Best Brookies Recipe

While brookies might sound as if they'd be the official cookie of preppies, and something the country club set would be snacking on, the word is actually another portmanteau like cronut or turducken. As recipe developer Catherine Brookes describes them, brookies are "half chocolate chip cookie and half chocolate brownie, in two distinct layers," so brookie = brownie + cookie.

So who created brookies? No one knows for sure when or how it came to be. In 2015 this "invention" was presented on Shark Tank by a team of bakers who wanted to promote an L.A.-based chain called Milk and Brookies, but the Sharks shot them down (while happily scarfing the free treats). As one Shark Tank blog pointed out, the only new thing about these made-for-TV brookies was their cupcake shape, as the blogger's grandma had baked a similar version in bar form. Here Brookes is sticking with the tried-and-true bar shape, too, pairing the chocolate chip cookie bottom with a fudgy brownie top for something she calls "the ultimate indulgent treat."

To make the cookie layer, you'll be using chocolate chips, butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, and cornstarch. While cornstarch isn't something you see in too many cookie recipes, Brookes assures us that this ingredient "helps to keep the cookie layer a little more soft and tender so it matches the texture of the brownie a bit more closely."

For the brownie layer, you'll be using some of the same things, plus a few more ingredients: semi-sweet baking chocolate, granulated sugar, and cocoa powder.

Prepare an 8-inch square pan by greasing it and lining it with parchment paper.

Beat ½ cup (1 stick) of butter with the brown sugar until it's smooth and fairly fluffy, a process that should take about 4 minutes if you're using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer. Beat in 1 egg along with the vanilla, then add the flour, cornstarch, and baking soda. 

Stir in ½ cup chocolate chips, then spread the cookie dough over the bottom of the prepared pan. Stick the pan in the freezer to chill for a few minutes as you make the brownie batter.

At this point, you can go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt the baking chocolate with the remaining butter in the microwave. Beat the remaining eggs with the granulated sugar until frothy, which may take up to 4 minutes with an electric beater. Mix the melted chocolate and butter into the sugar and eggs, then fold in the cocoa powder along with the remaining flour and chocolate chips.

Pour the brownie batter over the semi-frozen cookie layer. Put the pan in the oven and bake the brookies for 40-45 minutes, until they are crackly on top. You can test to see if they are done by sticking a toothpick or skewer in the middle to see if it comes out clean.

Let the brookies cool for about 2-3 hours before you cut them into bars. Brookes tells us "I personally store them at room [temperature, but you can put them] in the fridge, if preferred." She does suggest, though, that you keep them in an airtight container to keep them from going stale too quickly.