Cosmic Brownies

Copycat Cosmic Brownies have all the fudgy brownie goodness of iconic Little Debbie treats complete with thick chocolate ganache and rainbow chip sprinkles!

Take Fudge Brownies on a trip down memory lane in this copycat Brownies Recipe for the well loved Little Debbie’s lunch box snack!

Cosmic Brownies in stack

COSMIC BROWNIES

Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies have been the go-to snack for road-trips, lunch boxes, camping trips, and so much more for decades. What school-goer hasn’t tried to swap a homemade cookie for one of these chocolatey, fun treats at least once?  Kids and kids at heart can’t resist the chewy, fudgy brownie center, thick chocolate frosting, and the crunchy rainbow chips!

Sure you could pick up a box of Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies at any market or gas station, but this copycat recipe not only saves you trip, it saves some money too. Not to mention, Homemade Cosmic Brownies are fudgier than the store bought kind without using corn syrup or hydrogenated oils… aka you can feel good about you and the kids going back for seconds or thirds.

Cosmic Brownies in stack

This Cosmic Brownies recipe is so delicious and deliciously easy, you may never buy a store bought box of these iconic treats again. To get the perfect soft and chewy brownies and rich chocolate frosting, you just need to follow a couple simple baking rules.

  • First, make sure that you don’t over mix the brownie base when you combine wet and dry ingredients. Sifting the dry ingredients first ensures less mixing when you combine, so always sift or whisk dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
  • Secondly, if it’s your first time (or fiftieth time) making a chocolate ganache, you want to be careful it doesn’t seize up. Seizing up and becoming grainy happens when cold milk meet hot melted chocolate. Bring the heavy cream and chocolate up to the same heat together, never add cold heavy cream to melted chocolate.
  • Finally, when it comes to brownies you want to under bake them so they are are nice and soft. Use the toothpick method and if it comes out with moist crumbs, your Cosmic Brownies are perfect. If the toothpick comes out completely clean, they are over baked and will be less fudge-like.

You want to cool Cosmic Brownies completely before topping with the Chocolate Ganache so it will set properly. Once the brownies are set, feel free to pop them in the microwave to make them melty fudge goodness perfect with Vanilla Ice Cream! You can also skip the ganache and top your brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting or Rich Chocolate Frosting instead.

MORE DELICIOUS BROWNIE RECIPES:

Cosmic Brownies in baking pan

VARIATIONS ON COSMIC BROWNIES

    • Nuts: You can use English walnuts (aka regular walnuts) for a traditional fudge brownie, or try chopped almonds, peanuts, or pecans for a salty crunch in the sweet chocolate frosting.
    • Turtle Brownies: For newer Little Debbie treat, bake the brownies in a muffin tin (or cut into round disks) and top with Salted Caramel Sauce and chopped peanuts instead of chocolate ganache.
    • Coffee: A couple tablespoons of brewed coffee or a teaspoon of espresso powder will make these brownies even fudgier and chocolatier!
    • Mix Ins: Add mix-ins you love to the brownie base like semi-sweet chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, peanut butter chips, chopped nuts, or Oreo cookie chunks.
    • Toppings: Instead of the rainbow chips, you can sprinkle the ganache with rainbow or chocolate sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, or mini M&Ms.

EVEN MORE DELICIOUS BROWNIE RECIPES

HOW TO STORE COSMIC BROWNIES

  • Serve: Keep Cosmic Brownies covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 4 days. If room temperature is too hot and melting the frosting, refrigerate.
  • Store: You can keep Cosmic Brownies in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to1 week. Use parchment paper between layers so the frosting doesn’t stick.
  • Freeze: Wrap Cosmic Brownies individually in wax paper before freezing for a quick go-to treat. Place brownies in a sealed container and freeze for up to 6 months.

Cosmic Brownies in stack

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Cosmic Brownies

Copycat Cosmic Brownies have all the fudgy brownie goodness of iconic Little Debbie treats complete with thick chocolate ganache and rainbow chip sprinkles!
Yield 24 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 33 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients
 

Fudge Brownies

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup candy coated chips , rainbow

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with baking spray.
  • Whisk together cocoa powder and melted butter until smooth.
  • Whisk in sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.
  • Sift together flour, cornstarch and salt then whisk it into the wet ingredients until just combined.
  • Spread into baking pan and bake for 16-18 minutes.
  • Cool completely.

Chocolate Ganache

  • Add chocolate chips and heavy cream to a large microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute.
  • Let sit for 2 minutes then stir until smooth and glossy.
  • Spread over brownies and sprinkle rainbow chocolate chips while ganache is still wet.

Nutrition

Calories: 224kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 111mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 280IU | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Cosmic Brownies

Cosmic Brownies collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. They are too greasy and too sweet plus they don’t taste like cosmic browniesI don’t like them.

  2. These did not taste like cosmic brownies, they were AMAZING. My family loves cosmic brownies thought I would try these, I will not be buying cosmic brownies any more, these were so good!!!!

  3. I’ve made these several times and they are DELICIOUS! No, they’re not going to taste exactly like the store-bought cosmic brownies, (because they don’t have all the preservatives and other junk) but they are wayyy better! Rich, fudgy, very decadent! To me they are a homemade improvement on the Little Debbie classic. A small square goes a long way. Definitely a special treat kinda dessert!

    1. Sorry about that. Milk isn’t needed for this recipe, just the heavy cream. I’ve edited the recipe card to read correctly now. Thanks for catching that.

    1. You can try that but there’s no telling exactly how much salt is exactly in the butter especially since it can vary between brands. Good luck!

    1. I added a link in the recipe card for the rainbow chips. Just click on the green link and it’ll take you to the ones I used. Thanks!