Vegan Brownie Cookies

Vegan Brownie Cookies


It’s been a while, but oh man I’m very excited for this recipe. Yeah there’s crinkle cookies and double chocolate cookies on the blog. But what there isn’t, is vegan brownie cookies (and actual brownies, but that’ll come eventually). The chocolatiest of chocolatey cookies. Eggless and dairy-free goodness. Basically a brownie impersonating a cookie.

Vegan Brownie Cookies

You’d think a cookie recipe, not to mention one like this that just needs a few basic ingredients, would be pretty easy and straightforward to develop. Well, about a dozen tests later, I can say that it actually wasn’t. Every little tweak caused so many changes that it took a fair few tries to get the ratio of the ingredients just right.

Brownie cookies

I’ll explain the different tests I made and how certain changes affected the end result. So hopefully that helps you if something goes wrong when you make them yourself!

So many brownie cookie tests

The first tries

First test for cookies

I started off by making the recipe for crinkle cookies without rolling them in powdered sugar, and dissolving the sugar and water in a saucepan. Since it’s the dissolved sugar in brownies and brownie cookies that forms the shiny crust, I thought that would be a good start. Safe to say it was a complete fail. They didn’t spread, were cakey and just too dry.

Test #2 for cookies

So for test #2, I left out the flax egg to get a looser dough, upped the sugar to 50g with 30g water and added 20g chocolate chips that I melted in the sugar syrup. They came out a bit better, but still no shiny crust. Plus they were thin, still too cakey for my liking, with no fugdiness whatsoever.

With a thin sugar exterior

After a few other failed tests, I knew I needed to add more chocolate chips to get a fudgy texture, so I doubled it (I was perhaps a bit too ambitious here). I also upped the sugar to 55g with 40g water and went from 10g oil to 13g. The added oil plus the added cocoa butter from the extra chocolate chips made these too thin and crispy to get any fudginess. But there’s that shiny papery skin! These were actually ok, but still not what I was going for.

Perfecting the recipe

Chocolate brownie cookies

This is where I started doing a bit of research into what exactly causes the sugar to form a shiny crust, because the previous batch was sheer luck. And, hands down, the best resource I found was Adam Ragusea’s video on brownie skin. It was incredibly informative and he did every test imaginable to rule out all variables. It’s an amazing watch.

So for test number I’ve-lost-count, I upped the sugar to 60g but with 30g water. Because sugar can dissolve in half its amount in water, by weight. Having too much water inhibits the sugar from drying on the surface fast enough for it to form a shiny crust, which is why I reduced it. I also added 2 tsp of cornstarch to add extra chewiness, reduced the chocolate to 35g and reduced the flour a bit since I added cornstarch.

This batch was by far the closest I’d gotten to what I wanted these vegan brownie cookies to be. But, it still needed just a few tweaks. They were a bit too craggly for me. I was going for crinkles, but with smooth shiny spots.

Vegan cookies

Here I reduced the cornstarch to 1 tsp because I assumed it was contributing to the dough holding its shape a bit too much. I went for an in-between with the oil at 11g. They came out great, but I mixed the dough in the saucepan to see how that would go, which ended up thickening the dough a bit too much and affecting its spread.

As for the craggly top, it was easily solved in the final batches by just flattening them with my finger after scooping all the dough. So the next ones came out exactly how they should!

How to make vegan brownie cookies

It’s important for this recipe to have everything ready and weighed out before starting. Once the dough is made, it needs to go in the oven quickly to get the shiny exterior. Because there’s a lot of melted chocolate in the recipe, it will set the dough as it hardens and make it very crumbly and dry.

Hardened dough
That’s a sad cookie if I’ve ever seen one.

I tried baking it once it had hardened, and what came out could barely be called a cookie honestly. I also tried microwaving the hardened dough to bring it back to the right consistency before baking, and it still didn’t work. So this recipe is perfect for those who hate having to chill or rest dough and want cookies immediately.

All that might make this recipe seem difficult, but it really isn’t. Once everything is ready, the process goes smoothly.

The method To make vegan brownie cookies

Start by dissolving the sugar in the water on low to medium heat. You don’t want the water to simmer at all. We don’t want to lose any of it and concentrate the syrup, we just want melted sugar. We also don’t want the sugar to stick to the bottom or caramelize, so keep it moving.

Once that’s done, you can add in the chocolate chips along with the oil, coffee granules (or powder) and vanilla. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted. The liquid will look split but that’s ok, it’ll all come together once the dry ingredients are added.

Before and after baking

Transfer the mixture into the bowl that had the chocolate chips, add the dry ingredients and stir just until everything is well combined. Then scoop immediately onto your prepared baking sheet, gently flatten any peaks with your finger if you want, top with flaky salt and bake.

The ingredients For vegan brownie cookies

Some things other than the method might affect your results, like the ingredients. Different chocolates and cocoa powders have varying percentages of fat which can impact the cookies. Plus, dutch vs. natural cocoa powder react differently in baked goods.

Neither of those things will make your cookies inedible, they’ll still be delicious. It’s just something to keep in mind.

Fudgy brownie cookies

I’ve only tested this recipe using regular old 51% chocolate chips since it’s what most people would have and also what I had. If you opt to use a chopped up chocolate bar of equal or higher percentage, I imagine it might affect the spread since bars have a higher amount of cocoa butter in them. Whereas chocolate chips are made to hold their shape in the oven. I’ll test it with a chocolate bar at some point and come back to update the recipe!

Fudgy vegan chocolate cookies

As for cocoa powder, I used a natural one, not dutch-processed. It’s not that big of a deal to interchange them in a cookie recipe, because unlike cake we’re not relying on a good rise or fluffy texture. But dutch-processed does have a deeper chocolate flavour unlike natural cocoa which is more acidic. So it’ll change the flavour, but not necessarily in a bad way!

Storing these vegan brownie cookies

These brownie cookies will have all the fudgy and chewy goodness the day they’re made. Since there’s a fair bit of melted chocolate in them, they’ll harden with time and get more of a crispy texture, which I’ve been told is reminiscent of a poptart or a cookie-meringue hybrid. Both are really good, it just depends on your preference. You can also microwave the crispy ones to soften them a bit if you’d like. Regardless, to store them, keep them in a closed container for up to a week!

Brownie cookies

If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!

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Chocolate brownie cookies
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Biscuits brownies végétaliens
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Vegan Brownie Cookies

Vegan Brownie Cookies

Tatyana
Chewy and fudgy brownie cookies made with just a few simple ingredients and done in no time.
5 from 5 votes
Course Dessert
Total Time 31 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 35 g all-purpose flour
  • 15 g cocoa powder (I used natural not dutch), sift if needed
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • 1/16 tsp salt
  • 11 g vegetable oil
  • tsp instant coffee granules or powder, optional
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • 35 g chocolate chips, I used 51%
  • 30 g water
  • 60 g white granulated sugar
  • flaky salt or coarse sea salt, optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat. Have your flaky salt near the sheet so it’s easy access once the dough is portioned out.
    *It’s very important for this recipe to have the ingredients weighed out and everything ready before you start. Because once the dough is made, it thickens very fast and you’ll risk not getting the shiny exterior, so it needs to go in the oven as quickly as possible. Read the entire instructions before starting so you know where you’re going.*
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sifted cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
  • In another small bowl, combine the oil, coffee, vanilla and chocolate chips.
  • In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and place over low to medium heat. Stir gently just until the sugar has dissolved. You don’t want it to simmer at all.
  • Turn off the heat, add the chocolate chip mixture to the saucepan and stir until the chocolate has completely melted. It will look split but that’s nothing to worry about, it will all come together once the dry ingredients are added.
  • Pour the mixture back into the bowl that had the chocolate chips in it. At this point you’ll want to work fairly quickly.
  • Add the dry ingredients in and stir just until everything is well combined, then immediately start scooping the dough onto your prepared sheet with a 1 ½ to 2 tbsp ice cream scoop (or large spoon), leaving a few inches in between each for spreading.
  • You can gently flatten any peaks on the cookies with your finger if you don’t want them showing up in the end product. Top them with a sprinkle of flaky salt and bake for 10-12 minutes. About 10 minutes for fudgier cookies, 12 minutes for slightly crispier and chewy ones.
  • They’ll still be soft when they come out of the oven but they’ll set as they cool. Give them about 5-10 minutes then transfer them using an offset spatula to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Notes

  • *Disclaimer: I have a tiny not-so-great oven, so your bake time may vary from mine. 
  • I strongly suggest making recipes by weight, if you make them by cups I can’t guarantee that you’ll get the same results.




12 thoughts on “Vegan Brownie Cookies”

  • 5 stars
    I was pleasantly surprised how easy and delicious this recipe was! The outside was crispy and flaky like real brownies, and the inside was fudgey especially after letting it cool to room temperature. They aren’t overly oily. Also, they don’t harden into rocks after a day. I love love love this cookie!!!

  • 5 stars
    I’ve just made these and WOW! I had to come back here to thank you for this recipe! My dad said he was going to try just a small bite and couldn’t resist eating the whole cookie while saying “Damn, this is so good!” I’ve tried a different vegan brownie cookie recipe before and the cookies ended up tasting ok but the texture was way off. These have the perfect fudgyness in the middle and crispy edges!
    Next time I make them I think I’m going to reduce the amount of cocoa powder, since the chocolate I used was a bit darker. Do you think I should simply decrease the cocoa powder amount or maybe swap some for flour so they don’t lose structure?

    Thank you so so so much!! <3

    • Ahh that’s amazing Laura thank you for leaving a comment! I’m so glad you liked them! First option before adjusting the cocoa powder would be to use a sweeter chocolate, but if you can’t do that I think you can get away with removing up to maybe 4g of cocoa powder without affecting the recipe too much. But obviously that’s just a guess, I haven’t tried!

  • 5 stars
    I made this recipe, but I doubled everything. I had to use my scale to measure and I substituted canola oil for vegetable oil. The batter wasn’t runny though it was thinner than chocolate chip batter. Looked more like brownie batter. I only had a 1 tbIspn scoop so I scooped twice. I also baked the cookies for 12 minutes. Everything worked exactly as the recipe indicated. Using a 3 1/4 inch round cutter gave me great shape. I got 8 cookies from the double recipe. It turned out great! Will be using this for an upcoming party.

    • Wow amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment! So glad to know the recipe worked well and that you liked the cookies! I hope they’ll be a hit at your party 🙂

  • Hey! The recipe is amazing , I just had a small doubt ; does the batter/dough look slightly wet soon after we mix the dry ingredients? The cookies taste heavenly!
    Because of the slightly wet texture I couldn’t scoop the cookies as such , just poured a dollop but by the 3rd dollop the dough firmed up!

    • Hi Meera! I’m so happy you liked them! It’s normal for the dough to be a bit loose at first since it’s still warm, it maybe just took longer to cool/set up because of warmer climate (it’s cold where I am so the chocolate in the dough sets up pretty fast) or from the type of chocolate used. Chocolate chips melt into a thicker consistency than, say, a chocolate bar or couverture chocolate. It’s good since it actually gives you more time to work with it! :p

  • 5 stars
    Délicieux! Très bonne recette, bien caramélisé à l’extérieur et fondant à l’intérieur, à refaire !

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