Brownie Cookie Bites
Even the most exhausted brain should be able to remember this recipe, and you can make it without any equipment. A perfect addition to the #OnlySnacksIveMadeMyself series!
Mum brain coming in handy!
You may have read about my plan to only eat snacks I’ve made myself, and one of the easy, quick options for this is shortbread. So this week when I was tired and snacky, but not at all in the mood to work hard for my snack, I decided that chocolate (or rather, cocoa) shortbread would be the perfect way to honour my vow to make it myself, but without having to think or work hard. And I certainly didn’t think! It was a particularly tired mum day (if you know, you know) and in my head I was sure that the shortbread formula was equal amounts of each of the 3 ingredients (flour, sugar, butter), and just replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder. Well… that’s not at all right, is it? Shortbread uses the 3-2-1 formula (3 parts flour, 2 parts butter and 1 part sugar). But my brain didn’t even consider that option. And I have made shortbread many times! This tells you how exhausted (or maybe desperately snacky) I was. On top of that, thinking that I needed 150g sugar to my 150g flour and 150g butter, I realised I only had half the sugar I (thought I) needed, but I had already started mixing ingredients so decided to sub the rest with brown sugar.
It wasn’t until I was ready to put the mix in the oven that I went to check my own recipe (inspired by the BBC Food recipe for standard shortbread) for a reminder of the temperature and cooking time that I realised my mistake. And I thought “uh oh… what have I actually made here?” I didn’t have the answer, but decided to not waste whatever dough I had just created and put it in the oven and gave it a good 20 minutes.
And lo and behold - this was the most glorious mistake I’ve made in a while! Out came a pretty wet mixture, but it had a “brownie” feel to it, so I decided to trust, and just let it cool down. I cut it into small squares and took a bite. YUM! Gooey, sticky, like the lovechild of a brownie and a cookie, and super indulgent. I mean, how could you go wrong with that much butter and sugar, topped with a bit of cocoa, really?
Now, I know this is far from a healthy recipe. But you know what? It by far beats buying something ultra-processed and I was so proud of these little cookie bites that I didn’t even eat many, as I wanted to save some for my husband to take to my mother-in-law the next day for the two of them to enjoy! (This is the great thing about home cooking, when you’re proud of what you’ve made you are inclined to want to share it rather than just eat it all yourself! Or is that just me?)
Anyway, all that to say - please do give my beautiful fail-turned-simplest-cookies-ever a try. You need about half a brain cell and very little work and equipment. And the payoff is huge. Happy snacking!
Brownie Cookie Bites
Makes around 30 small cookie bites
120g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
150g unsalted, cold butter, cubed (salted would be lovely too, or you could add a pinch of salt)
150g sugar (a mix of white and brown recommended but not necessary)
In a large bowl, sieve flour and cocoa powder, add sugar (and a pinch of salt if adding) and mix well. Add the butter and work it in with your hands. This will take a while but stick with it until you get a smooth ball of dough. Put in the fridge for a few minutes to cool down. (This is less important than with shortbread though, as it will melt a bit due to the larger amount of butter)
Preheat your oven to 170ºC (340ºF).
On a piece of baking paper that fits one of your oven trays, roll the dough out to a large, flat rectangle, about 1/2 cm thick. Place in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes. The dough will still be quite wet as you take it out but let it cool down completely and it will solidify more, and hopefully you will have a large sticky, brownie/cookie. Cut into smaller squares, if you want small bite sized snacks, or you can of course use a cookie cutter or glass rim, or do whatever shape or size you desire!
And… tuck in! I really hope you enjoy!
Do let me know if you tried these and share a photo on social media - don’t forget to tag me!
