in the fridge overnight and was going to bake today and it is hard as a rock. Will it soften if I leave it out at room temp?
Hi Sue, I have never tried to refrigerate this dough; I imagine if you leave it out at room temperature for about 30 minutes it will soften up enough to scoop.
I made these today after I saw you post them on Facebook… they looked so good in the post! Then I almost got too scared to make them after reading all the comments about runny batter and pancake cookies… But, I followed the recipe exactly (except adding maybe 1/3 cup walnuts because I was a little short on chocolate chips), and my batter was SO THICK! I have no idea what was causing all those thin batter comments because my batter was totally thick like brownie batter, and my cookies came out so puffy! I actually pushed the balls down a little on my second cookie sheet before baking because the first batch came out so tall. Long story short, they are delicious and just like described, crackly and fudgy!
These cookies turned out perfect and were a HUGE hit with everyone. I’ve already made them a second time. They look exactly like the photo with that flaky brownie top and a chewy, fudgy center. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I think the recipe could use a little editing to reflect the findings of everyone, in that as written, the batter turns out too loose to use for cookies. I chose this recipe as I was pressed for time, and it was pretty much straight into the oven, but it won’t work that way, not if you want cookies. I saw how runny the batter turns out, and not having time to chill the batter, I poured it into a sheet pan (23x33cm) to make something like a thin brownie. A larger sheet pan would probably yield something closer to a cookie-bar.
I’ve made this countless times, and while yes, it is a thin batter, I’ve never had an issue scooping it onto a baking sheet. There are many others who have made it without an issue either. You can chill the dough if you need to, but it will affect the final texture of the cookie.
Can’t wait to try some of your cookie recipes. Sound delicious! Holidays are coming so I’ll will be baking soon.
Thanks
I made these brownie cookies and they were flat. Is only a 1/2 cup of flour correct? I had planned on taking them to a party but not now. I hav baked for over 60 years so i do have experience
Hi Pat, Yes, that’s correct! The batter should be kind of like a brownie batter.
I made two batches of these and they both came out perfectly. After mixing everything, I put it in the fridge for a few hours before baking…no problems at all. They look exactly like yours! :-)
And the taste…oh goodness the taste. These are SO CHOCOLATY….SO DELICIOUS!!! I have a nephew who is as thin as a beanpole…very disciplined with his eating. He will eat ONE cookie per day. He ate SEVEN of these in one afternoon. I made the rest into ice cream sandwiches and he ate one of those too. :-) These are absolutely one of our new favorite cookies EVER!!!
OH. MY. I am working on a brownie recipe right now, but I might need to take a break to give these a whirl… YUM!
Also, please let your husband know that there is no such thing as too many chocolate chips!
Dear all,
I made this recipe yesterday and it was INCREDIBLE.
I cut the recipe in half and used gluten free flour and it worked perfectly. I used just under 1/2 the recommended sugar and dark salted Lindt chocolate and they were so rich without being too sweet. Oh I added crispy M&MS not chocolate chips- great contrast
I also followed the reader (can’t remember who- but thanks so much you star) who said you should let the chocolate mixture cool and refrigerate it for an hour
Hi! I have followed you for awhile and every recipe I have tried has been successful. Here you indicate you are using chocolate 2 ways in the recipe. In your comments you say you use the Ghirardelli 60%. Is that for the dough and not the chips? Thanks and good work!
Hi Karen, Yes, 60% is for the chocolate in the dough, for the chips I use semisweet.
I tried this recipe and I tight that the amount of flour was insufficient. My cookies came out like flat pancakes and the batter was so thin that it ran together.
Hi Cindy, I’ve made these tons of times and have never had an issue. Make sure that the melted chocolate mixture is definitely cooled to room temperature, and if you scoop the first one and the batter runs like you’re saying, try popping it in the microwave for 10 minutes or so.
These cookies look amazing! I need them in my life!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Is there really only a half cup of flour? Seems like such a small amount if the recipe uses 4 eggs . I just wanted to check before I try it .
Thanks!
Yes, it’s correct, very much like brownie batter, only a small amount of flour is used.
These look like my dream come true! I love the crunchy edge pieces and this would be like all edge pieces all the time! I cannot wait to make them
Very true..It is a mixture of both brownies and cookies but I feel these cookies are better than brownies.I made them.It was successful.Thank you for publishing.