Dark Espresso Brownie Cookies

Melt the butter and chocolate. Put the 115 g butter and 115 g dark chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely melted and glossy. Remove from heat and cool for about 5 minutes.

Combine the sugars. Whisk the brown and granulated sugars into the warm chocolate mixture for about 30 seconds. It should become thick and glossy.

Add the egg components. Whisk in the whole egg and egg yolk vigorously for about 45–60 seconds. Add vanilla. This vigorous mixing helps produce that brownie-like texture rather than a crumbly cookie.

Mix the dry ingredients separately. Combine: flour cocoa powder espresso powder salt baking soda

Make the dough. Fold the dry mixture into the chocolate mixture just until no dry flour remains. Fold in the chopped dark chocolate. The dough will be substantially softer than ordinary chocolate-chip-cookie dough.

Chill for 30–45 minutes. This is important. The cocoa and flour hydrate while the butter firms up, giving you thick cookies instead of chocolate pancakes.

Heat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Portion generously. Scoop approximately 40–45 g / 2½ tablespoons of dough per cookie. Roll loosely into balls and place at least 2 inches apart. Slightly flatten the very top of each ball; don't mash them into discs.

Bake for 9–11 minutes. The edges should look set, but the centers should still appear slightly underdone and soft. Do not wait for the centers to look fully baked. That's how these become dry instead of brownie-like.

Finish and cool. If using flaky salt, put a few grains on each cookie immediately after baking. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving them. They'll finish setting as they cool.