Chef notes

These chocolate cookies have all the qualities of richly decadent brownies but in cookie form. With three types of chocolate (melted bittersweet, cocoa powder and chocolate chips), they’re delightfully fudgy in the middle with slightly crisp edges. They have glossy, crinkly tops — the hallmark of a good brownie (or brownie cookie!). And importantly, they stay thick and chewy as they bake, making them unmistakably brownie-like on first bite.

Better yet, the dough is simple to mix up and bake. Once your ingredients are assembled, you’re only about 30 minutes away from biting into a warm cookie — a very good thing whenever a chocolate craving hits.

While you don’t technically need a mixer for this recipe, it makes beating the eggs and sugar together much easier. Don’t rush this step: thoroughly dissolving the sugar in the eggs is key to achieving the shiniest, crackliest tops.

Technique Tips: A cookie scoop works great for portioning the dough, which is thinner than normal cookie dough but thicker than brownie batter. I use a medium-sized scoop (#40 size, 2 tablespoons in capacity), but feel free to make your cookies smaller or larger. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, use a soup spoon to gather the dough, pressing against the side of the bowl to mound it, then use your finger to drop the dough onto the sheet.

Bake the cookies straight away for the prettiest results. As the dough sits, it’ll firm up and, once baked, the tops will be duller in color. That said, if you want to portion out and chill the dough (to have freshly baked cookies on demand), go for it! The dough balls can be refrigerated for up to a week and frozen for longer.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or broken into pieces with your hands
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold

1 large egg white, cold
2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips (bittersweet or semisweet)
flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Fulfilled by

Preparation

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350 F.

In a small saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, chocolate and espresso powder (if using) together. Alternatively, combine them in a heat-proof bowl and microwave in two 30-second intervals, stirring between each, then shorter intervals until just melted. Stir and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine sugars, vanilla, eggs, and egg white. Mix on low speed until moistened, then increase speed to high and beat until thick, fluffy and lighter in color, about 7 minutes (could be longer if using a hand mixer).

Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt.

Reduce speed and pour the still-warm chocolate-butter mixture into the sugar and egg mixture. Slowly add the flour mixture and continue mixing until no streaks of flour remain, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the chips and mix until just incorporated.

Use a cookie scoop to drop dough into heaping 2 tablespoon-sized portions on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. The tops should be crinkled, edges firm and middles set but still a little soft.

Top each cookie with a little flaky salt (if using). Let cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool more. Store cookies in an airtight container for 3 to 5 days at room temperature.