The Best Holiday Cookie Starts with a Brownie Mix

Cranberry & Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies

'Tis the season for baking, and this time of year cookies are the stars of the show. There's a shape and style of cookie for any and every craving: crispy sugar cookies, chewy molasses cookies, buttery shortbread, jam-packed thumbprint cookies...well, you get the idea.

And although holiday baking brings a lot of joy, it can also be a little stressful figuring out how to find the time to tap into your inner cookie elf. To solve that problem we give you brownie cookies. The chewy, chocolatey treat combines the best parts of a cookie and a brownie in one tasty package and also comes together in a snap thanks to one key ingredient: a boxed brownie mix.

This version has a sweet-tart mix of dried cranberries and white and dark chocolate chips, but you can use the base recipe and add your favorite mix-ins. Nuts? Sure! Chopped up candy canes? You bet! Rolled in sprinkles and then baked? For sure!

The dough takes all of 10 minutes and the baking time isn't much longer. I used a brownie mix from Whole Foods, but you can use whatever mix is your favorite. It’s hard to go wrong with a pre-made fudgy boxed brownie mix. Saying that 5 times fast will take you longer than making the batter for these cookies!

Related: Loretta Lynn's Easy Christmas Cookies Are Holiday Magic

How to Make Brownie Cookies

To turn a brownie mix into a cookie dough, you just add some flour, either all-purpose flour or the alternate flour of your choice. The added flour will make the dough scoopable instead of pourable. After that, it's a choose-your-own-flavor adventure. I added a splash of vanilla extract, folded in the dried cranberries and chocolate chips, then added some finely chopped salted pistachios at the end.

I love the flavor combination of dark chocolate and dried cranberries. It’s such a wonderful transition from the flavors of Thanksgiving to those of the Christmas season. The gleams of red berries and the touches of white chocolate make the cookies so pretty and festive—a perfect choice for a cookie swap. I added pistachios because I couldn’t resist a salty enhancement and of course, the green really completes the Christmas theme.

Related: The 85-Year-Old Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe That Started It All

Tips for Making Brownie Cookies

• Consider using a mixer. The batter is quite thick so you could use a stand mixer if you want to save your strength for gift wrapping and tree trimming. Pro tip: Don't use a whisk to stir this batter. I used a wooden spoon and some elbow grease to combine the dry ingredients at the end, but it does take some effort.

• Scoop it up. Using a cookie scoop to portion out the dough is key for me. It ensures even-sized cookies and it makes it much easier to place your cookie dough mounds exactly where you want them.

• Finish it off. I always love a touch of salty with my sweet, so I crushed some pistachios and sprinkled them over the warm cookies for an added flair. The key is to do this while they are fresh out of the oven so the nuts stick to the melty cookie surface. If they are set up and cooled when you do this, the nuts will bounce right off of the surface. If you don't have or don't want to use pistachios, you can add sprinkles or flaky salt to the warm cookies.

Related: The Famous $250 Cookie Recipe That's Worth Every Penny

Next up: 20 Baked Brie Recipes That Are Perfect for Your Holiday Party  

Cranberry & Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box of brownie mix

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

• 2 large eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• ¼ cup vegetable oil

• ½ cup dried cranberries

• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

• ½ cup white chocolate chips

• ¼ crushed pistachios for topping

Preheat oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir the brownie mix, flour, oil, eggs and vanilla until just smooth.

Add the cranberries and chocolate chips. Stir to incorporate.

Using a cooking scoop, place golf ball-sized dollops of cookie dough about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.

Bake until set, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle immediately with pistachios. Let cool on the baking sheet.