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I was shocked to learn that some of my friends did not what Brookies are. SHOCKED! Brookies are the brilliant answer to the question: Should I have a brownie or a cookie? See, Brookies, as the name suggests, is a layer of brownie topped with a layer of cookie dough. This recipe uses brown butter in the cookie dough, making them Brown Butter Brookies.
And let’s be clear. Brookies are always enjoyable. Brown Butter Brookies, however, are downright delish.
How to Make Brown Butter Brookies
These are seriously easy to make and so fun to serve! People get so excited when they see Brookies! Let’s break it down:
1. Prepare the Baking Pan
This recipe is for one 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper. To make it stick to the pan, lightly spray the pan with non-stick spray and place the parchment paper in the pan. If too much of the parchment paper overhangs and could fall into the batter, you can use binder clips from an office supply store to clip the parchment paper to the edges of the pans.
2. Brown the Butter for the Cookie Batter
This is the “most difficult” part of this recipe — and it is super easy to do! It will take under 10 minutes to brown the butter. If you are new to browning butter, check out my post: Brown Butter: What Is It and How To Make It. Here’s a quick summary on how to brown butter:
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over the lowest possible flame. If you cut the stick of butter into smaller pieces, it will melt faster.
- Once it is all melted, increase the heat to medium-low.
- Let it cook. It will steam, foam and crackle. Feel free to swirl the pan or stir it with a heatproof spatula.
- The butter will start to emit a lovely, nutty aroma. Once you see lots of brown specks on the bottom of the pan, pay very close attention to it. You want to leave it over the flame long enough to brown the butter well, but be careful not to leave it on too long because it can burn very easily.
- Immediately pour the brown butter into a heatproof bowl so that it does not continue to cook from the residual heat from the pan.
- Set the brown butter aside so it can cool to room temperature while you make the brownie batter.
3. Make the Brownie Batter
The brownie batter comes together super easily. Again, over the lowest heat possible in a medium size saucepan (you can totally use the one you used for the brown butter), melt the butter with the chocolate. Mix in the sugars, egg and vanilla. Then mix in the dry ingredients. I also like to toss in some miniature marshmallows to the brownie batter, which helps make them even fudgier. Spread the brownie batter into the prepared pan and set it aside.
4. Make the Cookie Dough Batter
Again, super easy. Mix the sugars into the cooled brown butter. Then beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Mix in the dry ingredients, then approximately three-quarters of the chocolate chips. Pour the brown butter cookie dough over the brownie batter in the pan. Top with the remaining chocolate chips and sprinkle with a fine, flaky sea salt, such as Maldon sea salt flakes.
5. Bake, Cool, and Enjoy!
Bake the Brown Butter Brookies for 35-38 minutes. Be careful not to overbake them. It’s certainly fine to remove them from the oven even if a toothpick comes out slightly wet. They will finish baking from the residual heat in the pan as they cool.
Frequently Asked Questions About Making Brown Butter Brookies
Can I double this Recipe for Brown Butter Brookies?
Absolutely. Just double all of the ingredients and use a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. Baking time will be the same.
Why isn’t there brown butter in the brownie batter?
There is such a small amount of butter that I did not bother browning the butter for the brownie batter in this recipe. Also, for me, the chocolate is so deep and strong that it conceals the flavor of the brown butter, so there is no real benefit to using brown butter in the brownie portion.
Brown Butter Brookies
Ingredients
Brownie Batter:
- 15 grams flour (2 Tablespoons)
- 13 grams cocoa powder (2 Tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
- 57 grams butter (¼ cup)
- 57 grams unsweetened chocolate (2 ounces)
- 25 grams sugar (2 Tablespoons)
- 50 grams light brown sugar (¼ cup)
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup miniature marshmallows (optional)
Brown Butter Cookie Dough Batter:
- 120 grams flour (1 cup)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 113 grams unsalted butter (½ cup or 8 Tablespoons)
- 67 grams sugar (⅓ cup)
- 73 grams light brown sugar (⅓ cup)
- 1 large egg
- ½ Tablespoon milk (1½ teaspoons)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 170 grams semi-sweet and/or bittersweet chocolate chips (1 cup, divided)
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line an 8-inch by 8-inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Brown butter. In a medium or large size saucepan, melt the butter over the lowest possible heat. Once it is fully melted, increase the heat to medium-low. The butter will start popping and crackling and then start foaming. The part of the butter that will start browning is the milk solids which will be on the bottom of the pan. This is why you should keep stirring with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, lifting it to see what stage the browning is at. Once you have nicely browned specks on the bottom of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and immediately pour the butter into a medium, heatproof mixing bowl to stop it from cooking any further. (Be careful not to overcook the butter. It can go from brown to burnt very quickly.) Allow the butter to cool to room temperature. Set the bowl of browned butter aside for the brown butter cookie dough in Step 9.
- Brownie batter. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over the lowest possible heat. Set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly.
- Stir in sugar and brown sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until the flour is fully absorbed. Stir in miniature marshmallows, if using.
- Spread brownie batter into prepared pan and set aside.
- Brown butter cookie dough batter. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Into the bowl of cooled browned butter, mix in the sugars, then beat in the egg, milk and the vanilla extract.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, just until the flour is fully absorbed. Fold in 128 grams (3/4 cup) of chocolate chips.
- Spread or dollop the cookie batter over the brownie batter. Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate chips. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- Bake for 35-38 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out just barely wet. Allow to cool completely in pan.
Notes
- To double the recipe, double all the ingredients and spread into a 9-inch by 13-inch pan.
- Deeper, quality chocolate is best for the cookie dough. (Milk chocolate is good, but not great.) Semi-sweet if fabulous, and a combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet is truly wonderful. Can’t find bittersweet chips? Just chop up a quality bittersweet chocolate bar. I use these semi-sweet chips, these bittersweet chips, and these milk chocolate chips. Callebaut is one of my all time favorite chocolates to bake with. Their chocolate is slightly expensive, but it is what sets my blondies apart from everyone else’s. Use quality ingredients for a quality baked good!
Nutrition
8 Comments
Book marking this page and the recipe as I have been salivating just reading this. Can’t wait to make it. Thanks for this
I’ve never made brookies before – these sound amazing! I’ll definitely be making this with my daughter. These would be perfect warm and served with ice cream.
Love these brookies! It has the right amount of sweetness and thickness, and it’s hard to say no to this one
Such an easy and delicious treat to make for the kids. I am sure they will love this!
My whole family loved these! So good.
These brookies look tasty! Love the combo of marshmallows and espresso powder!
These are very tasty, but the recipe appears to be missing a step! Step 9 should specify that you’re adding the sugars, etc. to the previously-browned butter, but it’s not clear. It might also be helpful to specify that after making the brown butter, it will be set aside to go in the cookie batter, not the brownie batter.
Thank you for pointing this out! I revised the brown butter instruction and Step 9. Glad you enjoyed them!