Cosmic Brownie Cookies
Deeply chocolatey with thick, tender bases, indulgent fudgy frosting, and the classic, colorful smattering of cosmic sprinkles (of course), cosmic cookies are an obvious adaptation of iconic cosmic brownies. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you which of the two homemade versions I prefer.
The base for this recipe was an easy one to choose. I opted for the same chewy, brownie-style cookie that I’ve used on several of my gourmet cookies (including my buckeye cookies and dirt cookies). It’s a nice, thick cookie base that works well with scores of different toppings, but it neatly fit the bill for the nostalgic chocolate experience I was aiming to recreate.
Why This Recipe Works:
- Taste: Chocolately and rich, but not too decadent. And there’s no chemical taste, unlike the real thing.
- Looks: Nostalgic and fun–just like the cosmic brownies from your childhood!
- Ease: No mixer required, since we are starting with melted butter instead of softened.
- Time: Only 30 minutes of chilling! This will help the dough be thick and sturdy enough to hold the frosting.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with nostalgic treats (like my Lucky Charms Treats) and gourmet cookies lately, and this recipe combines the two. I hope you love them as much as we do!
What You Need
Before we get started there are a few ingredient choices I’d like to go over (like the various types of chocolate we use).
- Cocoa powder. I chose natural cocoa powder for these cosmic cookies, since that’s the same cocoa powder I use in my cosmic brownies. It has the best, most authentic flavor. Dutch process will work too, though you can’t always substitute one for the other.
- Egg + egg yolk. You’ll see an extra egg yolk in quite a few of my cookie recipes, especially my chocolate-based cookies (like my inside out chocolate chip cookies). I do this to make the cookies extra tender and chewy. The extra yolk also helps to counteract the drying effects of the cocoa powder.
- Melted butter. I prefer to start with melted butter (rather than creaming together the butter and sugar) because this gives me an opportunity to bloom the cocoa for a more intense chocolatey flavor, but it also makes for a more buttery-soft and tender cookie. As a bonus, this means there’s no mixer needed to work the dough together.
- Chocolate chips. I use a blend of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips for the frosting. This combination mimics that classic, fudge frosting on real cosmic brownies.
- Candy chips. You simply can’t make cosmic cookies without the colorful candy topping! These can be a bit hard to find, so I usually get mine on Amazon . Chopped up mini M&M’s would even work in a pinch though!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Cosmic Cookies
Making the Dough
- Whisk the cocoa powder and melted butter together until combined.
- Stir in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla, then set this aside.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients until everything is cohesive. Don’t add the dry ingredients all at once, or you will have a very tough time getting the dough together (it’s a pretty stiff dough, while an electric mixer has never been necessary for me you can use one if you prefer!).
- Cover and chill the dough for 30 minutes.
Baking
- Roll 2-tablespoon scoops of dough into balls and bake on parchment lined baking sheets.
- Gently flatten the tops of your cookies with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup within a minute of removing from the oven; this will give you a flat surface for decorating (the slightly puffed, domed surfaces just don’t look as good), and it makes the cookies a bit more dense (in a fudgy-good way).
Ganache & Assembly
- Microwave the chocolate chips and cream until the chocolate is melty, then whisk to combine. Stir in the vanilla and salt and let cool for a few minutes. The frosting will thicken up a bit as it cools. You just don’t want it running right off the cookies.
- Spreading the frosting over your cookies. I use roughly a tablespoon-sized scoop for each cookie.
- Add your candy chips while the frosting is still soft. Work quickly, because if you wait too long, they won’t stick!
