Chocolate Cosmic Brownies
These cakey Chocolate Cosmic brownies are an easy decadent chocolate treat. Unlike chewy brownies that can be overly sweet, these brownies are rich in cocoa flavor and really satisfy those chocolate cravings. They’re topped with a luscious and silky-smooth chocolate ganache that whips up like magic. It takes just 5 minutes to make! And they’re finished with a galaxy of M&M’s.
Table of Contents
What are Chocolate Cosmic Brownies?
Cosmic Brownies are in essence simple brownies topped with chocolate frosting and colourful sprinkles or candy. They’re a cute kids baking project. Nothing super fancy, just cute and easy to make!
Why you have to make these Chocolate Cosmic Brownies!
These brownies are perfect for dark chocolate lovers. They’re kind of cakey and not too sweet. Which means that the magic ganache that take just 5 minutes to make perfectly evens them out as it’s sweet. The candy on top makes them super nostalgic and cute!
Couple things I love about this recipe
- Brownies – these aren’t sweet dense brownies, they’re cocoa brownies. So if you’re a dark chocolate lover, these are for you. Plus they’re lighter in texture.
- Magic Ganache – it really is like magic. It comes together in 5 minutes and is so deliciously smooth. Honestly, I don’t think I can go back to making chocolate frosting any other way again.
- Nostalgia – M&M’s are a treat I had growing up, and I love how colourful they make these brownies but how simple it is to decorate it. It makes a great kids treat for special occasions.
Here are some other brownie recipes you’ll love!
· Best Ever Chewy Chocolate Brownies
· Monster Mash Brownies (kids halloween recipe)
· Ghost Brownies
· Slutty Brownies
· Fudgy Chocolate Brownies Recipe
The ingredients you’ll need to make these Chocolate Cosmic Brownies!
Unsalted butter – Make sure the butter is melted and slightly cooled before using. For the ganache, you want to make sure it’s softened.
Cocoa powder – Use good quality, unsweetened cocoa powder.
Salt – I used fine sea salt for this recipe.
Baking powder – This will help your brownies rise slightly.
Eggs – Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.
Boiling water – This will help make your brownies fudgy and cakey at the same time.
Espresso powder – This will help bring out the chocolate flavour in the brownies. It’s optional but totally worth adding.
Vanilla Extract – Always use good quality vanilla extract when baking, it makes a huge difference. I have a great recipe here for it if you’d like to try your own!
Caster sugar – also known as superfine sugar.
Dark chocolate – also known as semi-sweet, the one I used is cooking chocolate. It’s important you use this type of chocolate for this frosting for best results. I used the nestle cooking buttons.
Heavy cream – this is the type of cream you use for whipping. You’ll need to warm your cream up to be quite hot. You can do this on the stove or in the microwave.
Powdered sugar
Powdered sugar – also known as icing sugar.
Mini M&M’s – These are miniature versions of the regular candy. In it’s place you can use any colored candy or even sprinkle which is a great option.
Let’s go through each step.
Making these Cosmic Brownies are so much fun and really easy!
Brownie Layer
- Preheat your oven to 175°C / 350° Spray a 9 x 9-inch square baking tin with oil spray and line the bottom and sides with baking paper, letting some hang over the sides. Add the unsalted butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and mix using a whisk until well combined.
- Add the cocoa powder, salt and baking powder and mix using a spatula until well combined.
- Then add the eggs and whisk.
- In the video I added the flour and boiling water at the same time. Don’t do that. Add the boiling water first, mix until well combined. THEN add the flour and instant coffee powder and mix until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the pre-prepared cake tin. Bake for 30 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool completely at room temperature.
Magic Ganache
- Begin by adding the dark chocolate into the bowl of a food processor along with the hot cream. See notes on how to heat cream. Mix on high speed until the chocolate is completely melted. Alternatively, you can melt these two ingredients in the microwave until smooth.
- Next, add the butter and powdered sugar and mix on high speed until completely smooth.
- Pour the ganache onto the cooled brownies.
- Spread around evenly.
- Sprinkle with M&M candy. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Lift the brownies out of the cake tin. Slice up before serving.
My Top Tips!
Storage
Cosmic Brownies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
Cream
To heat your cream up simply add to a saucepan and heat on low heat until bubbles just begin to Show. Do not let it bubble. You can also heat it up in the microwave for 60 seconds.
Candy
If you can’t get M&M’s in your area, you can use sprinkles or any type of candy that looks similar to M&M’s.
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Make sure you leave a comment down bellow if you try this recipe, or just say hello! I’d love to hear from you! I’ll see you all on the following recipe!
N x

Chocolate Cosmic Brownies
Serves 12
Ingredients
Brownie Layer
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 1/4 cups (260 g) caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (50 g) cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 - 60 ml (60 ml) cup boiling water
- 3/4 cups (115 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp espresso powder
Magic Ganache
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) dark chocolate
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) heavy cream hot (see notes)
- 1/2 cup (125 g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (75 g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) mini M&M’s
Learn How To Make it! [VIDEO]
Instructions
Brownie Layer
- Preheat your oven to 175°C / 350°F. Spray a 9 x 9-inch square baking tin with oil spray and line the bottom and sides with baking paper, letting some hang over the sides.
- Add the unsalted butter, caster sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl and mix using a whisk until well combined.
- Add the cocoa powder, salt and baking powder and mix using a spatula until well combined. Then add the eggs and whisk.
- In the video I added the flour and boiling water at the same time. Don’t do that. Add the boiling water next, mix until well combined, THEN add the flour and instant coffee powder and mix until well combined.
- Pour the batter into the pre-prepared cake tin. Bake for 30 minutes. Once baked, allow to cool completely at room temperature.
Magic Ganache
- Begin by adding the dark chocolate into the bowl of a food processor along with the hot cream. See notes on how to heat cream. Mix on high speed until the chocolate is completely melted. Alternatively, you can melt these two ingredients in the microwave until smooth.
- Next, add the butter and powdered sugar and mix on high speed until completely smooth.
- Pour the ganache onto the cooled brownies and spread around evenly. Sprinkle with M&M candy. Chill for 30 minutes. Lift the brownies out of the cake tin and slice up before serving.
4 comments
Hi Nick, I see these are the same as the ones from the Blackberry Cheesecake Brownie Bars. You seem to have copied the same incorrect amount of cocoa like you did for that written recipe, you have 150g of cocoa here instead of 50g as it should be 🙂
Being the same recipe these are actually just really good solid brownies for when you don’t feel like fudgy. I am looking forward to trying your frosting though as its different 🙂
Thanks so much for letting me know JOmy! I really appreciate it! N x
Hi Nick. If you needed to double this recipe, would a 9×13″ baking tin be large enough? And, how long do you advise baking them for. I am terrible for leaving them in about 2 minutes too long. They look FANTASTIC!!!!
Hi Karen! I think that should be fine, although I suspect they’d come out a little taller. Although, I’ve never tried it. If it were me, I’d be baking two batches of brownies.