These adorable chocolate Christmas pudding cookies are soft and chewy and just oh-so-cute! These delicious double chocolate brownie cookies with a wonderfully festive twist make for perfect seasonal baking for little and big kids alike!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
OK, I have to say it: I absolutely LOVE Christmas! The parties, time with family and friends, lights, decorations, and just so much festive cheer… I mean, is there anything not to like?! And as for the food! From festive fudge to shortbread, cookies and cakes to delicious mince pies… every year, I just love every single bit of it!
Now, given I adore chocolate, I had to do a version of one of my favourite chocolate cookies, especially for the season. Of all the cookies I have made, one of my top recipes are for my brookies, which are basically brownie cookies. I mean, combining two gorgeous chocolate bakes in one is ALWAYS going to be a winner, right??
Well, today I am taking it a step further not only by making these little chocolatey delights, but also by decorating them with all the fun of the season as gorgeous little Christmas puddings!
What ingredients do I need to make these Christmas brownie cookies?
- Dark chocolate: gives a rich chocolate flavour to the brownie cookies recipe.
- Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter so I can control how much salt is in the Christmas cookies.
- Eggs: gives structure to the bake and helps with the rise of it too.
- Caster sugar: for sweetness, and a little crisp, in the cookies.
- Brown sugar: for sweetness, but also chewiness, in these brownies cookies.
- Vanilla: purely for flavour. Yum!
- Baking powder: the leavening agent in this bake. Gives the Christmas pudding cookies enough lightness so they bake into irresistible chewy delights.
- Salt: enhances the flavour of the brownie cookies. You will not taste it, don’t worry!
- Flour: I use plain/all purpose flour to make these brownie crackle cookies. I prefer adding raising agents separately, as I do with salt, so I can control the rise of each of my bakes.
- Cocoa powder: for all that chocolatey yumminess!
- Chocolate chips: because these Christmas brownie cookies need even more chocolate in them!
- White chocolate: melted and drizzled over the top of the festive cookies to give the effect of a dripping glaze.
- Holly decorations: to add the final finishing touch to these delicious chocolate Christmas cookies!
What equipment do I need to make cookies?
- Digital kitchen scales*: I provide all my measurements in cups too, however I would encourage all bakers to weigh out ingredients using weighing scales when baking. A set of digital kitchen scales is so useful and totally an essential baking tool for me.
- Measuring spoons*: a set of measuring spoons is essential for any baker. This is because these are more accurate than using everyday teaspoons and tablespoons, which can vary greatly in size.
- Small mixing bowl*/Large mixing bowl*: use the small bowl to melt together the chocolate and butter, and the large bowl to beat up the brownie cookies mixture.
- Electric hand mixer*: I would highly recommend investing in a good electric mixer to help with all baking. In this recipe, having an electric mixer makes it a lot easier to beat up the eggs until pale and light.
- Sieve*: useful to remove any lumps from dry ingredients before blending everything together.
- Spatula*: to scrape the bowl down, making sure everything is well combined together.
- Baking trays*: to bake up the delicious brookies on! I find it useful having a couple of trays so I can bake more than one batch at a time.
- Ice cream scoop*: useful to scoop out the brookie mixture evenly giving you equally sized cookies. This is important not only to avoid fights of who gets the bigger cookie, but also to ensure all the brownie cookies bake up evenly.
- Sprinkles*: to add the final decorative (and festive!) touch to the Christmas brookies cookies!
How to make Christmas pudding cookies
Melt together chocolate and butter, mixing, then set aside. Beat your eggs, sugars, vanilla, baking powder and salt until at least doubled in volume (this is the fun bit, watching it grow!), then beat in your slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Finally, sift and fold in the remaining dry ingredients, then chill until firm before baking and decorating. Simple and delicious!
Step 1: Melt the dark chocolate and butter together in a small bowl until smooth. I do this in the microwave in short bursts, stirring in between to heat evenly and make sure the chocolate does not burn. Set aside to cool slightly.
Step 2: In a separate large bowl, tip in the eggs, sugars, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Beat it together until the mixture is pale, thick and creamy, and the sugars have dissolved. This takes me about four minutes or so.
Step 3: Drizzle in the cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped eggs, and beat on a low speed until completely mixed together. Do not overmix at this stage!
Step 4: Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl, then very gently fold it all together until almost combined. Add in the chocolate chips and gently stir them through. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until the mixture has firmed up.
Step 5: When you are about ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop equal amounts of the brownie cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure to leave a couple of inches between cookies to allow for a bit of spreading.
Step 6: Bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops have cracked all the way into the middle of the cookies. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on the baking sheet. This is important as the cookies will be really soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
Step 7: Once the chocolate brookies are cool, it’s time to make them Christmassy! Simply melt the white chocolate, then dip or spoon some onto just under half of each of the brookies. I use a spoon to gently guide the white chocolate to look like a drip on the top of each “Christmas pudding cookie”. Carefully lay over the sprinkles to look like a holly and berries and leave to set. Enjoy!
Christmas pudding cookies FAQ
There are several factors that can affect the Christmas pudding cookies and how they turn out. Whilst I will try to answer as many questions as I can, I’m bound to miss some, so please ask away in the comments below!
How do I make chewy chocolate brownie cookies?
I have found I prefer a mix of white and brown sugar in my cookies. The white sugar adds to the crispy outside of the cookies. However, it is the brown sugar that is key for a wonderfully chewy cookie. The reason for this is molasses in brown sugar. Molasses helps retain more moisture in the cookies, making them thicker, softer and deliciously chewier!
Can I use oil instead of butter in my easy brownie Christmas pudding cookies?
Oil and butter are unfortunately not interchangeable particularly in this recipe for brownie cookies. This is because oil has a lower melting temperature to butter. The result is they will spread more when baking, even after chilling as the oil will not firm up, so you will not get the same final results.
What if my brownie cookie dough is too soft?
If the cookie dough feels too soft, chill your dough for 10-15 minutes longer before scooping into balls. Please keep in mind if you did not use a block butter in when making these chocolate brownie cookies, they will remain soft and not firm up. I always use block butter, not oil nor the kind that’s spreadable from a tub, in my cookies. Using butter should result in the cookies really firming up in the fridge/freezer no problem, and holding their shape when baked.
How do I know if my chocolate brookies are done?
You know the chewy chocolate brownie cookies are done if the little cracks on top have found their way to the middle of the cookie. Remove them from the oven, but keep them on the baking tray! They will continue to bake in the residual heat from within the cookie and the baking tray. Leaving them on the tray to cool and firm up is super important for the best fudgy chocolate brownie cookies.
Why did my homemade brookies come out flat?
In my recipe for Christmas pudding cookies, I chill my cookie dough before I baking the cookies. This allows the butter in the dough to firm up. This in turn helps the cookie hold its chunky shape when baked instead of spreading. As a guide, a warmer cookie dough before baking will result in thinner and flatter cookies once baked.
Why are my Christmas pudding cookies cakey?
Like with making a brownie, if these brownie chocolate cookies are overbaked, they will end up being more cakey than brownie in texture. Remember the cookies will continue to cook once out of the oven. This means it is important not to bake them longer than the time given for the recipe.
How long will these soft brownie cookies keep? And how should I store them?
These Christmas pudding cookies never last long when I make them! Having said that, they are at their best if devoured within 4 days from baking. Make sure to store them in an airtight container.
Can I freeze these Christmas pudding cookies?
Yes! Once baked, first make sure they are fully cool. Pop the baking tray with the cookies in the freezer until the brownie cookies are completely frozen. Transfer the cookies to a freezer safe sturdy container.
To thaw the Christmas pudding cookies, simply leave them in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.
Additional tips for making the best brownie cookies recipe
- Make sure you have all your tools and ingredients prepared before you start mixing. Being organised before you start mixing will make the whole process lots less stressful and more enjoyable.
- Take time to read through the recipe so you are familiar with what steps come next. Do not skip details, ingredients and instructions given as it could affect the results of the final bake. This is especially important in this recipe, as quite often it is a simple instruction or method that has been missed.
- Ensure the melted chocolate and butter mixture is not too warm before adding to the egg mixture. This is important for a couple of reasons: if too warm, the chocolate will start to cook the eggs, resulting in a lumpy, chocolatey scrambled egg mixture. Or, if the egg mixture is cold, the chocolate could seize up and solidify, therefore not mixing well with the egg mixture. Additionally, adding too hot a mixture to whipped up eggs can also lead to you losing some of that lovely air you worked so hard to incorporate. Plenty of reasons to ensure both mixtures are closer in temperature before combining them!
- Once you add in the flour and cocoa powder, make sure to swap your tool to a spatula and fold slowly and carefully. Again, this ensures you keep as much of the air you whipped in as possible in the mixture.
- Chill the brownie cookies mixture for up to a whole day if you wish. You want the mixture to be quite firm before scooping. This is important to help the brownie chocolate cookies hold their shape better and give you that all important brownie shine on top.
- When the brownie cookies with cocoa powder are done baking, they will have cracks all the way to the middle and be slightly puffed up. When pulled from the oven they will be very VERY soft, so it is really important not to move them from the baking sheet. Once left to cool, they will sink a little and firm up too, giving you the gorgeous brownie cookie result.
Troubleshooting
If you have any other questions about this best brownie cookies recipe, please leave me a comment below, I will do my best to help. And if you do make this recipe for chocolate brownie cookies, please do leave me a rating and review below. I would so appreciate your feedback and it is incredibly helpful for others looking for a recipe too. Additionally, you could also post a picture on Instagram and tag me when you share it with the world. Please do, you know I would love to see it!
More festive recipes for you to enjoy
Black Forest yule log: This is the ultimate festive dessert, perfect if you want more than a traditional chocolate Bûche de Noël. Laced with kirsch, then filled with rich dark cherries and softly whipped kirsch cream. This decadent dessert is the perfect finale to a sumptuous festive feast!
Mini mince pies: These snowflake topped mince pies are so simple to make and utterly divine. A fabulous bake for making with kids of all ages (and adults too!)! Just put on some festive music and get everyone helping!
Christmas wreath doughnuts: I absolutely adore Christmas wreaths! They are wonderfully festive and just look so special! So why not take that extra special creation and turn it into something just as wonderful, but EDIBLE. Of course, it has to be pretty too, and so my gorgeous Christmas wreath doughnuts were born!
Gingerbread biscotti: This is totally and utterly the BEST biscotti recipe for the festive season, and then some! Packed with delicious warming spices and partly dipped in white chocolate, this biscotti recipe is perfect for edible gifting or just to enjoy with a steaming hot drink!
Thanks for joining me today, my friends! Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and lots of happy baking! x
Recommended equipment and ingredients I used *
| Digital kitchen scales | Measuring spoons |
| Small mixing bowl | Large mixing bowl |
| Electric hand mixer | Sieve |
| Spatula | Baking trays |
| Ice cream scoop | Sprinkles |
Christmas Pudding Cookies
18-20
servings1
hour8
minutes161
kcal1
hour10
minutesChewy chocolate brownie cookies are transformed into Christmas pudding cookies!
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
230 g (1¼ cups) dark chocolate, broken into small chunks
70 g (¼ cup+1 tbsp) unsalted butter
2 large eggs
120 g (½ cup+2 tbsp) caster sugar
40 g (3 tbsp) soft light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
60 g (¼ cup+2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
15 g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder
80 g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) chocolate chips (dark, milk, white, all work!)
80 g (¼ cup+3 tbsp) white chocolate
holly sprinkles
Directions
- Melt the dark chocolate and butter together in a small bowl until smooth. I do this in the microwave in short bursts, stirring in between to heat evenly and make sure the chocolate does not burn. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In a separate large bowl, tip in the eggs, sugars, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Beat it together until the mixture is pale, thick and creamy, and the sugars have dissolved. This takes me about four minutes or so.
- Drizzle in the cooled chocolate mixture into the whipped eggs, and beat on a low speed until completely mixed together. Do not overmix at this stage!
- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl, then very gently fold it all together until almost combined. Add in the chocolate chips and gently stir them through. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until the mixture has firmed up.
- When you are about ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop equal amounts of the brownie cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure to leave a couple of inches between cookies to allow for a bit of spreading.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the tops have cracked all the way into the middle of the cookies. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely on the baking sheet. This is important as the cookies will be really soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
- Once the chocolate brookies are cool, it’s time to make them Christmassy! Simply melt the white chocolate, then dip or spoon some onto just under half of each of the brookies. I use a spoon to gently guide the white chocolate to look like a drip on the top of each “Christmas pudding cookie”. Carefully lay over the sprinkles to look like a holly and berries and leave to set. Enjoy!
Notes
- Make sure you have all your tools and ingredients prepared before you start mixing. Being organised before you start mixing will make the whole process lots less stressful and more enjoyable.
- Take time to read through the recipe so you are familiar with what steps come next. Do not skip details, ingredients and instructions given as it could affect the results of the final bake. This is especially important in this recipe, as quite often it is a simple instruction or method that has been missed.
- Ensure the melted chocolate and butter mixture is not too warm before adding to the egg mixture. This is important for a couple of reasons: if too warm, the chocolate will start to cook the eggs, resulting in a lumpy, chocolatey scrambled egg mixture. Or, if the egg mixture is cold, the chocolate could seize up and solidify, therefore not mixing well with the egg mixture. Additionally, adding too hot a mixture to whipped up eggs can also lead to you losing some of that lovely air you worked so hard to incorporate. Plenty of reasons to ensure both mixtures are closer in temperature before combining them!
- Once you add in the flour and cocoa powder, make sure to swap your tool to a spatula and fold slowly and carefully. Again, this ensures you keep as much of the air you whipped in as possible in the mixture.
- Chill the brownie cookies mixture for up to a whole day if you wish. You want the mixture to be quite firm before scooping. This is important to help the brownie chocolate cookies hold their shape better and give you that all important brownie shine on top.
- When the brownie cookies with cocoa powder are done baking, they will have cracks all the way to the middle and be slightly puffed up. When pulled from the oven they will be very VERY soft, so it is really important not to move them from the baking sheet. Once left to cool, they will sink a little and firm up too, giving you the gorgeous brownie cookie result.
