Homemade brookies will be your new favorite dessert bar. Made with a layer of fudgy brownies, chewy cookies, and tons of chocolate chips! Step-by-step photos help you bake these delicious bars.
Dessert mashups are one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen. Two is always better than one when it comes to dessert.
I used my favorite brownie recipe and chocolate chip cookie bars for this brookies recipe. My niece and nephew adore these bars, and I am sure your family and friends will too.
Let's get to the recipe.
Brookie ingredients
Could you use store-bought brownie mix and store-bought cookie dough? Duh, of course, but in my world homemade is better. I won't judge you for swapping out homemade for store-bought on either one or both parts.
But, if you're like me then here's what you will need:
- Water
- Unsalted Butter
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. I like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder. I love Bensdorp Dutch Cocoa Powder and Rodelle Dutch Cocoa Powder. Makes the chocolate flavor unreal.
- Vegetable Oil
- Pure Vanilla Extract
- Eggs
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Cornstarch. Also known as cornflour
- All-Purpose Flour
- Chocolate, I prefer chocolate chunks or callets over chips. Use your favorite chocolate bar chopped up or use my favorite Callebaut Chocolate Callets. You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips too, just not my personal preference!
For a family fun night make my Skillet Brookie for everyone to dive into!
Instructions
First things first, preheat your oven to 350F/180C and line a 9" square baking dish with foil with non-stick cooking spray or parchment paper. This helps you remove the bars from the pan after they have cooled.
You can make the cookie dough with a wooden spoon and a bowl, or a handheld electric mixer or my favorite with an electric stand mixer.
Start with the butter and sugars, and mix on medium speed until fully combined.
Next egg and vanilla to sugar mixture. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
The mixture needs to be fully combined, no bits of the egg not distributed.
Finally, add all of the dry ingredients and chocolate chips.
Mix until just combined, but make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl so no wet bits left.
Now the second part to brookies is the brownie part. The brownie recipe is super easy, all made in one pot, no waiting around for softened ingredients because you melt it all together. I have a whole post dedicated to making the brownies with step-by-step photos.
Pour the brownie part into the prepared baking pan in an even layer then use your hands to press chunks of the chocolate chip cookie dough into flat pieces to lay on top of the brownie layer. Cover the brownie batter as best as you can.
Bake the brookies for 28-30 minutes, until golden brown then cover with foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, until the center is set and still just a little jiggly. You want a toothpick in the center to come out with moist crumbs, not completely dry. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.
Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes then slice and serve. Store leftovers in an air-tight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
The best way to enjoy brookies you ask? Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, ultimate sweetness!
Check out this post on my Cookie Baking Tips
More bar recipes
If your looking for only the cookie part then check out my chocolate chip cookie bars recipe.
You can't beat the sweet tang of citrus, these homemade lemon bars do the trick!
For another brownie treat make sure to check out my s'mores brownies recipe.
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★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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Brookies
Homemade brookies will be your new favorite dessert bar. Made with a layer of fudgy brownies, chewy cookies, and tons of chocolate chips! Step-by-step photos help you bake these delicious bars.
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 16 Bars 1x
Ingredients
Brownies
- 2oz (¼ Cup) Water
- 1oz (2 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter
- 250 grams(1 ¼ cups) Granulated Sugar
- 90 grams (¾ cups) Bensdorp Dutch Cocoa Powder
- 3oz (scant ⅓ cup) Vegetable Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg Yolk and 1 Large Egg, at room temp.
- ⅛ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch/ Cornflour
- 60 grams (scant ½ cup) All- Purpose Flour
- 4oz Chocolate (chips, chunks, or bars chopped)
Cookie Layer
- 4oz (½ Cup) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- 132 grams (⅓ Cup) Light Brown Sugar
- 150 grams (¾ Cup) Granulated/ Caster Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, at room temperature
- 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 188 grams (1 ½ Cups) All-Purpose/ Plain Flour
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch/ Cornflour
- 180 grams (1 Cups) Chocolate Chips or Chunks
Instructions
Brownies
- Preheat your oven to 350F/180C and line a 9" square pan with foil and grease heavily. This heps the bars come out of the pan easier after they are baked.
- In a large pot add the water, butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until it is all combined together, the mixture will look weird and not liquidy enough, but that is fine. Then add the oil and vanilla extract. Cook on low for an additional minute and mix to combine everything.
- Take off of the heat, let sit for 5 minutes then add the egg and egg yolk. Whisk to combine.
- Add the baking soda, salt, and cornstarch and mix to combine. Gently add the flour by using a spatula to fold in until just combined, just before there are no flour streaks add your chocolate chunks/ chips. Do not over mix, this will affect the end product.
- Pour into prepared pan and prepare cookies.
Cookie Layer
- In the bowl of an electric mixer or large bowl with a handheld electric mixer combine butter and sugars. Mix on medium for around 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure all is combined.
- Stir in vanilla and egg, making sure to mix until fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Gently fold in the flour, baking soda, salt, cornstarch, and chocolate chunks until just combined. I like to save a few of the chocolate pieces to place on top of the bars before baking, just for aesthetics.
- Using clean hands take balls of cookie dough and flatten them into a sheet and place them on top of brownie batter until all cookie dough is used up.
- Bake the brookies for 28-30 minutes, until golden brown then cover with foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, until the center is set and still just a little jiggly. You want a toothpick in the center to come out with moist crumbs, not completely dry. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.
- Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes then slice and serve. Store leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Brookies are a fantastic candidate for freezing. Let the bars cool completely then place in a freezer-safe container in a single layer and lay flat to freeze. After two hours you can move the bars around so they are not in a single-layer, so they fit into whatever space you want.
If you freeze the bars on top of each other then they will freeze stuck together, so freezing in a single layer makes a difference!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 35
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Chloe Silva says
I made this recipe a couple weeks ago because I wanted to drop off some quarantine goodies to some friends, and OH MY GOSH these were to die for!!! I bought the pound plus milk chocolate from Trader Joe's and chopped those up to use as chocolate chunks, and cocoa powder from Sprouts. I am not kidding when I say this is probably the best thing I've ever made. I made one batch and realized they were too good to give them all away and ended up making another for my household. This recipe has forever changed my standards for brownies!
Elizabeth Waterson says
So happy you enjoyed the recipe Chloe, the TJs pound plus bars really do make all the difference!! Thank you so much for coming back to review and rate the recipe, it really helps me out so thank you! Take care XX Liz
Camila says
Hello! Can I freeze brookies before baking? I mean, when both doughs are already in the pan, ready to bake, but instead freeze and bake another time?
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Camila, good question. I have never done this before. My thought would be that you can but you should thaw the frozen batter in the baking pan in the fridge overnight so it can completely thaw before baking. I would use a disposable foil tray if it were me and wrap it in plastic wrap twice to prevent any freezer burn. I would think it might create a denser bar once baked but I truly don't know for sure. Please let me know if you try it or if I can help with anything else. XX Liz
Camila says
Thank you for the response Liz, I'll definitely try it!
Christina says
While they tasted good, my brownie layer was extra gooey but my cookie layer was kind of crumbly.
Preethi says
Hi, I tried the recipe and it was fantastic but the centre part of the brookie had sunk down. Could you tell me why this happens?
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Preethi, I am so pleased you enjoyed the brookies. Thank you so much for coming back to review them! My center sinks down a little as well - the sides of almost all of my cookie-type bars sides raise a little higher than the middle. You can try to combat this by not mixing too much air into the batter, making sure you are using a good heat-conducting pan, and rotating the pan halfway through baking. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I love to help! Take care. XX liz
Kingsdu says
Ehh the brownie park was a little dry and was tedious to make
Ben Rider says
These were very very tasty, the only advice/comment is that they took way, way longer for me, around 60 minutes and not 35. At least some of that is probably because I used an 8x8 pan instead of a 9x9 pan so your mileage may vary.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Ben, glad you liked the brookies! Thanks for the review! XX Liz