Born outside our Earth’s atmosphere, these Colossal Cosmic Coffee Chocolate on Chocolate Cookies, topped with your own handmade truffles and sprinkled with colorful cosmic bits and edible gold dust, are just right for sharing with all the friends in your universe. Or, top them with Ferrero Rocher Chocolate for another version of planets.
Even when you sprinkle these brownie-based cookies with just the brightly colored cosmic chocolate bits, they will be a hit at any out of this world kids’ party and adult parties, too . Or, keep them down to earth for yourself. You know what? They’re especially easy to make with your favorite brownie box mix. Two brownie boxes make for a full recipe. Feel free to cut the recipe in half using just one box. Make sure you use the larger weight mix boxes, the 18-18.3 oz size.
Astronomical in size, they measure about 5” across, feeding up to four people. But of course, you are welcome to bring them down to earth by forming a smaller cookie dough sphere, easily curing the craving of one…alien.
As fast as space ships travel, I’ve saved you a bit of prep time and made this recipe to be quick and easy to make by substituting wafer candy melts in place of a frosting for the topping. And, the brownie mixes make them even quicker to make. Stir the ingredients together – no need to get out the electric mixer. Bake. Get them "frosted" fast with top quality melting candy wafers. Give them a fun cosmic appearance by placing a Ferrero Rocher chocolate sphere (or a half) on each cookie, or your own truffles...then by sprinkle out of this world bright multi-colored chocolate bits on top.
If you have not seen the tiny multi-colored cosmic chocolate bits around your area, check for them online. I was able to purchase them bulk, making a little savings. They certainly can be used for other baking projects - other cookies, on cakes, and more.
Coffee adds another dimension to these out of this world cookies. The coffee powder really enhances the chocolate flavor. Add it to your dry ingredients. Use more for a strong coffee flavor, or just a little so it makes the chocolate flavor stronger.
This recipe makes about 30 cookies:
Reduce the number of cookie dough balls for a larger quantity. Kids would have a lower sugar rush if they were made smaller. Just reduce the baking time by a minute or so.
Preheat your oven to 350F degrees.
Prep your baking pans:
Line your baking sheets with parchment paper for easy removal and even easier cleanup.
Gather up the Cosmic Coffee Cookie Ingredients:
2 Brownie Mixes, dry boxed, 18.3 oz each
2-3 T Flour
2 T Coffee powder, triple ground beans
4 Eggs, room temp
½ C Vegetable oil
2 t Vanilla extract
1 C Chocolate chips (optional)
EASY Chocolate “frosting” Ingredients:
10 oz Chocolate candy melt wafers (Ghirardelli)
Gather the topping Ingredients:
1/2 C Cosmic chocolate bits, brightly colored
15-30 Ferrero Rocher chocolate spheres, unwrapped
Mix and bake:
-Triple grind your coffee beans to reap a fine powder. I use a vanilla creme brulee or French vanilla or hazelnut vanilla coffee bean. I also use decaf beans to keep the caffeine down. Go full caffeine if you like! I like coffee in chocolate cookies to enhance the chocolate flavors. Set aside.
-In a small bowl, whisk the eggs just to mix up the yolks and whites.
-In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the two boxes of dry brownie mix and flour to combine.
-Add the whisked eggs, vegetable oil, and flour and stir all together to completely combine. Don’t worry, it will be a pretty thick cookie dough. I like cookie dough that automatically separates from the sides of the bowl near the end of beating it with the electric stand mixer - if you're using one.
-Add the chocolate chips and stir in so they are evenly distributed. Do not overmix. You’re done mixing!
-Measure out your cookie dough with a ¼ measuring cup or cookie scoop and form them into balls. I make about 30 out of this recipe, still making quite a large cookie. But, if you divide the dough into 24 dough balls, you’ll end up with 5” diameter cookies – NOW THOSE ARE COLOSSAL!
-Place them onto parchment paper lined pans and press them down just a little.
-Bake at 350F degrees for 11-13 minutes. Do not overbake!
-While the cookies are still very warm, place 3-5 candy wafers on top and let them melt. I love Ghirardelli melting wafers since they taste so good!
-As the chocolate wafers melt, spread them into a circle on each cookie with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. There's your quick "frosting!"
-Before the chocolate "frosting" on top dries, accent your cookies with Ferrero Rocher Chocolate spheres to emulate a planet. Then sprinkle the multi-colored cosmic chocolate bits. Try them with gold dust or adhere a bit of gold leaf for a spectacular out of this world bite.
NOTE: MAKE YOUR OWN TRUFFLES TO TOP THESE OUT OF THIS WORLD COOKIES. I know the round Ferrer Rocher chocolate candies can be rather pricey, so I made my own truffles to top my Cosmic Cookies. To cut down on the cost of the chocolates, carefully cut them in half and place one flat side down on each cookie. So, for this recipe you'll need only 15 chocolates if you cut them half for the 30 cookies.
-Cool before serving. The cookies are chewy like a brownie on the inside and will have a gentle crunch on the outside. The cosmic sprinkles add another level of crunchiness to these out of this world Colossal Cosmic Coffee Chocolate on Chocolate cookies. They are delicious!
Garnish Options:
-Too astronomical an amount of chocolate for you? Switch it up by placing white candy melts on top instead of the chocolate for a smooth white “frosting.”
-No brightly colored cosmic chocolate bits? Try mini-M&Ms instead.
Storage:
-I keep the completed and assembled cookies on an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days for the freshest and chewiest results.
-To refrigerate, keep them in an airtight container for up to 7 days, though I do not recommend refrigerating them since they can get a little funky looking…but are still tasty.
-To freeze, I will freeze the baked cookies in an airtight container for up to a month, with no toppings, candy or frosting. When you're ready to have them out for serving, thaw them overnight in the container. Then frost and decorate them after they’ve thawed. Heat the candy melts since the cookies will not be hot.
-I like to freeze the unbaked dough for up to a month by forming and rolling the cookies balls and placing them into an airtight container, then placing them in the freezer. After about an hour I take them out of the container and toss them into sealable plastic bags and double bag them. That saves a lot of space in the freezer to have them in flexible bags. Place a label on the outside of the bag with the name of the cookie, quantity, date made, thawing info, baking temp and time. Then frost and decorate them according to recipe instructions.
These are fun Colossal Cosmic Coffee Chocolate on Chocolate Cookies to make, fun for kids to sprinkle and fun to eat. Have them describe which planets they are designing. Stir these up and have an out of this world experience and, “Bake your own Memories!”