Brookies! A fun and easy to make hybrid dessert made from one part brownie, one part chocolate chip cookie in a bar form. This recipe makes thick, fudgy, chocolaty brownies with a crisp, flavorful brown butter chocolate chip cookie top. Perfect chocolate treats to bring to a picnic, birthday, or celebration.
What are Brookies
Brookies are a fun hybrid made from two greateset dessert classics, brownies and chocolate chip cookies.
This dessert works really well because the cookie part gives the brownie part the crispiness that the brownie is missing. And the brownie gives the cookie the fudginess it’s missing.
There is no way around it, this is a treat on the sweeter and richer side, so just a small piece will suffice. I did reduce the sugar as much as it was possible but both parts need sugar for texture, not only taste.
What are brookies like
The most important thing to me when I find a recipe is to know how will it turn out. I need to know what the texture and taste are going to be like before I make them so that I know I found the right recipe for me.
This is how these brownie bars with brown butter chocolate chip cookie top are.
I’ve tested, tweaked, and re-tested the recipe for these at least 8 times to get what I want. Crazy!
All the other recipes I’ve found are mostly thin and not as gooey. I wanted the brownie part to be thick, rich, chocolaty, gooey, fudgy, and a bit underbaked actually. But that’s my preferred version, you can bake them all the way, they will still be fudgy but not as gooey. And I wanted the cookie part to be crisp and flavorful. I know some people can’t stand underbaked sweets, but I think brownies and cookies are the best slightly underbaked, lol!
The ones in the photo are fully baked.
How to make Brookies from scratch
Brookies are actually really easy and quick to make with little ingredients, all of them pretty basic. Pretty sure you have them all at home right now!
The cookie recipe is based on my Ruby Chocolate Chip Cookies with the addition of browning the butter.
The ingredients to make the browned butter chocolate chip cookie part:
- butter
- sugar,
- brown sugar,
- egg,
- flour,
- vanilla extract,
- baking soda,
- salt,
- semi-sweet chocolate chips.
The ingredients to make the fudgy brownie part:
- butter,
- chocolate,
- sugar,
- eggs,
- flour,
- cocoa powder,
- vanilla extract,
- salt.
- To make brookies, you will first have to brown the butter for the cookie part. You could skip that and just use melted butter, but if you’ve ever had anything browned butter, you know this is well worth it! It gives the cookies more flavor, and the melted butter gives it a more crisp texture, perfect for our bars! If you don’t know how to brown the butter, check out this helpful post.
- Set the browned butter aside to cool and move on to making the brownie part.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven.
- Melt the chocolate and butter together over a bain-marie.
- Mix the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract for about two minutes.
- Mix in the chocolate butter.
- Add in the sifted flour, cocoa powder, and salt, stir until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.
- Make the cookies by mixing the brown butter with both sugars and vanilla.
- Add the egg, mix well.
- Add all the dry ingredients and chocolate chips, stir until everything is well combined.
- Take spoonfuls of the cookie dough and distribute it all over the brownie batter.
- Bake until desired texture, around 40 minutes, then cool down for half an hour, and cut into pieces!
Tips and tricks for making Brookie Bars
A lot of times people wonder if they can substitute certain ingredients with something else. Here I will explain to you what you can substitute, how certain things affect the end product, and what you can’t change. If you have a question that is not answered here, leave a comment below!
Cookie part:
- The chocolate chip cookie part is made with browned butter for extra flavor. This can be skipped but I would advise you to try it! If you don’t want to brown the butter, use 113 g (1/2 cup) instead of 140 g and just melt it.
- The brown sugar should not be skipped as it is the ingredient that reacts with baking soda.
- Vanilla extract and salt are there for the flavor, they will not affect the texture but please don’t skip them for the sake of flavor!
- I suggest using semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, around 50-80% cocoa content chocolate.
Brownie part:
- Lowering the sugar amount will probably result in a drier brownie as the sugar adds moisture.
- Use processed dutch-cocoa powder which is darker in color than natural cocoa powder and can be found at the baking aisle usually. You could replace half of the cocoa powder with black cocoa powder which will give you a black brownie. See these cookies to see how vibrant the color comes out with black cocoa powder.
- You should be using baking chocolate or chocolate with 50-80 %cocoa content, depending on how sweet you like your brownies and how deep you like the chocolate flavor. You must use a chocolate that you love to eat on its own as the taste of the brownie greatly depends on the quality of the chocolate. The more quality ingredients you use the better these will be. I used a mix of 54.5% Callebaut chocolate chips and 82% Black Zabuye chocolate chips from Carma because I didn’t have any with 70% which I wanted. You can use all 54.5% or all 82% although it will have a slight effect on the texture of the brownie as dark chocolate (82%) has less sugar, meaning less moisture for the brownie.
How do I know brookies are done
This might be the most important thing when making these fudgy brownie with chocolate chip cookie bars.
To ensure the brownies are really fudgy and gooey, you mustn’t over-bake them. They become dry and crumbly. I can’t tell you how many times I actually over-baked these when testing out the recipe.
Honestly, even over-baked they were not as dry and still fudgy but pretty crumbly. But I wanted them gooey and underbaked so…
First, you have to decide what do you want them to be like. Fudgy and gooey, the chocolate brownie slightly underbaked with the batter still being shiny and oozing,
or do you want them to be fully baked and have a normal fudgy brownie?
This also greatly depends on your oven, because ovens really tend to over or under-heat and not be exact on the temperature you want them to be. Because of this I always strongly recommend using an oven thermometer and get to know your oven. Your baked goods will be more consistent and better overall.
Btw this brownie recipe uses cocoa powder and melted chocolate, plus no baking powder, so don’t expect them to be light. They are indulgent in any case.
Testing the doneness of brookies
For the gooey, fudgy, underbaked brookies, bake for around 35-40 minutes.
The batter should still jiggle quite a bit when u shake the baking pan.
When you test them by inserting a knife or a toothpick in the center, it will have some wet batter on it and that’s what you want.
The brookie will set completely after it cools down but you will be left with a gooey center.
For the baked fudgy brookies, bake for around 40-45 minutes.
The batter should have a very slight jiggle when you shake the baking pan.
The test by inserting a knife or a toothpick into the center will return with fudgy and moist crumbs.
In both cases, the top cookie part will be golden brown. You should check the doneness when the cookie part is starting to get color.
Possible adaptations
Costumize your brookies in any way possible!
The ultimate Brookie hack is serving it with ice cream! I meaaaaan, can you imagine?? I can not tell you how well the ice cream balances out the fudginess and compliments the brookie. It’s like a match made in heaven. I suggest a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
You can also add some nuts to the brookie. Like hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, pistachios, or whichever. But my favorite must be walnuts or pecans. Any nut gives a beautiful crunch to the brookie.
I suggest roughly chopping the nuts and adding them either in the cookie dough or sprinkling them on the brownie batter before adding the cookie dough on top.
Additionally you can add some shredded coconut on top of the brownie part.
This is a thick brookie, and if you prefer, you could make them in a bigger pan and have thinner brookie bars, but be careful as that would cut the baking time by probably half.
You could also make them in a round baking pan.
Storing
Store the brookies in an air-tight container. No need to put them into the fridge, they can be left on the countertop.
Freezing brookie bars
Brookies are perfect for freezing, just cut them into squares and lay them in a single layer in an air-tight container. When they are frozen after a few hours you can move them and store them together in a zip-lock bag or air-tight containers. We do this to prevent sticking them together.
Check out more amazing recipes for bars:
- Ruby Chocolate Blondies
- Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars
- Apple Crumble Cheesecake Bars with Salted Caramel Sauce
- Poppy Seed and Curd Bars
Brookies – Brownie and chocolate chip cookie bars
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Cookie
- 140 g butter
- 100 g sugar
- 40 g brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 160 g flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 150 g chocolate chips
Brownie
- 225 g butter
- 150 g chocolate cocoa content around 70%, I use a mix of Callebaut 54.5% and Carma 82%
- 250 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 85 g flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Cookie
- Place the butter into a small pot, melt, and cook on medium heat while stirring often (especially the bottom) for about 7 minutes, until you get browned bits on the bottom. The butter will foam a lot while cooking, remove from the heat to check for browned bits. The smell will be very nutty.
- When done, pour the browned butter to a bowl and set aside to cool.
Brownie
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and prepare a 23x 23 cm (9 inch) baking pan and line it with parchment paper.
- Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie, stirring often (double boiler, refer to notes). Or in a microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring the mixture after each one. Set aside.
- Mix the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract for 2 minutes, you can do this by hand or electric mixer.
- Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined.
- Now sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add to the chocolate mixture and stir until everything is well combined.
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan and level it.
Cookie
- Add both sugars to the butter and mix for about 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add the egg and vanila extract, mix until well combined.
- Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt, then add the chocolate chips and mix until everything is well distributed.
- Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough on top of the brownie batter and bake for 35-45 minutes. The baking time will greatly depend on your oven and how you like your brownies. Bake less for gooier, underbaked brownies or more for set and fudgy brownie. You should take them out when they still have a slight jiggle in the middle when you shake the pan, and the cookie top is golden brown. They will be gooey and moist inside.
- Leave them to set for half an hour, then cut them and enjoy a warm, gooey brookie.
Notes
- The taste of brookies will depend greatly on the chocolate you use. I use Callebaut 54.5% and Carma chocolate 82%, but you can choose any chocolate that you love to eat. I recommend that you use one with 55% to 70% cocoa solids. The higher the percentage the less sweet and more bitter the chocolate is. I don’t recommend using one that has less than 50% because there will not be as much chocolate taste and the taste will be too sweet.
- You don’t need an electric mixer for this recipe.
- You could skip browning the butter for the cookies but it does give it another dimension of flavor.
- Bain-Marie is a double boiler made of the bottom pot filled with some water and the other pot on top so that the ingredients in the top pot melt slowly and evenly on the steam created in the bottom part.
- You could also melt the butter and chocolate directly with the pot on the heat if you are more experienced and stir constantly so that the chocolate doesn’t burn.
- You can add some toppings to the brownie if you want. Just add nuts or coconut on top of the brownie batter or some more chocolate chips in the brownie batter.
- The baking time will depend on your oven and how you want your brownies to be. It took me around 35 min for very gooey brownies with a soft center, and 40-45 minutes for a more set brownie but still moist. Check the brownies after 35 minutes and jiggle the pan to see how much the center is moving. It should still be slightly jiggly and the cookie on top is golden brown. The more jiggle, the more gooey they will be.
- The toothpick or knife inserted in the center will come out with a wet batter for gooey brownies and with moist, fudgy bits for a more set brownie.
[…] Brookies are half brownie, half chocolate chip cookie, and 100% delicious. […]