My husband and I live in opposite-ville when it comes to dessert. Give me a rich, gooey chocolate brownie with a shiny, crackly top any day. My husband loves crispy-chewy chocolate chip cookies with a passion that verges on a new religion, but he’s positively “meh” about brownies.
The solution? I glued my favorite brownie recipe to his favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, made a few tweaks, and now we live in dessert harmony with brookies—half brownie, half chocolate chip cookies!
Step 1: Mix up the Brownie Batter
You'll want to make this sticky batter first and chill it while making the cookie dough, which will make it easier to handle. I like to use Dutch-processed cocoa powder (such as Hershey’s Special Dark) and a touch of instant coffee (Starbucks instant VIA Columbia Roast works well) to give the brookies a really deep, dark chocolate flavor. Adding walnuts is optional, but I think they taste more like real brownies that way.Step 2: Make the Cookie Dough
For the chocolate chip cookie side, you'll want to use true room-temperature butter. If the butter is too warm, the dough will spread too much, leaving you with a flattened cookie pool around a brownie mound in the center. Cut it up and blend it with the sugars until it looks like wet sand. It doesn’t need to be fluffy or fully creamed, just combined.Step 3: Form and Bake the Brookies
Once both doughs are prepared, measure out even tablespoons of each and line them up in pairs on two baking sheets (a spring-loaded cookie scoop is your BFF here). Working quickly so the doughs don’t become too warm, gently roll one blob of each dough together until they are just married into a rough ball with distinct sides. Place the ball seam-side up on the baking sheets so you can see a brownie side and a cookie side.
