Brookie Recipe

This brookie recipe gives you a fudgy, chewy brownie base topped with soft chocolate chip cookie dough, all baked together into one pan of bars. Ready in 40 minutes, and you only need two bowls!

“I made these for a school bake sale and they were the first thing to sell out. The brownie layer stayed so fudgy even after sitting overnight, and the cookie layer on top had just the right chew. Will be making these on repeat!”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Maren

When you just want both a gooey chocolate chip cookie and a decadent brownie, make these Brookies! These are rich and fudgy. These bars are arguably the best dessert for tea, milk, or coffee. They are easily a crowd favorite and perfect for any celebration!

If you love chocolate dessert bars, these fit right alongside a classic cookie or a fudgy brownie in your regular baking lineup. My Chocolate Chip Cookies and these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are perfect to make next!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Unsalted Butter (Brownie Layer): Melted butter gives the brownie layer its dense, fudgy texture rather than a cakey one.
• Granulated Sugar (Brownie Layer): Sugar sweetens the brownies and helps create that slightly shiny, crackled top.
• Cocoa Powder: This is the primary chocolate flavor in the brownie base. Use unsweetened natural cocoa powder for a deep, classic chocolate taste.
• All-Purpose Flour
• Eggs: The eggs bind the brownie batter and add richness throughout. The recipe uses room temperature eggs for the brownie layer, which blend in more smoothly than cold eggs straight from the fridge.
• Vanilla Extract
• Salt
• Baking Powder
• Unsalted Butter (Cookie Layer): Room temperature butter is creamed with the sugars to build the cookie dough’s structure. If your butter is too cold it won’t cream properly, and if it’s too warm the dough will be greasy and spread too much.
• Granulated Sugar and Brown Sugar (Cookie Layer): Using both sugars in the cookie dough gives you the best of both textures, crispness at the edges and chewiness in the center. The brown sugar also adds a subtle molasses depth that plays well against the brownie base.
• Baking Soda
• Chocolate Chips: Folded into the cookie dough, the chocolate chips melt slightly during baking and add pockets of chocolate throughout the top layer. Semi-sweet chips are the most balanced choice, though you could use dark chocolate chips if you prefer a less sweet finish. If you love a Blondie Recipe, try swapping in white chocolate chips for a completely different but equally delicious brookie.

Variations for Brookies

• Peanut Butter Cookie Layer.: Swap the chocolate chip cookie dough for your favorite peanut butter cookie dough like thes chewy peanut butter cookies to get a salty-sweet contrast against the fudgy brownie base. Press it on top the same way and bake at the same temperature and time.
• Add some nuts or your favorite candy. Fold a generous handful of chopped walnuts or pecans into the brownie batter before spreading it into the pan. The nuts add a toasty crunch that breaks up the dense, fudgy layers in the best way. You could also use M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, or chopped-up Snickers!
• Cookies and Cream. Press crushed chocolate sandwich cookies into the brownie batter before adding the cookie dough layer on top. If you love bar desserts with layered textures, my Cookies & Cream Blossom Bars recipe is worth a look too.
• Brown Butter Brownie Base. You can use my brown butter brownie recipe! Let it cool completely before combining with the eggs, or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs in your batter, which is not the goal!

Professional Tips for Perfect Brookies

• Let the brownie batter cool before adding the cookie layer. Spread the brownie batter and let it sit for a few minutes while you make the cookie dough. Dropping warm dough onto still-warm batter can cause the layers to bleed together rather than bake up distinct.
• Don’t fully cover the brownie layer with cookie dough. Drop the cookie dough in spoonfuls and press gently rather than spreading it edge to edge. Leaving some brownie batter exposed lets the top bake evenly and keeps you from getting a raw center under a thick cookie crust.
• Pull them out while they still look slightly underdone. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs, not clean. Brookies firm up significantly as they cool in the pan, and overbaking is what gives you a dry, crumbly result instead of that fudgy, chewy texture you’re after.

How to Make Brookies

Use these step-by-step instructions to make fudgy, chewy brookies with a rich chocolate brownie base and a soft cookie dough layer baked right on top. Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Prep your pan and preheat the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang on two sides. Those overhanging edges are your handles later when it’s time to lift the whole slab out cleanly.

Make the Brownie Batter

Step 2: Melt the butter for the brownie layer. Place the butter for the brownie layer in a microwave-safe bowl and melt it in short bursts, stirring between each one. Set it aside and let it cool for a few minutes before you add anything else to the bowl.

Step 3: Mix the brownie wet ingredients. Combine the cooled melted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and stir until everything is well combined. The mixture will look glossy and smooth, slightly thicker than you might expect at this stage, and that’s completely normal.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients. Add the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder to the bowl and stir until fully incorporated. The batter will come together into a thick, smooth, deeply chocolatey mixture with no dry streaks. (photo 1 & 2)

Step 5: Spread the brownie batter into the pan. Pour the brownie batter into your prepared pan and spread it into an even layer with a spatula, smoothing the top as flat as you can. Set the pan aside while you make the cookie dough. (photo 3)

Make the Cookie Dough

Step 6: Cream the butter and sugars. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the room-temperature butter with the granulated sugar and brown sugar until the mixture is light, fluffy, and noticeably paler in color. This takes 2 to 3 minutes and is worth doing properly since it’s what gives the cookie layer its soft, chewy structure. (photo 4)

Step 7: Add the egg and vanilla. Add the egg and vanilla extract to the creamed butter mixture and mix until everything is well combined and the batter looks smooth and uniform. (photo 5)

Step 8: Whisk and add the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, stirring until just combined. The dough will be thick and slightly sticky, which is exactly right. (photo 6)

Step 9: Fold in the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips to the cookie dough and fold them in gently until they’re evenly distributed throughout. The dough is now ready to layer onto the brownie batter in the pan. (photo 7)

Assemble and Bake

Step 10: Layer the cookie dough onto the brownie batter. Drop spoonfuls of the cookie dough all over the surface of the brownie batter in the pan, then use a spatula or your fingers to gently press it down into an even layer. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, and a little texture on top is completely fine. (photo 8)

Step 11: Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. The top will look set and lightly golden, and the edges will have pulled away slightly from the sides of the pan.

Step 12: Cool in the pan. Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting. Cutting too early will cause the layers to slide and the brownie base to fall apart, so give it the full cooling time even when it’s hard to wait.

Step 13: Lift, cut, and serve. Once the brookies are fully cooled, use the parchment paper overhang as handles to lift the entire slab out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

I hope this brookie recipe becomes your go-to whenever you need one pan to do the work of two desserts. Browse our Brownie & Bar recipes or try these s’mores blondies next!