These are literally THE BEST VEGAN BROWNIES COOKIES to make for special occasions, such as Valentines day! A beautiful marriage of two of my favorite desserts. Brownies, and cookies. Wonderfully chewy on the outside and fudgey on the inside, with chunks of melty chocolate throughout. And to top it all off these cookies ended up being unintentionally naturally completely egg free and gluten free.
These Cookies are rich chocolaty and super Fudgy. A bit chewy. Intensely chocolatey. Just sweet enough to balance the bitterness of dark chocolate. Drop-dead gorgeous. With a shiny, crackly crust.
A beautiful marriage of two of my favorite desserts. Brownies, and cookies. Wonderfully chewy on the outside and fudgey on the inside, with chunks of melty chocolate throughout. And to top it all off these cookies ended up being unintentionally naturally completely Vegan and gluten free.
There are no egg replacements in this recipe. No aquafaba to whip up. No strange ingredients – just everyday pantry staples. What’s more, this recipe doesn’t require a stand or hand mixer – you can make it by hand, just using a whisk (although a spatula or wooden spoon will do in a pinch).
All this is to say… this is a simple recipe, with simple ingredients and incredibly delicious results. After all, we’re talking about a treat that is a cookie and a brownie all at once – you know it’s going to be amazing.
How do you make vegan chocolate brownie cookies?
Making these vegan cookies is almost ridiculously easy. You only need 8 ingredients:
- dark chocolate
- sunflower oil (or other neutral-tasting oil): use (organic) sunflower oil. The main reason for this appears to be the water content of the oil: the sunflower oil I can get in the shops here in the UK seems to be lower in water than the vegetable oil (note that the water content is very low in both, but the small difference does seem to have an important effect).
- superfine/caster sugar
- water
- plain all-purpose flour and 1:1 Bob’s RedMill Gluten Free
- cocoa powder
- baking powder
- a pinch of salt
To make these vegan chocolate brownie cookies:
- Melt the chocolate and oil together, then set aside to cool until warm.Making sure you use the sugar syrup and the melted chocolate when both are still warm – Don’t allow them to cool all the way to room temperature. You want both of them to be warmer than lukewarm but also cooler than hot.
- Make a simple sugar syrup (more on its role below) by heating together the sugar and water, until the sugar is fully dissolved. Set aside to cool until warm.
- Pour the sugar syrup into the melted chocolate and whisk until combined.
- Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt) and whisk until combined and no flour clumps remain.
- Scoop the cookie batter onto two lined baking sheets (I used a “2 tablespoon” cookie/ice cream scoop) and bake them, one baking sheet after the other. Scooping the cookie “batter” immediately rather than letting it sit on the kitchen counter – Don’t allow the cookie “batter” to sit around after you mix all the ingredients together. Scoop it IMMEDIATELY onto your lined baking sheets. If you allow it to sit on your kitchen counter, it will cool down too much and the chocolate in the batter will firm up and set, which will result in cookies that don’t spread as well and that lack their beautiful shiny crust. (The consistency of the cookie “batter” – Your final mixture should have the consistency of thick brownie batter and not the texture of cookie dough.)
And that’s all there is to it! How simple is that?!
What is the purpose of the sugar syrup?
In short, the sugar syrup replaces the whipped eggs + sugar mixture normally used in non-vegan brownie cookie (and brownie) recipes. It helps keep the brownie cookies moist and fudgy, while also giving them that amazing paper-thin, shiny, crackly crust.
It’s really such a simple step – heating the sugar and water together – but it has completely changed the way I approach making vegan brownies and related treats, such as these wonderful cookies.
When making the sugar syrup, it’s incredibly important that you heat the sugar mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved but no further – the mixture shouldn’t start boiling, evaporating or caramelising.
How do you get the thin, shiny crackly crust on brownie cookies?
There are two factors that influence the formation of the thin, shiny crackly crust of vegan brownie cookies.
Firstly, the sugar syrup. This is responsible for the paper-thin, shiny layer on top of the cookies, which glimmers and reflects light in the most tempting of ways. It’s very important to keep the amount of water in the syrup low (so don’t be tempted to add more than is listed in the recipe).
Secondly, the baking powder. This is responsible for the crackly aspect of the crust. As the baking powder encounters the high heat of the oven (and reacts with the slightly acidic chocolate in the batter), it releases carbon dioxide which, together with steam evaporation, causes the cookies to expand. This, in turn, creates cracks in the crust, giving the cookies their characteristic appearance.
How do you keep brownie cookies fudgy?
The fudgy texture depends on a few things:
- the relatively large amount of chocolate
- substituting part of the flour with cocoa powder (which also gives a deeper chocolate flavour)
- using the sugar syrup (this locks in a lot of moisture and keeps the brownie cookies fudgy for days)
- being careful not to over-bake the brownie cookies (they’re perfectly baked after 9 – 10 minutes at 355 ºF/180 ºC; any more than than and you’re likely to dry them out too much)
How do you get perfectly round cookies?
To get perfectly round cookies (and this is true for these vegan brownie cookies, and any other cookies that come out of the oven soft and malleable), I like to use a round cookie cutter, slightly larger than the diameter of the cookies.
To correct the shape of the cookies, just use the cookie cutter to gently nudge the sides of the cookies towards the centre, until you get perfectly round cookies. It’s really as simple as that – and it makes the cookies even prettier.
The Best Vegan Gluten Free Brownie Cookies
Equipment
- Ice cream/cookie scoop
- Round cookie cutter,
- Cookie baking sheet
Ingredients
- 120 g (4 1/4 oz ) chopped dark chocolate, 60 – 70% cocoa solids
- 50 ml (3 1/2 tbsp ) sunflower oil*
- 140 g (2/3 cup + 1/2 tbsp) superfine/caster sugar
- 80 ml (1/3 cup ) water
- 130 g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) plain all-purpose flour for GF sub with 1:1 Gluten- free flour
- 30 g (1/4 cup ) cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 355 ºF (180 ºC) and line two baking sheets with greaseproof/baking paper.
- In a heat-proof bowl above a pot of simmering water (or in the microwave), melt together the dark chocolate and sunflower oil. Set aside to cool until warm.
- In a separate heat-proof bowl (if using the microwave) or in a saucepan (if using the stovetop), mix together the sugar and water, and heat them together until the sugar is fully dissolved. Set aside to cool until warm.Tip: You don't want the mixture to start to boil, the water to evaporate or the sugar to start caramelising – you need to heat it only to the point where the sugar is fully dissolved and no further.
- Pour the sugar syrup into the melted chocolate and whisk well until combined.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Whisk well until you get a smooth, fairly thick batter.Tip: It's very important that you use both the chocolate and the sugar syrup while both are warm. This ensures that the final batter has the consistency of thick brownie batter– you don't want the batter to be dry or crumbly, it shouldn't resemble chocolate chip cookie dough! The batter should be spoonable and slightly runny, you shouldn't be able to shape it with your hands.
- Use a "2 tablespoon" ice cream/cookie scoop to portion out the batter – you should get 12 cookies in total, 6 per baking sheet. (Scoop all the cookies at once, since the batter tends to firm up when standing at room temperature.) Make sure to space them out generously, as they spread out during baking.Tip: Make sure to invert the scoop as close to the baking sheet as possible, so as to form a circular mound of batter.
- Bake the cookies one baking sheet at a time, in the pre-heated oven at 355 ºF (180 ºC) for about 9 – 10 minutes, until they are slightly puffed up and have a shiny, crackly crust.
- Immediately out of the oven, you can correct the shape of the cookies with a round cookie cutter, slightly larger than the diameter of the cookies. Use the cookie cutter to gently nudge the sides of the cookies towards the centre, until you get perfectly round cookies.
- Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 – 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- The type of oil used – I’ve had 100% reliable and consistent results with this recipe when I use (organic) sunflower oil. Using vegetable oil, on the other hand, produces inconsistent results – one day, the cookie spread out in the oven and are nicely shiny, whereas baking them the next day gives cookies that are dull and don’t spread at all. Therefore, I strongly recommend you use sunflower oil to make this recipe, ideally an organic one. The main reason for this appears to be the water content of the oil: the sunflower oil I can get in the shops here in the UK seems to be lower in water than the vegetable oil (note that the water content is very low in both, but the small difference does seem to have an important effect).
- Making sure you use the sugar syrup and the melted chocolate when both are still warm – Don’t allow them to cool all the way to room temperature. You want both of them to be warmer than lukewarm but also cooler than hot.
- Scooping the cookie “batter” immediately rather than letting it sit on the kitchen counter – Don’t allow the cookie “batter” to sit around after you mix all the ingredients together. Scoop it IMMEDIATELY onto your lined baking sheets. If you allow it to sit on your kitchen counter, it will cool down too much and the chocolate in the batter will firm up and set, which will result in cookies that don’t spread as well and that lack their beautiful shiny crust.
- The consistency of the cookie “batter” – Your final mixture should have the consistency of thick brownie batter and not the texture of cookie dough.
