Brownie stuffed cookies, step by step
Two bakes in one: a deliberately underbaked pan of brownies, cut up, frozen and hidden inside cookie dough.
By Bobbie · Published 17 September 2026 · Updated 17 September 2026 · 6 minute read
This is the show-off bake of Bobbie's cookie collection, and it is the one people cut in half before they eat it, just to look at the cross-section: cookie, then brownie, then cookie again.
It is two bakes rather than one, so read it through before you start. You make a pan of fudgy brownies first, cool them, cut them up and freeze the pieces. Only then do you make the cookie dough and wrap it around them. One 8 × 8-inch pan of brownies makes far more pieces than the 10 to 12 large cookies need, which is not a bad problem to have.
Why underbake the brownies on purpose?
Because they get a second bake inside the cookie. Bobbie bakes the pan at 350°F for about 20 to 25 minutes and takes it out while the centre is set but still very fudgy — a toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs, not clean. Bake them to fully done now and the middle of your finished cookie will be dry and cakey.
Cool the pan completely before cutting. Warm brownie tears rather than cuts, and ragged pieces are much harder to seal inside dough.
How big should the brownie piece be?
Roughly 1 inch × 1 inch × ¾ inch — about 20 to 25 g, or a tablespoon and a half. It is tempting to go bigger. Don't. The piece has to be small enough that there is real dough all the way around it, or it breaks through the side during baking and the middle leaks out onto the tray.
Freeze the cut pieces for 30 to 45 minutes before you wrap them. A frozen cube keeps its shape while you pinch the dough closed; a soft one smears.
How do you seal it so it does not leak?
Flatten the cookie dough into a fairly thick disk — thick, not thin. Sit one frozen brownie cube in the middle, bring the dough up and completely around it, pinch every seam closed, then roll it gently into a ball so the joins disappear.
For a proper bakery-size cookie, aim for about 4 to 4½ oz (115 to 130 g) per finished ball including the brownie in the middle. That much dough is what gives you the clean cookie-brownie-cookie cross-section instead of a brownie bursting out of the side. The tray is lined with parchment, or lightly sprayed if you have none, and they bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes.
How to tell when they are done
By eye, on the tops — the same way Bobbie judges all her cookies. Then move them to a cooling rack on the counter and leave them 20 to 30 minutes. They are extremely fragile straight out of the oven, because the middle is molten brownie.
A warning worth repeating: fillings in this collection can contain nuts or dairy, so say so before you hand them round.
Brownie Stuffed Cookie — what you need and what to do
10 to 12 large bakery-style cookies · Conventional oven · 10 to 14 min
Ingredients
- Cookie dough:
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- Fudgy brownies for stuffing (one 8 × 8-inch pan):
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ⅓ cup (32 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup (63 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ cup (85 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Method, step by step
- 1Line the baking tray with parchment paper. If you don't have parchment paper, lightly spray the pan instead.
- 2First make the fudgy brownies. Melt the butter and stir in the sugar. Let it cool slightly, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla.
- 3Stir in the cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder just until combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- 4Spread the batter into a parchment-lined 8 × 8-inch pan and bake at 350°F for about 20 to 25 minutes. You want to slightly underbake these — the centre should be set but still very fudgy, with a few moist crumbs on a toothpick rather than completely clean.
- 5Cool the brownies completely before cutting.
- 6Make the cookie dough: mix the butter, brown sugar, sugar and egg, then add the flour and cocoa powder.
- 7Cut the cooled brownie into roughly 1-inch × 1-inch × ¾-inch pieces (about 20–25 g, or 1½ tablespoons, each). Don't make them too large — you need enough dough around them to seal the edges. Freeze the brownie pieces for 30 to 45 minutes so they hold their shape.
- 8Flatten the cookie dough into a fairly thick disk, put one frozen brownie cube in the centre, bring the dough up and completely around it, pinch closed, and roll gently into a ball. For a large bakery-style cookie, aim for about 4 to 4½ oz (115–130 g) per finished dough ball including the brownie centre.
- 9Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 to 12 minutes.
- 10Go by eye as well as the timer — they are ready when the tops look cooked.
- 11Move them to a cooling rack on the kitchen counter and leave them 20 to 30 minutes.
- 12Once cool, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature — they are good for about a week, though they never last that long.
- 13To freeze, place cooled cookies in an airtight container and freeze. To serve, remove from the freezer and let them come to room temperature, then warm them in the oven at 300°F for 5 to 10 minutes.