Yield: 8 brownie cookies // Total Time: 30 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. // Recipe updated 06/12/23

Thick, fudgy & chewy brownies in cookie form.

small batch brownie cookies

If you can’t decide between a brownie and a cookie, you don’t have to. These brownie cookies are thick, fudgy & chewy, with crisp cookie edges. Start now and you can be enjoying them in just 30 minutes!

recipe tips

weigh your ingredients

Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient and can easily throw off a recipe. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend purchasing a kitchen scale. This one is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out!

mix the dough carefully

When you’re mixing in your flour, you’ll want to make sure you only mix just until that last streak of flour disappears in the dough. Otherwise, you run the risk of overmixing the dough which will make the cookies more tough and chewy.

underbake for perfect cookies

Cookies continue baking after they have been taken out of the oven so you’ll want to take them out right before they look all done and set. These cookies will need 8-10 minutes given that your oven is at a true 350F and you scooped out 3 tbsp. scoops. I took mine out at 9 minutes when the edges were *just* set.

how to get perfectly crackled brownie tops

The three most important ingredients involved in getting crinkle tops on brownies are egg, sugar, and chocolate. First up, you’ll want to beat together the egg and sugar for 3-5 minutes, until that mixture is light, fluffy, and has significantly increased in volume. By doing that, you’ve dissolved the sugar into the egg and allowed air to be trapped inside the mixture. When that bakes, it will expand and then fall down. The fall is what will give you that crinkle top.

Next up, the chocolate. Now I know I’m usually saying to use fancy chocolate for the best flavor, but when it comes to brownies, I’ve found that you want the opposite. Chocolate chips are going to be your friend here. I know I should know why, but for some reason, chocolate chips have always yielded me with a more prominent and reliable crinkle than chocolate bars. Also, I have tried these cookies with Ghirardelli, Nestle, and Great Value chocolate chips. Nestle and Great Value yielded a crinkle. The photos on this post are from using Ghirardelli, which didn’t yield a great crinkle. Crinkle or not, the cookies are *super* delicious. I just wanted to let anyone who might be interested in this (I hope there’s at least one) what I have found if they want to ensure they get that crinkled top!

scoot your cookies

If your cookies come out of the oven a little misshapen, don’t panic! Rarely do any cookies come out perfect. The way to fix this is to take a bowl or biscuit cutter that is slightly larger than your cookies, and swirl the cookie around in it on the baking sheet right when it comes out of the oven. This will put your cookie back into a perfect circle and make these brownie cookies nice and thick!

ingredients and substitutions

Semi sweet chocolate chips: We will use these to melt into the dough for the brownie base, but also to add in to the dough for texture and more chocolatey goodness! You can certainly use a semi sweet chocolate baking bar, just note that the crackled top will not be as prevalent and the cookies will most likely spread to be more thin.

Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cookies. You can use salted butter in it’s place, just be sure to reduce the added salt from 1/2 tsp. to 1/4 tsp.

Light brown sugar: for flavor, texture, and moisture.

Egg: for moisture and for binding the dough together. The egg and sugar will interact to help form the crackled top as well!

Dutch process cocoa powder: for flavor. I recommend using dutch process because it is darker and has a richer flavor than natural cocoa. However, you can certainly substitute in natural cocoa powder. Just note that the cookies will turn out lighter in color!

All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.

Corn starch: helps the brownies stay nice and fudgy while adding some structure to the dough! If you don’t have corn starch, you can use 65g of cake flour in place of the flour and corn starch.

Baking powder & baking soda: for making the cookies rise and be thick!

Salt: helps to bring out and balance the sweetness of the cookies.

can I double this recipe?

Yes! I even more strongly recommend using a kitchen scale when you’re scaling up a recipe to ensure the best results.

can I make these ahead of time?

If you’re looking for a crackled top, you’re going to want to bake these off right away. However, if you’re not so worried about the crackled top, you can store the cookie dough air-tight in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking the cookies off. You’ll want to let the dough sit out on the counter for at least 30 minutes to let it get soft enough to scoop again before baking. Note that your cookies will likely bake up a bit thicker after resting as well!

how to store small batch brownie cookies

Like most baked goods, these cookies will definitely taste the best on the day that they are baked. They will last for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

a note on oven temperature

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

brownie cookies troubleshooting

why didn’t I get a crinkled top?

There are two factors going into getting a crinkly top on the cookies. One is making sure you beat together the egg and the sugar. This captures air into the mixture, which rises and falls while baking. When it falls, it gives a crinkled look. The next factor is the type of chocolate you use. I mention it earlier on because it’s important, but the type of chocolate will make a big difference! I’ve found that chocolate bars will not give as prominent of a crinkle as chocolate chips. When it comes to chocolate chips, I’ve had success with Nestle and great value semi-sweet for getting a crinkle on the cookies, but with these pictures, I used Ghirardelli which, while delicious, did not give many crinkles on top. Regardless, the cookies are delicious but I just wanted to share that insight in case anyone was wondering!

why is the batter so runny?

The batter is more runny than your average cookie dough because the dough itself is a cross between a brownie batter and a cookie dough. If you try to add more flour to it to thicken it up you’ll end up with a cookie that is less fudgy, don’t be afraid to bake it as is!

tools and ingredients

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!