Dark Chocolate Vegan Brownie Cookies (Brookies) (Gluten-Free)

A cross between chocolate brownies and cookies, these fudgy bookies are rich and soft with a crackly sugar top and chunks of melting dark chocolate and a soft tender middle. These brookies are vegan with gluten-free options and easy to make.

Have you heard of a brookie before? There are two types, as far as I know, the brownie cookie or the cookie brownie and they are very different. The brownie cookie is a cookie with brownie texture and taste whereas the cookie brownie is a brownie that is like a chocolate chip cookie and often has a brownie layer topped with a cookie dough layer – I hope that makes sense?

These Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies are the former type of brookie – a delicious rich chocolate cookie that tastes and feels just like a brownie in your mouth. They are like bites of heaven, truly. These brookies are:

• Rich and chocolaty
• Fudgy and gooey with a crackly top
• Easy to make
• Vegan and gluten-free
• The perfect dessert or snack

There are so many reasons why these Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies are so special! If you love chocolate, these are for you. It’s hard to imagine how good they are until you bite into one with melting chocolate chunks, a shiny crackly top and fudgy gooey middle. Like a lot of good gooey brownies, these cookies rely on making a wet chocolate and oil mix which, along with the sugar, adds to the shiny crinkly top and the gooey soft texture. The water may surprise you but trust me that it works to make a sugary syrup that adds to the texture and shiny top and makes these brookies irresistible! A few other standard ingredients and the Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies are ready to bake.

Here’s what we need:

• Dark chocolate: I love dark chocolate and it makes these brookies really rich and delicious. You can use flavoured chocolate like orange, mint or hazelnut which would work so well. You can also use a dairy-free milk chocolate if preferred.
• Sunflower oil: this is important for the fudgy soft texture and I would not recommend swapping for coconut oil or vegan butter. As this is liquid at room temperature, the texture is much better although you could try a light olive oil, too.
• Caster sugar: I usually always go for coconut sugar but for these cookies, I found the standard white sugar gave the best texture, colour and overall appearance.
• Water: this makes the sugary syrup with the sugar.
• Plain or GF plain flour: this keeps the cookies really smooth and fudgy and if using a GF one, make sure it is a blend containing xantham gum that you use for baking.
• Cocoa powder: or cacao powder adds to the richness of the cookies.
• Baking powder: for a little rise.
• Salt: to enhance all the lovely rich flavours. I also love to sprinkle some on top once the cookies are baked, as well.

Unlike some other cookie recipes, the dough/batter for these Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies does not need to be cooled, just scoop and bake. They will spread as they bake, so make sure to leave a little growing room around them and then cool slightly before transferring them to a wire rack to enjoy warm or cold.

These Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies really are the chocolate brownie and cookie lover’s dream. They are rich and fudgy, gooey and crackly on top with so much chocolate going on. You can play around with the flavours by using flavoured chocolate or keep it classic and use dark chocolate for a rich flavour.

Even though the brookies are so simple, they are really impressive and are great to bake for friends and family or have a stash for yourself for a few days. They are naturally vegan, nut-free and easily gluten-free and made from simple pantry-staples.

If you are looking for other cookies and brownies, how about my:

• Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake Cookies
• Peppermint Mocha Cookies
• Vegan Monster Cookies
• Vegan Fudgy Brownie Shapes (not just for St Patricks’ Day!)
• Sweet Potato Fudge Brownies

Dark Chocolate Vegan Brownie Cookies (Brookies) (Gluten-Free)

• Servings: 11-12
• Time: 25 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

A cross between chocolate brownies and cookies, these fudgy bookies are rich and soft with a crackly sugar top and chunks of melting dark chocolate and a soft tender middle. These brookies are vegan with gluten-free options and easy to make.

Ingredients

• 120g + 45g dark chocolate, broken up
• 60ml sunflower oil
• 130g caster sugar
• 75ml water
• 130g plain or GF plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Add 120g of chocolate and the sunflower oil to a heat-proof bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water until fully combined and glossy. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, in a second saucepan, add the sugar and water and heat until the sugar just dissolves, do not let it boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
4. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and stir in the salt. Pour in the chocolate mix and the sugar mix and whisk to a thick smooth batter.
5. Use a medium ice cream scoop to divide the batter into cookies and leave a 2-cm gap around each one as they will spread. Pop a few bits of the remaining 45g chocolate on the top of the cookies.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes until crackly on top and shiny.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the sheet and then cool fully on a wire rack on the parchment.
8. Sprinkle with flake salt to serve and store in an airtight container for 5-7 days.

I look forward to hearing what you think of these Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies so please let me know in the comments below. If you make them, please tag me in your brookies as I love seeing them!  I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With chocolate brookie love x