I missed my nephew’s birthday this year, but he’s home now and I really want to treat him to something decadent. Enter Brownie Cookies. Flaky on top and chewy, gooey in the middle these sweeties are so good that they ought to be outlawed. Thank heavens, they’re not. A hint of coffee drops the spotlight on the chocolate.
The baking powder makes the cookies puff up in the oven and, as soon they they come out, they start to cool, centers collapsing, leaving behind crinkly craters on top. 
I love baking especially for those I love, but since my nephew is allergic to gluten, I struggle to make my favorite recipes flourless. Then, I discovered sorghum flour, which I love, because I can substitute it for all-purpose flour in any recipe, cup for cup. No weird ingredients, no strange techniques. Get it here.
The violet salt was a purely unnecessary, emotional purchase that turned out to be a treasure. Not all salts are created equal and this stuff is delicious. The rich color comes from grape juice so there’s nothing fake about these tasty little gemstones. Purple looks stunning with chocolate brown, don’t you agree? Get it here.
Brownie Cookies
Makes: 18 3-inch cookies
Prep: 15 mins
Oven: 350 *F
Bake: 12-14 mins
Ingredients
8 oz bitter/semi sweet chocolate (I like the Trader Joe’s Belgian Pound Plus block)
1/2 stick butter
1 tsp instant coffee or good quality ground espresso
2 large free-range eggs, @ room temp
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
violet salt, for garnish
Instructions
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Melt chocolate, butter and coffee in 30-second spurts in the mic, ~ 2 mins.
Mix well and set aside to cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 350 *F.
Beat eggs with both sugars and vanilla til smooth.
Slowly incorporate melted chocolate-butter mixture.
Place a fine sieve over the mixing bowl and sift flour, baking powder and salt over the batter.
Fold gently by hand until the dry ingredients disappear into the gooey goodness.
Drop tablespoons of batter 2-3 inches apart onto the cookie sheets.
Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top.
Transfer to hot oven and bake 11 mins. If you can smell them, they’re done!
Remove baking sheets from oven, but let the cookies rest 10 mins before using a spatula to move them gently to a metal rack to finish cooling.
These are beautiful, Colette! I’m fascinated by the sorghum flour — cup for cup! That’s amazing. And the violet salt? So pretty…
Dear Colette – of course, these Brownie Cookies look soooo very pretty with the violet salt but they also sound irresistible to me – I certainly would not mind one or two with my morning coffee right now.
The sorghum flour is an ingredient that I have not baked with but I have seen it in health food stores around here. I did not know that you can swap out AP flour so easily – that is a great tip to remember, my friend!
Hope you and your family is doing well! Take good care fo yourselves!
Andrea xoxo
Colette, when I first saw these on FB I fell in love. They’re so pretty! And of course DELICIOUS! 🙂 ~Valentina
Colette, I’m back to report that these have been made and are almost all gone already. With the rough times we’ve all be going through in the world, baking your cookies today was such a comforting activity. (Not to mention eating them.) Thank you!
I used Cup4Cup GF flour so my son could partake and they looked a bit thicker than yours as a result, but I don’t think it affected their deliciousness. One question, for the 8 oz chocolate, what kind? I didn’t have unsweetened, so I used bittersweet. Seemed to work great, but I’m curious what you used. Hope you and your family are safe and well. 🙂 ~Valentina
Hi, Bella!
I love Cup4Cup. I just happened to have the Bob’s sorghum flour on hand.
For the chocolate, I used the Trader Joe’s Belgian Pound Plus – bittersweet. I love that stuff. Always have it for chocolaty treats!
So glad you came back to let me know you enjoyed making and eating these.
I hope you and yours are safe and well. xoxo
oh yay, I used the right thing. 🙂 xoxo V