Homemade Cosmic Brownies But Cheaper
These homemade Cosmic Brownies pack in the flavors and nostalgia of packaged Little Debbie treat of the same name except ours are made with better ingredients and easier to find confetti sprinkles instead of the candy coated chips, making for a cheaper treat you might actually make for your family.
| Taste | Texture |
| Rich chocolate | Fudgy |
| Active time | Total time | Yield | Difficulty |
| 10 minutes | about 1 hour | 8 long brownies | Easy |
What are Cosmic Brownies?
Cosmic Brownies are the fudge frosted brownies topped with brightly colored candy coated chocolate chips made by Little Debbie.
When you make homemade Cosmic Brownies, you can skip all the weird ingredients and make a much better quality brownie with mostly pantry ingredients. Homemade Cosmic Brownies use a classic one pan brownie batter topped with 2 ingredient ganache frosting and colored sprinkles. They are rich, fudgy, and festive to boot.
Why You’ll Love Making Homemade Cosmic Brownies
- No Creepy Chemicals!: You can make these brownies completely dye free and without any preservatives.
- Festive: Everybody loves sprinkles and they absolutely add an extra bit of flair that ups the fun factor on these brownies.
- Quick and Easy: You can make the brownie batter in one pan entirely if you’d like and the ganache in a small bowl in the microwave if you’d like. You need no fancy equipment to make these whatsoever, and it only takes about 10 minutes hands-on time total.
Why I Don’t Use Candy Coated Chips for Cosmic Brownies and What You Can Use Instead
While I know that technically the candy coated chocolate chips give Cosmic Brownies their classic look, I’ve chosen to substitute other sprinkles. Candy coated chips are not regular sprinkles you can buy at the grocery store. That leaves the home baker to source them through a local bakery supply (if you’re even lucky enough to have one near you) or just eat it and pay for them online. Here’s why I do not use candy coated chips:
- Astronomical Price: Dye Free Candy Coated Chips are $1.64/ounce ($11.48/bag) while regular Goodland Farms Rainbow Chips are $1.16/ounce (17.95/pound). That is 2-3x the price of M&Ms. In my mind, it only makes sense to buy these sprinkles if you have a baking business where you can pass on that cost to your customers.
- Ease of Finding: I have not yet been able to find candy coated chips locally. Most of us don’t have time or money to drive around for a recipe. When you combine that with the price of candy chips online, it makes sense to look for an alternative
Alternatives to Candy Coated Chips for Cosmic Brownies
- Mini M&Ms: Without a sale, a share bag of mini M&Ms are $0.53/ounce, making them a much more economical choice. You could even chop up regular sized M&Ms if you wanted.
- Confetti Sprinkles: Confetti sprinkles have all the color of candy coated chips and you can buy a small bottle. While these are more expensive/ounce, you’ll have just enough for a recipe, not a giant bottle you’ll have in your pantry for years. I like India Tree Confetti Sprinkles for a dye-free option and Betty Crocker confetti sprinkles for a grocery store option.
Ingredients for Homemade Cosmic Brownies
Brownie Batter
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- Flour
- Dutch-process cocoa
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Chocolate Chips
Ganache and Sprinkles
- Dark chocolate bar, chopped into chunks: you can also use chocolate chips
- Heavy cream
- Confetti sprinkles or Mini M&Ms
Equipment Needed
- 8×8 pan or a 7×11 toaster oven pan
- parchment
Absolutely, yes. I almost exclusively bake my brownies in a toaster oven to cut down on the heat in my kitchen. While an 8×8 pan easily fits in mine, you can use a smaller 7×11 toaster oven pan if you have a smaller toaster oven.
How to Make Cosmic Brownies Step by Step
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Homemade Cosmic Brownies
- Total Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
- Yield: 8 large brownies 1x
Description
The Little Debbie’s classic Cosmic Brownie gets a makeover with a simple one-pan brownie batter and luscious chocolate ganache topping and colorful sprinkles of your choice
Ingredients
Cooking spray for the pan
Brownie Batter
- 1 stick butter (113 g)
- 3 and 1/2 Tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder (such as Droste or Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (85 g)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (98 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Ganache Topping
- 3 ounce bar dark chocolate or milk chocolate, chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (59 mL)
- 2 Tablespoons confetti sprinkles, Mini M&Ms, or chopped regular M&Ms
Equipment
8×8 brownie pan or a 7×11 toaster oven pan
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Prep the Pan
- Spritz an 8×8 or a 7×11 pan with cooking spray.
- Line the bottom of the pan with one piece of parchment that covers the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Place a second piece of parchment over the first that covers the other two sides.
Make the Batter
- Place the butter and cocoa in a small pan on the stove over medium heat. Heat just until the butter melts.
- Pour the chocolate chips into the butter as it is cooling. Stir everything together just until the chocolate melts.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl.
- Whisk the sugar into the butter and chocolate mixture until smooth.
- Mix the eggs and vanilla into the chocolate. You should have a smooth, shiny mixture.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and fold together just until the flour disappears.
Bake the Brownies
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan smooth the top.
- Bake the brownies for 15-18 minutes until they no longer jiggle and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make the Ganache Topping
- Chop the chocolate bar finely. Place the chocolate in a small bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream in a small pan just until you see bubbles around the edge of the pan. Be sure that the cream does not boil.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir occasionally over a couple minutes until the ganache is glossy and smooth.
Finish the Brownies
- Spread the ganache over the brownies with a spoon or an offset spatula .
- Scatter the sprinkles or candy topping over the ganache.
- Refrigerate the brownies until the ganache sets, about 1 hour.
- Cut the bars into 8 long bars. Serve cold for the best flavor.
Notes
Cleaner Edges: If you’d like, you can trim away about 1/4″ from the outer edges of the brownies (treats for the baker!) for cleaner edged brownies. This makes them look really nice when you’re serving them.
Smaller sizes: Of course, feel free to cut down the bars into smaller pieces. These brownies are rich, and I can’t imagine eating an entire one on my own. Even the classic Little Debbie’s models their nutrition facts on 1/3 of each brownie, which would give you 24 smaller brownies in the case of this recipe.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Bar cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
