Triple Chocolate Brownie Batter Cookies
I love shiny things. Shiny lipgloss, shiny granite countertops, shiny clean cars.
But shiny cookies are the best kind of shiny. Especially when they’re shiny chocolate cookies.
And these are definitely chocolaty. There are three kinds of chocolate: melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.
That trifecta is destined to produce an ultra-chocolaty cookie that will give even your most severe bad day a run for its money.
The cookies remind me of eating brownie batter, especially if you underbake them by a minute or two like I do. So soft, moist, tender, fudgy, rich, decadent, and worth every last calorie.
They’re adapted from my Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies and while I do love those cookies, they’re on the fussier and more temperamental side to make and are prone to baking up thin.
I crave thick, dense big chocolaty bites like I get with Quadruple Chocolate Soft Fudgy Pudding Cookies. These cookies are thick like those, but with the brownie batter taste of the others. Best of both worlds.
The most important thing to note about the recipe is that you must chill the dough, twice. When you’re mixing the dough, it literally looks like brownie batter and you’ll think to yourself, there is no way this is thick enough to be cookie dough, and when it’s soft and warm like that, it’s not. Pop your mixing bowl into the freezer for a half hour or until the dough is chilled enough to scoop out mounds.
Scoop out mounds, and then chill the individual mounds for at least 3 hours in the fridge. Don’t skip either of the chilling steps, and don’t just refrigerate the whole bowl for hours and try to scoop out individual dough mounds later because it’ll be rock hard and not scoop-able.
If you can eat brownie batter by the spoonful like I can, you’re going to love the cookies.
Pure chocolate bliss.
Triple Chocolate Brownie Batter Cookies
The cookies remind me of eating brownie batter, especially if you underbake them by a minute or two like I do. So soft, moist, tender, fudgy, rich, decadent, and worth every last calorie. There are three kinds of chocolate used in these: melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. That trifecta is destined to produce an ultra-chocolaty cookie that will give even your most severe bad day a run for its money. You must chill the dough, twice, as detailed in steps 6 – 8 in the directions below and you cannot skip it. If you can eat brownie batter by the spoonful like I can, you’re going to love the cookies.
Ingredients:
8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (I used 4 ounces from a Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus Bar and 4 ounces from a Dark Chocolate Pound Plus Bar)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso granules, optional but highly recommended (see below for explanation)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl, add the chopped chocolate, butter, and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Stop to check and stir. Heat in 15-second increments until chocolate can be stirred smooth. Set aside to cool.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until pale yellow and thick, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cocoa powder, instant espresso granules (sold in the coffee aisle; doesn’t make cookies taste like coffee, rather enhances the overall chocolate flavor), baking powder, optional salt, and beat on low speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the melted (and now slightly cooled) chocolate and butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the chocolate chips and beat on low until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Cover bowl with plasticwrap and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until dough has chilled enough to scoop out into mounds. Don’t forget about it because it will become rock hard; set a timer to remind yourself to check.
- After dough has sufficiently chilled enough to scoop (a little loose is okay; this dough is sticky and will stick to your hands or cookie scoop), using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 12 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten slightly.
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 11 to 12 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are shiny and just set; don’t overbake. I pull my cookies before major crackling occurs, which is about 10 1/2 to 11 minutes in my oven. The more crackling, the more well-done cookies will taste and I prefer doughy, under-baked cookies. Baking 12 to 13 minutes, will result in firmer cookies. You may need to play around with baking times in your oven since ovens and preferences vary. Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Adapted from Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies and Chocolate Fudge Cookies
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How many times have I stared in my baking cupboard trying to decide between brownie and cookies? A LOT. I’ve attempted many times to create a hybrid cookie like this, but none of mine have looked this great!
Of all the chocolate cookies on my site, this is the closest I’ve come to a true hybrid that’s really a brownie in cookie form, without taking on a weird, cakey texture. I wish you could have had a bite of these. Super good!
Brownie batter and cookie in the same sentence! Sweet Jesus! Beautiful, as always!!
Oh my gosh, those cookies are so decadent and HUGE! I would love to have some broken up into a huge bowl of vanilla ice cream. Delicious.
These look beyond amazing. They are as thick as a good brownie should be, but they look like cookies! And you can always eat more cookies than brownies right, since cookies are not *as* unhealthy! Yum!
Craving these now!
Just when I thought chocolate couldn’t get any better! I can’t wait to try these.
Ohhhhh my god. I need these in my life now. And anyone who chills dough in the freezer is a kindred spirit :) It’s so much quicker- I don’t get why people INSIST on chilling in the fridge!
Also those black and white cookies look toooo good.
Freezer chilling for the first round, just to cool it down really fast, is much handier than waiting for the fridge. Then at that point you can do fridge or freezer, but I always just do fridge since I pre-make my dough 1-2 days before I even bake cookies any way!
Oh my goodness, I am most certainly going to make these for my husband! His love language is chocolate:) Chilling them twice is definitely a labor of love, but he’s worth it! What beautiful cookies…
As usual, a cookie post on your site means all the other baking projects I have lined up get postponed. Oh, but it is so worth it! These are delicious: gooey, soft, and rich. And they are definitely brownie BATTER cookies, not just brownie cookies. I have no idea how you got them to stay so thick when they taste like liquid batter. The coolest part, though, is how incredibly, glowingly shiny they are! Like glossy puddles of melted chocolate. This recipe is yet another winner!
I am dying over here – can’t even get over how damn fudgey these look!! Amazing, I want to eat 10 right now!
ohhhh yes, shiny cookies are magical things!
Oh my oh my. These look incredible. Seeing as brownies are my favorite dessert, I’m definitely putting this recipe in my to-dos!
Ohmygosh. Averie you’re absolutely killing me over here!! I haven’t had an oven for 3 weeks, and I’ve had the worst craving for super fudgy chocolate cookies. It won’t go away. At all. I tried eating tons of TJ’s dark chocolate, but that’s totally not the same… And these cookies? They’ve got my name written all over them! I know I already said it a few minutes ago, but can I please, pretty pretty please, be your neighbor??
Eek hope you get the oven situation fixed soon b/c cookies, yeah, nothing can compare to homemade!
Thanks Averie! We can’t move into our next apartment until early October, so I’m hanging out at my parents’ house until then. And of course, they’re in the middle of remodeling their kitchen, so… No oven. Sad day. I’m about ready to knock on neighbors’ doors and ask to borrow theirs for payment in cookies! ;)
ooooooommmmgggggg that’s it. Making these this weekend!
If you do try them, LMK! And thanks for all the comments today!! Hope you and the babies are doing awesome!! xoxoxo
These look delicious but I was wondering if I could use bittersweet chocolate instead of the dark chocolate? I don’t have dark on hand so, would it change the taste that much?
I think you’ll be fine although I haven’t personally tried the recipe other than the way I wrote it.
If I don’t have dark chocolate, would bittersweet baking chocolate work. Can’t wait to try these
I think that’s a safe bet although I haven’t personally tried.
Super-late to the game, but wondering if i could sub the 8oz of dark chocolate for semi-sweet bakers chocolate and if you’d suggest any other changes to the recipe if I did that. i just have a TON of semi-sweet bakers chocolate on hand from a project a while back that I NEED to get rid of! Ha!
Whoops, just saw your reply above! Never mind!! :)
I found this recipe on Pinterest. Just pulled them out of the oven and they didn’t turn out at all. Not sure what I did wrong :(
Sorry that you didn’t have success with the recipe. If you are a little more descriptive about what they look like or anything at all, I may be able to help you troubleshoot.
If you freeze the dough, do you thaw them or put them straight into the oven? If the latter, is there any adjustment in baking time?
PS. I’m only asking because these look spectacular and I want them. :)
I generally add 1-2 minutes baking time, straight from the freezer. No need to wait for them to thaw before baking.
yum
Just tried the recipe! It was so great. Staying updated with the blog the rest of my life. You are gifted.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
These brownie cookies are the best I have ever tried! This recipe is a keeper! Thank you Averie!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! The best ever – no less – wonderful!
These look so good, I pinned them twice. No joke! ?
Thanks for pinning….twice :)