Brownie Cookies
This recipe for brownie cookies takes your box of brownie mix in a whole new direction. A few extra ingredients and you have brownie cookies!
Jump to:
These easy brownie cookies are old-fashioned drop cookies with rich, fudgy brownie flavor, plenty of chocolate chips, crunchy walnuts, and just a hint of coffee and cinnamon to make the chocolate taste even richer.
🔎 A quick look at this recipe
- What It Is: Soft, fudgy, chocolate-loaded treats made with brownie mix, chocolate chips, walnuts, and a hint of coffee for extra-rich flavor. ⭐
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 39 minutes
- Servings: 24 cookies
- Calories: 172
- Cooking Method: Oven
- Good For: 🍪 After-school snacks, ☕ Coffee breaks and afternoon tea, 🎄 Christmas cookie trays and cookie exchanges, 🎁 Homemade holiday gifts, 🍫 Anytime a chocolate craving strikes!
⭐️ Why this recipe works
- 🍫 Deep, fudgy brownie flavor in every soft, chewy cookie.
- 📦 Starts with a box of brownie mix for an easy shortcut that still tastes homemade.
- ☕ A touch of instant coffee makes the chocolate taste even richer (without making the cookies taste like coffee!).
- 🌰 Crunchy walnuts and melty chocolate chips add the perfect texture in every bite.
- ⏱️ Ready in about 30 minutes, making them perfect for last-minute baking.
- 👩🍳 No mixer required—just stir, scoop, and bake.
- 🎉 Perfect for cookie trays, bake sales, parties, or anytime a chocolate craving hits.
- 🥛 Delicious warm from the oven or dunked into a cold glass of milk.
I have a box of brownie mix in my cupboard At All Times for, you know, brownie emergencies, and recently my current box of brownie mix was nearing its expiration date.
Since I take expiration dates very seriously, action had to be taken. And it was, in the form of these brownie cookies, which combine brownie mix with cinnamon, coffee, walnuts and a few other things to make a cookie that is 75% brownie, 25% other stuff and 100% chocolate-filled scrumptious.
🍫 Ingredients you need
📝 Ingredient notes
- 📦 Brownie Mix: Use a family-size or 13×9-inch pan brownie mix (around 18–19 ounces). Different brands work well, but avoid the smaller 8×8 pan mixes since they won’t make enough batter.
- 🧈 Butter: Melt the butter and let it cool for a few minutes before mixing so it doesn’t start cooking the eggs.
- 🥚 Eggs: Bring the eggs to room temperature if you have time—they’ll blend more smoothly into the batter.
- ☕ Instant Coffee Powder: Don’t skip it! It won’t make the cookies taste like coffee; it simply deepens the chocolate flavor. Instant espresso powder works beautifully too.
- 🤎 Cinnamon: Just a little adds warmth and enhances the chocolate without making the cookies taste like spice cookies.
- 🌿 Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla gives the best flavor, but imitation vanilla works in a pinch.
- 🍫 Chocolate Chips: Semisweet chips are a classic choice, but milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even a combination all work well. 🌰
- 🥣 Don’t Overmix: Stir just until everything is combined. Overmixing can make the cookies less tender.
💡 Ingredient substitution ideas
Missing something or want to swap in something different? Check out the links below to find more ingredient substitution ideas. 👇🏻
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
👩🏻🍳 How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 and line a couple of cookie sheets with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
STEP 2: Put brownie mix, melted butter, eggs, coffee powder, cinnamon and vanilla in a mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until just blended. Stir in some chocolate chips and walnuts.
STEP 3: Drop tablespoons of dough on the cookie sheets leaving 2 inches between cookies (these babies spread as they bake).
STEP 4: Bake for 12 minutes.
STEP 5: Cool your cookies for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Make sure you eat one while they are still warm!
Chocolate perfection!
🧐 Recipe FAQs
Yes! Any family-size or 13×9-inch brownie mix will work. Different brands may produce slightly fudgier or cakier cookies, but they’ll all be delicious.
The instant coffee doesn’t make the cookies taste like coffee. Instead, it enhances the chocolate flavor, making the cookies taste richer and more intensely chocolaty.
Absolutely. The walnuts add crunch, but the cookies are just as delicious without them. You can also substitute pecans or another favorite nut.
Brownie cookie dough is naturally softer than regular cookie dough, so some spreading is expected. If the dough seems especially loose, chilling it for 15–20 minutes before baking can help.
Yes. The instant coffee simply boosts the chocolate flavor. If you don’t have any or prefer to leave it out, the cookies will still taste wonderful.
Yes! You can mix the dough a few hours ahead and refrigerate it until you’re ready to bake. You can also bake the cookies a day or two in advance—they stay wonderfully chewy.
The cookies are ready when the tops are shiny and crackly and the edges are set. The centers should still look slightly soft—they’ll firm up as the cookies cool, giving you that perfect fudgy texture.
Pop your question in the Comments section below and I will answer pronto!
Ready to make the fudgiest cookies ever? Grab your brownie mix and let’s bake!
Brownie Cookies
This recipe for brownie cookies takes your box of brownie mix in a whole new direction. A few extra ingredients and you have brownie cookies!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 36 minutes
- Total Time: 51 minutes
- Yield: About 30 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 box of brownie mix (family size or 13×9 pan size box)
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup walnut pieces
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350. Line cookie sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Put brownie mix, melted butter, eggs, coffee powder, cinnamon and vanilla in a mixer and mix on medium speed until just blended.
- Stir in chocolate chips and nuts on slow speed until mixed in.
- Place tablespoon sized scoops of dough on the cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches in between cookies (they spread as they bake). Bake for 12 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Be very sure to eat one while they are still warm!
Notes
- 📦 Brownie Mix: Use a family-size or 13×9-inch pan brownie mix (around 18–19 ounces). Different brands work well, but avoid the smaller 8×8 pan mixes since they won’t make enough batter.
- 🧈 Butter: Melt the butter and let it cool for a few minutes before mixing so it doesn’t start cooking the eggs.
- 🥚 Eggs: Bring the eggs to room temperature if you have time—they’ll blend more smoothly into the batter.
- ☕ Instant Coffee Powder: Don’t skip it! It won’t make the cookies taste like coffee; it simply deepens the chocolate flavor. Instant espresso powder works beautifully too.
- 🤎 Cinnamon: Just a little adds warmth and enhances the chocolate without making the cookies taste like spice cookies.
- 🌿 Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla gives the best flavor, but imitation vanilla works in a pinch.
- 🍫 Chocolate Chips: Semisweet chips are a classic choice, but milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or even a combination all work well. 🌰
- 🥣 Don’t Overmix: Stir just until everything is combined. Overmixing can make the cookies less tender.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe Variations
- 🧂 Finish with flaky sea salt sprinkled on top.
- 🍫 Mix in white chocolate or dark chocolate chips.
- 🌰 Swap walnuts for pecans.
- 🥜 Add peanut butter chips.
- ☕ Use instant espresso powder instead of coffee.
- 🍦 Sandwich two cookies around vanilla ice cream for an unforgettable dessert.
😍 Other sweet treat recipes we love!
⭐️ We want to know what you think!
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Can’t wait to make these. I’m not a fan of cinnamon ~ is it ok to leave this out?
Hi Carolyn and yes! You can definitely leave out the cinnamon. Happy brownie cookie baking! :)
I’ve made this recipe twice now using a sugar free brownie mix and both times they came out great! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Sandy! Thanks so much for this sweet comment, and for letting us know that a sugar free mix works with this recipe – good info to have! :)
Kate, the cookies turned out really, really well. This version is just as good or better than another recipe and much simpler. Thank you!
Oh, I’m so glad!! Thanks for letting me know. :)
Wow ladies, this seems to be the brownie mix keepers’site: -)
I also keep a few packages in my pantry as my 11 years old son just can not et enough during te week… It’s not that I love sugar: -)
Have a great weekend!
Yes, all brownie mix lovers unite here! You have a great weekend too.
Kate, thank you for your super-quick response, you rock! I’m ready to bake! I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Kate, quick question! What I have are two boxes of brownie mix, 450 g size, makes an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan. Will these two boxes be equivalent to the family, or 13 x 9 size? I have never seen this size in Canada.
Hi MJ! The box mix I used was 18.3 ounces, which according to my handy Google ounces to grams calculator adds up to 519 grams. So looks like you need one box and a little more of the second one. I wish I could teleport a box of our US brownie mix up over the border to you in Canada!
Kate, I think you’ve published this recipe just for me! Once in a while, it’s my turn to bring in baking to work, and I have to make something tonight for tomorrow morning. I was going to drag out that box of almost-expired brownie mix and do the usual thing, but this looks easy and sooooooooooo much better. Best of all, I won’t have to say, “Oh, it’s just a mix!” They’ll never need to know….. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear this – it must have been fate!! And I think I need to start whatever thing you have going on with the baked goods at MY office! :)
Oh these brownie cookies are definitely calling my name, Kate! They look fantastic! I’ve never thought of using a boxed mix to make the cookies. Sounds like the perfect chocolate indulgence!
I love the fastest possible route to cookies – especially chocolate ones! :)
I too keep a box of brownie mix in my pantry for emergencies. I’ve found that “the dough boy’s” brownies are as good as anything I can make from scratch and so much faster. Can’t wait to try your cookies.
I knew there would be other folks out there who were always ready for brownie emergencies! :)