Chelsea's Messy Apron

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Brownie Bites

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Fudge-y, chocolate loaded, molten brownie bites. Easy from-scratch brownies filled with chocolate that stays gooey! These brownie bites are like miniature molten lava cookie cups.

Up close stack of finished brownie bites with oozing melted chocolate

My two all-time favorite desserts are brownies and cookies. I know, I’m not very exciting or original, but it’s true. So when the two are combined into a cookie-brownie hybrid? Yes, this just might be my new favorite treat!

These mini bites of chewy, soft, and fudge-y brownies are filled with a chocolate center that stays soft and melty; kind of like a miniature molten lava cake. Molten lava cookie-cake? Yes, please!

These brownie bites are made from scratch, but so simple to make. They’re quick to whip together and truly impressive tasting. Below you’ll find a quick photo overview of the process for making these brownie bites and then a few tips for success.

How to make brownie bites:

  1. Dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, salt, miniature chocolate chips
  2. Mix dry ingredients until combined
  3. Combine semi-sweet chocolate chips and butter
  4. Microwave in bursts of 15 seconds, stirring in between each burst, until melted and smooth
  5. Add in egg and ix until smooth
  6. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients — use a spatula to get every bit of wet into dry
  7. Gently mix until ingredients are completely combined — do not over mix
  8. Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to measure 1 tablespoon of dough per muffin cavity
  9. The dough should make about 15 brownie bites
  10. Chop a chocolate bar to get small squares
  11. Place the squares of chocolate right on top of the unbaked brownie. Do not press down, don’t cover with dough
  12. Bake! Here’s how they look right out of the oven.

Brownie bites tips

  • Generously grease your miniature muffin tin with cooking spray. If your muffin tin typically sticks, add a light dusting of cocoa powder or flour. Here are my favorite mini muffin pans — they work like a charm! (Not sponsored; affiliate link).
  • Use dutch process cocoa powder: the cocoa powder MAKES these brownie bites. Seriously! You want to make sure to use dutch process cocoa powder (as opposed to regular cocoa powder). (Regular cocoa powder will make these brownie bites less flavorful.) Here’s the exact cocoa powder I use and LOVE (affiliate link). 
  • Allow time to cool: right out of the oven, these look irresistibly fudge-y and delicious, BUT they need some time to firm up and set up. The chocolate center stays “molten” and soft for quite a while so allow time for the rest of the brownie to firm up. (Chocolate chips are made to resist melting and firm up quickly so that’s why we use a chocolate bar). I think these brownie bites are best after cooling for about 45 minutes to an hour — they’re soft, chewy, and the center is still gooey!

More chocolate desserts:

5 from 7 votes
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Brownie Bites
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Standing time (in pan)
15 mins
Total Time
45 mins
 

Fudge-y, chocolate loaded, molten brownie bites. Easy from scratch brownies filled with gooey melty chocolate. These brownie bites are like miniature molten lava cookie cups!

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Brownie Bites
Servings: 15 brownie bites
Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup white flour
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder (Note 1)
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon EACH: baking powder, fine sea salt
  • 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 (4 ounce) Lindt dark chocolate bar (or milk chocolate bar, whichever chocolate you like better)
  • Optional: Maldon sea salt flakes
Instructions

  1. DRY INGREDIENTS: Combine the 1/3 cup white flour, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons dutch process cocoa powder, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips. Whisk to combine and set aside.

  2. WET INGREDIENTS: In a separate small microwave-safe bowl, combine 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons butter. Microwave for 25 seconds, stir for 15 seconds, and return to the microwave for another 15 seconds. Remove and stir until smooth (return to the microwave another 15 seconds as needed until melted). The mixture will be thick. Stir until smooth and at room temperature. Add in the egg and stir until smooth.

  3. COMBINE: Using a spatula scrape all of the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix until completely combined. It may not seem like it's coming together at first, but keep stirring until you have a thick dough. Use a spatula to scrape the edges of the bowl as needed. Don't overmix.

  4. BAKE: Generously grease a MINIATURE muffin tin (these don't work in regular sized muffin tin) with cooking spray. Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to measure out 1 tablespoon of dough and place it in each cavity. You should get 15 cookies. Open the chocolate bar. There should be large squares; cut each chocolate square into 4 smaller squares and gently place one square into the top of each cookie. Don't press it down much, it doesn't need to be covered by dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes being careful to not overbake so these stay soft and fudgy.

  5. REMOVE: Remove the pan from the oven and let stand for 10-15 minutes or until firm enough to easily coax out of the muffin tin (I use a dessert spoon and tines of a fork to gently pull them out). They are a bit gooey coming out of the oven so they need time to firm up a bit. It's okay if the middle sinks a little, it should stay soft from that chocolate added in the center. Because we're using a chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips (that are resistant to melting), the chocolate should stay soft and gooey for about 45 minutes after baking. If you want leftovers gooey, microwave any leftover cookie for 5-10 seconds. IF you like salty sweet, add a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt flakes to the top of these!

  6. Enjoy warm!

Recipe Notes

Note 1: these brownie bites need dutch process cocoa powder; read the post for my favorite or use Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder in these.

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Comments

  11. Jess @ On Sugar Mountain says

    oh man Chelsea these are so going into my holiday baking plans! As if I need to add more baking to that huge list but DUDE I am going to make room for these because they are brownies and cookies all in one awesome bite! 😀

    Reply

  22. [email protected] says

    Ok, so when I went to pin these little cuties, I had to literally pin them onto three different boards so I would be certain that I could trace back to them (brownies, cookies and cake). That is just how insane they are! You are slowly taking over my Pinterest account. 🙂

    Reply

  23. Olivia - Primavera Kitchen says

    5 stars
    Molten lava cakes are my FAVOURITE!!!!! These look absolutely AMAZING, Chelsea! I have to make this recipe her win Brazil for my family! They love when I make something that is not very popular here in Brazil cause they enjoy to try new things. I’ll pin it for later 😉

    Reply

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