I know what you’re thinking. What’s the point of a brownie… cookie? Why not just have a brownie? Or a cookie? Why both? Well, a pan of traditional brownies has varying textures. You have slightly crisp and chewy edge brownies with softer, fudgier brownies in the center. When you bake brownies as cookies, you get both in 1. A super chewy and textured edge with that beloved fudge center.
Brownie cookies > brownies. (A bold statement!!!!!)
This recipe stems from an older recipe on my website: death by chocolate peanut butter chip cookies. I based the recipe off of an America’s Test Kitchen recipe a few years ago. This time, I subbed a little cocoa powder for flour. I found that this teeny tiny increase in cocoa powder gave the brownie cookies an even deeper chocolate flavor (of course). And for that cocoa. Remember the difference between dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder? Things are pretty important when we use baking soda (BASE) in the recipe as natural cocoa (ACID) reacts with it. However, it’s not that big of a deal when using baking powder (like today) because the recipe doesn’t need that extra acid (from natural). I know it’s confusing. Basically, today, we can use either dutch-process or natural in the brownie cookies.
Cookies are delicious chemistry.
Speaking of chocolate. The base of this recipe is… pure chocolate! Just like we do in peanut butter filled brownie cookies, you’ll start by melting down 8 ounces of the good stuff and mix it right into the dough. So just like how any ordinary cookie recipe begins by creaming butter and sugar together… but we’ll also add melted chocolate. I like to use a quality chocolate from the baking aisle like Ghirardelli or Baker’s. The melted chocolate paired with brown sugar and eggs creates a remarkably moist center. Just want you center-brownie-lovers crave!
“Indulgent” doesn’t even cover it.
“Excessively decadent” is more like it.
Because texture clearly rules all, I threw in a generous amount of walnuts. If you have an extra few minutes, give the chopped walnuts a quick toast in the oven for added flavor. Spread chopped walnuts onto a lined baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes at 300°F (149°C).
More Chocolate Cookies to Try
- Brownie Cookies (similar to today’s recipe, but plain)
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies (the chocolate version of my beloved Sugar Cookies!)
Brownie Walnut Chunk Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Super fudgy, thick, chewy, and rich brownie cookies with big chunks of chocolate and walnuts!
Ingredients
- 2 four ounce bars (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1/3 cup (27g) natural unsweetened or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup (5 Tablespoons; 72g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125g) chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup (90g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or use the microwave. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted. Set aside to slightly cool (so it doesn’t melt the butter or cook the eggs!).
- Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine. Pour in the slightly cooled melted chocolate and mix on medium speed until combined.
- On low speed, add the dry ingredients. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until combined. Finally, beat in the walnuts and chocolate chips. Cover and chill the dough for at least 45-60 minutes in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll the dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. Place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets and bake for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set. The centers will look a little soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips or walnut pieces into the tops– this is only for looks!
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools: KitchenAid Stand Mixer | Hershey’s Cocoa Powder | Baker’s Semisweet Chocolate Bars | Silpat Baking Mat | Cookie Sheets | Cooling Rack | Black Plates
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Keywords: brownie walnut chunk cookies
Can I leave out the walnuts and keep the recipe the same or will that affect the texture?
Hi Jane! We recommend following this Brownie Cookie recipe instead!
I made these today and all I can say is WOW!!! I was looking for a brownie recipe to make for Mothers Day and as always I came to your site to search for a recipe and low and behold I came across this one. forget making brownies this is perfect. This recipe is a keeper just as it is written. I wouldn’t change a thing. I was a little concerned after reading the comments about it maybe being a little too sweet, it’s not at all. I have yet to bake something that I didn’t like on this website. Thank you Sally for all the wonderful recipes.
Hi Sally,
I am not a professional baker, but I highly enjoy baking desserts. So I love doing it myself, and one thing is that I love to do it manually without using mixers, unless inevitable. So I usually prefer to replace the electrical mixer with a manual one or do it myself. Is it possible to do so with this recipe? I never used an electrical mixer with the cookies I usually do.
Hi Fadia, you can certainly mix it by hand if you prefer, but it will take quite a bit of arm muscle! Particularly when it comes to properly creaming the butter and sugars. Let us know how they turn out for you.
Hi Sally!
First of all thanks for sharing this amazing recipe with us! Honestly, these cookies are the best I’ve ever tasted in my whole life. No other cookie can hold a candle to these babies!
I was playing around with the recipe a little but don’t really know enough about the science of baking 🙂 I was wondering whether you had ever experimented with white chocolate in cookies? I am not talking white chocolate chips, but substituting the melted dark chocolate with white chocolate. Do you think that might work?
Thanks and cheers
Josefine
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Hi Josefine, We are thrilled you enjoy these cookies so much! Unfortunately, it’s not a simple switch from regular chocolate to white chocolate. It would take additional recipe testing for us to give you a confident answer on how to alter the recipe. If you want a starting point to experiment, you can see how we changed brownies to white chocolate brownies (replaced the cocoa powder with more flour, increased the amount of melted chocolate, lowered the amount of sugar, etc). Let us know if you try it!
THE cookie recipe !! Thank you Sally.. You did it again. My son’s favorite.
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Does this dough freeze well (unbaked)? Thanks!
Absolutely delicious!!! This recipe is a keeper for sure. Thanks for sharing
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Hi!!! Can I double the recipe? will that be an issue? Thanks!!
Sure can! The dough will be pretty heavy and thick, so I recommend reducing the chill time to just 15 minutes or skipping it entirely.
Hi Sally, I baked this brownie walnut cookies today. I refrigerated the dough for 4 hours before I roll it into the ball each before baked. But my problem is the dough spread quite a bit and it turned out too flat and cookies are not thick likes yours in the photo. I prefer the thicker cookies, any advice to make the thicker cookies and not spread too much?
Hi Tang, Make sure that your butter isn’t too warm. Room temperature butter is usually cooler than you think! You can also take a look at these 10 Guaranteed Tips to Prevent Cookies from Spreading to help troubleshoot. If you notice they are still thin no matter what you try to do, add a little more flour when you make them again. Even an extra 1/4 cup will definitely help!
Hi! Generally in baking using walnuts, do we use raw or roasted?
Hi Fiona, it depends how much flavor you’d like. Raw would be best since roasted nuts have already been roasted. Toasting on top of that flavor is fine, though.
Hi Sally, I make this recipe today and my husband love them!!! thank you!!!!
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Hi Sally
Can you please tell me the cocoa percentage in the chocolate you have used (semi sweet)
Hi Hina, Semi-sweet contains 35 – 45% cacao. If you wish you can read more about different types of chocolate in the post Baking with Chocolate.
Hey Sally!
I made these today and they are delish! My first batch did not flatten out, so before they went in the oven i would flatten them manually. They also were pretty sweet. So i think next time i would cut down the brown sugar and put less chocolate chips in them. Do you think the subtraction of 1/4 or 1/2 of brown sugar would drastically change the texture? Thank you!
Hi Tiana, Thank you so much for trying the brownie cookie recipe! Try decreasing to 3/4 cup of sugar total. I suggest 1/4 cup granulated and 1/2 cup light brown.
Awesome! I am SO going to make these again with the sugar adjustments! Thank you for promptness in replying!
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These are bomb!! The brownie/cookie mix is perfection. I chilled my dough for an hour, and it wasn’t too hard to form into balls. But, they didn’t flatten at all during the bake. Was it chilled too long perhaps? No matter the look, these tasted delicious–especially the next day! You truly have a gift, Sally. Love all your recipes 🙂
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Hi Sally!
Can I use almonds instead of walnuts?
Thanks so much!
Definitely- use the same amount (1 cup) of chopped almonds!
Hi Sally! Any idea if this recipe will work with gluten free flour? Thank you
Hi Rachel, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let us know if you do!
So, I’m so used to making the Fudgy Brownie recipe that I went on autopilot and melted the butter with the chocolate. I was worried that would cause the cookies to spread a lot, but they still turned out AMAZING (even better if I’m being honest)! Love this recipe and countless others!
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Hi Sally! I loved this recipe! I used it to make sandwich cookies with buttercream frosting and they were delicious! was wondering if there was a blondie version of this recipe? Thanks!
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Hi Ellie! So glad you enjoy these brownie cookies. You may enjoy my chewy chocolate chip cookies. Lots of delicious butter, brown sugar, and vanilla flavors, just like blondies. You can replace the chocolate chips with walnuts.
Hi Sally! This looks so delicious! Thank you for this recipe. You mentioned that toasted chopped walnuts can give extra flavor. How long should I toast the walnuts?
Hi Amor! About 8 minutes at 300°F (149°C) until fragrant is great.
I made these for a Zoom Editorial Meeting yesterday. How you ask? I ran around in my car and delivered some to each reporter, editor, and publisher before the meeting! OK, we’re a small group at The Lamorinda Weekly. But definitely puts the fun into those Zoom meetings. I had to laugh at myself though. I spent so much time cutting up my chocolate into neat chunks, only to discover that I was about to melt it for the recipe! Really delicious though. Definitely a keeper, as are all your recipes!
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Hi Sally, Thanks for this amazing recipe. Can I use Dark chocolate (melt) instead of semi-sweet?
Two dark bittersweet chocolate baking bars would work, yes!
They really do taste like the very best of a brownie and a cookie. I added white chocolate chips as I had a bag opened I wanted to use up. They were incredible.
Thank you, Sally, for another wonderful recipe.
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Hi Sally! I made the inside out cookies and they are soo good! Everything turned out so well.
I meant to try the brownie chunk walnut cookies but been seeing comments about chilling for just an hour but dough is rock hard and won’t spread. Any suggestions so I can make them perfect? How long shall I chill them? Thanks
Hi Diana, I’m so glad you enjoyed the Inside Out Cookies! A few tips to make sure these are perfect: Make sure you are measuring your ingredients correctly. Here are all of my tips for measuring. Be sure that you are using pure baking chocolate (such as Baker’s brand). You can reduce the chill time to about 30 minutes if you are worried about them being too hard but if you follow the recipe as written they should be just fine. Enjoy!
These are my new favourite cookies! This is my second time making these and they have turned out perfectly both times. So decadent and perfect for the holidays or whenever hosting. For my second batch, I replaced the walnuts with white chocolate chips because I am sending them to my kids’s school (must be nut free) and they are just as delicious!
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These cookies are absolutely amazing! I made these for my boyfriend yesterday who literally couldn’t stop eating them and they’re pretty much all gone now. Just like a brownie, rich and chocolatey. I’ll definitely be making these again!
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I chilled the dough for 30 mins and made the cookies thinner. Tasted great but I was looking for more chew. My cookies tasted like a dense brownie.
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Hey Mel, they ARE “Brownie” cookies.. that’s the beauty of this cookie. =) However, it’s NICE TO KNOW I can also make it a “chewy” cookie (which I love also) but chilling the dough and making the balls smaller. Thanks for sharing with us!!
These cookies are unbelievably good! Thank you for this fabulous recipe:)
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I made these for a dinner I hosted, and everyone bthought the cookies were delicious! They are super chocolatey as expected and also chewy like a brownie. I will definitely make them again.
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I think these might be my all-time favourite cookies!
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Hi Sally,
Instead of melting dark chocolate, can I just add extra cocoa powder? Would the recipe still work? Please let me know what you think! Thanks!
Hi Brianna! I recommend following the recipe as written. I do have a chocolate cookies recipe that uses just cocoa powder if you’re interested!
Here’s a suggestion I’ve actually tired and had good luck with. Just a suggestion.
3 level tablespoons unsweetened cocoa and 1 tablespoon butter, margarine or shortening for every 1-ounce unsweetened baking chocolate. 3 level tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa plus 1 tablespoon shortening, butter, or oil for every 1-ounce unsweetened baking chocolate.