The Rise of The Brookie

When it comes to cookies, there are distinct lines you can’t cross. You can either be team crispy and crunch, or team soft and chewy. I’ve never met anyone who is on the fence (do let me know if you know of someone like this) about their cookie texture preferences, but I do know that whenever this discussion gets brought up amongst my friends, things start to get heated.

But that story is for another day.

Today, we’re going to be talking about Brookies, a new frankenpastry that has made everyone go gaga. A brookie is a cross between a brownie and cookie. Because of the soft, brownie texture, it requires a soft and chewy cookie dough (sorry, my crispy and crunchy fans) to give the entire brookie a better mouthfeel.

There are many recipes out there for brookies, and can be customised to suit personal taste or even to incorporate local ingredients or flavours, but a classic, never-go-wrong brookie would be a hybrid between a chocolate brownie and chocolate chip cookie.

According to a few sites, a traditional Brookie is made with a layering method, i.e., having a cookie dough ‘sit’ on top of the brownie batter. Depending on how you eat it, you’d still be able to get the two distinct cookie and brownie texture, but the charm is in the middle, that sweet spot where the cookie dough and brownie batter meet and blend together. I guess theoretically, that is the only part of the bake that you can call a brookie.

When I first heard of the term ‘brookie’ and how it was a frankenpastry, my immediate thought was that it was something that would require way too much effort to make. Just like the cronut and other frankenpastries that came before this, it pleasantly surprised me that it does not require much effort to hone the art of making a brookie; in fact, if you’ve been a regular hobby baker, you most probably already know how to make a brookie — it’s just a combination of two recipes with a few little tweaks!

Comparing brookies to its parental counterpart, the cookie, it is also relatively easier to make. Since they are bar cookies, you can omit the labour-intensive process of shaping them into circles, which between me and you, takes up quite a lot of time and isn’t the most fun part of baking. A brookie cuts all of that away since everything is just tossed into a baking pan prior to baking. Although if you still prefer having your brookies circular, it is possible to be done too.

I always told myself not to buy into the allure of these kinds of viral bakes, mainly because I think that they’re not authentic or artisanal enough to be considered a baked work of art. However, the brookies have been an exception. I blame it on not being able to choose between brownies and cookies. So thank you, to whoever that created this holy treat, I no longer have to choose.

Here’s my favourite brookie recipe, as shared by Delish magazine.

INGREDIENTS

For the brownie:

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) melted butter
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

For the chocolate chip cookie:

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 c. chocolate chips
• Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Make brownie cookie: In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until glossy. Add flour and salt and whisk until just combined. Refrigerate while you make chocolate chip cookie dough.
3. Make chocolate chip cookie: In another large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and beat until just combined, then fold in chocolate chips.
4. Make brookie: Using a small cookie scoop, form a heaping scoop of each dough into balls. Take one brownie ball and one cookie dough ball and roll them together. Repeat with remaining doughs.
5. Place on prepared baking sheet 2″ apart, then flatten slightly and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until golden around the edges and just set, 10 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack, then let cool completely.