Coraline Cookies and Cream Brownies

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These Coraline Cookies and Cream Brownies are your excuse to host a Coraline-themed movie night!

These may seem very niche, but if you grew up watching Coraline, you’ll appreciate this recipe! For some reason, the little blue hair, button eyes, and slightly spooky color palette have lived rent-free in our head for years. So naturally, we had to turn that nostalgic recipe into a dessert. These Coraline Cookies and Cream Cookies are inspired by the whimsical and eerie tones in the movie. 

Don’t let the funny decorations fool you – these brownies are an absolute treat! A rich, fudgy chocolate brownie is packed with chopped Oreo cookies and baked to absolute perfection. The top is crackled, the edges are crisp, and the insides are soft and fudgy. After they bake and cool, they are topped with swirls of whimsical blue and purple cream cheese icing and finished with festive sprinkles and tiny gold stars. 

They’re the perfect Halloween treat or Coraline movie night. you know that a little blue hair, a few button eyes, and a slightly spooky color palette. They’re nostalgic enough for millennials but fun enough for anyone who likes a dessert that is equal parts delicious and a bit strange. 

Just don’t blame us if you find yourself reaching for another brownie before the movie credits roll.

Why You’ll Love These Coraline Cookies and Cream Brownies

• They’re fun! These brownies are meant to be fun. And not only are they super on-theme with the movie, but they are also super delicious.
• Soft, fudgy brownie base! The base of these cookies is a super soft homemade brownie. Melted chocolate gets folded into the batter for that rich, fudgy texture, and they bake up soft with a crisp, flaky top.
• A great movie-night treat! Whether you’re hosting a Halloween movie night or having a very niche Coraline-themed get-together, these brownies will be a hit!

How to Make These Coraline Cookies and Cream Brownies, Step by Step

Step 1. Make the Cookies and Cream Brownie batter.

The base of these cookies-and-cream brownies is our popular fudgy brownie recipe. They are tried and true and will make it hard to go back to making boxed brownie mixes. You can use a stand mixer or mix by hand.

You start by mixing together the flour mixture that includes all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Give that mixture a good stir to evenly mix and set it to the side. 

Next, melt butter and dark chocolate in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Be sure to stir the mixture frequently so that the chocolate doesn’t burn and everything melts evenly. Remove the saucepan from the heat as soon as the mixture is smooth. 

Pour the melted chocolate mixture into a medium mixing bowl and whisk in sugar. The sugar is going to lower the temperature of the chocolate mixture so that your eggs don’t scramble in the batter. 

Stir in one teaspoon of vanilla extract before using a rubber spatula to gently fold in the dry ingredients. Stir the batter until you don’t see any flour streaks in the batter.

Lastly, gently fold in chopped Oreo cookies into the smooth chocolate batter and pour the batter into a parchment-lined 8×8-inch baking dish.

Step 2. Bake the brownies, let them cool completely. 

Bake the brownies for about 45-50 minutes until they are baked through. You can test doneness with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean with only a couple of crumbs on the end, you can take them out of the oven.

If you remove the toothpick and see wet batter on the end, pop them back in the oven for 3-5 minute increments until they are cooked through. 

Let the brownies cool completely before decorating the top. 

Step 3. Mix food coloring into cream cheese icing and decorate with icing and sprinkles.

Split one jar of store-bought vanilla cream cheese icing evenly into two separate bowls.

In one bowl, add drops of blue food coloring until you have a rich blue color. It may take some experimenting with the amount. Add 2-3 drops at a time until the desired color is achieved.

In the other bowl, add drops of purple or a blend of red and blue until you have a deep purple icing color.

Alternate adding dollops of blue and purple icing to the top of the cooled brownie. Use a spoon or icing knife to swirl the colors together. 

We used a mixture of galaxy sprinkles and yellow star-shaped sprinkles to really bring these Coraline cookies to life. Once the brownies are decorated, slice into squares and enjoy!

Tips for Making Coraline Cookies and Cream Brownies

• Melt the chocolate and butter low and slow. Melting the chocolate and butter together helps give these brownies a chewy, rich, fudge-like texture. When you are heating the butter and chocolate chips in a saucepan, heat over low heat and stir continuously until it is just melted and smooth. Overheating the chocolate could make it grainy.
• Fold the batter together. You don’t want to overmix the batter. Overmixing could give the batter a tough, dry texture. You want to fold the dry ingredients gently into the wet ingredients until all the flour streaks are gone.
• Let the brownies cool completely before frosting. This is important to get the look you want for these brownies. If the brownies are still warm, the frosting can melt, slide around, and lose those defined swirls. 

How to know when the brownies are done baking

Start checking the brownies around 40-45 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the brownies. The toothpick should come out clean with a few crumbs. If you see wet batter, bake the brownies for an additional 5 minutes and test again.

How to store leftover cookies and cream brownies. 

Store the frosted brownies in an airtight container. If using a shelf-stable cream cheese frosting, follow the package instructions for storage. If the frosting needs to be refrigerated, store the brownies in the fridge for up to 2-3 days and let them sit at room temperature before serving.

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