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Home Recipes Desserts Bars & Brownies
5 from 1 review

Moist & Fudgey Cosmic Brownies with Almond Flour

23 min
GF Gluten-Free VG Vegetarian
by: Lindsay Grimes
December 17, 2020 (Updated: September 27, 2024)
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This is an image of a cosmic brownie with a layer of fudgey brownie, a layer of chocolate ganache frosting, and colorful chocolates on top. The brownie is leaning against another brownie and both sit on a piece of white parchment paper.
This copycat recipe for Fudgey Cosmic Brownies is rich and chewy just like your favorite store-bought childhood treat!

Raise your hand if you grew up on Cosmic Brownies 🙋🏼‍♀️

If you admired the chocolatey layers and colorful candies on top 🙋🏼‍♀️

If you regrettably forgot about cosmic brownies over the years only to see them pop up on a random corner of the internet resulting in a very specific strum on your heartstrings and an overwhelming insistence you make a better than store-bought homemade version 🙋🏼‍♀️

Listen, anything chocolate I’m in. More specifically, anything with chocolate frosting and I’m in. But then you add some cut candies on top and you literally don’t even need to ask me if I want one. I will just shove it in my mouth before you know what’s happening.

What? That’s a totally normal response to these, I swear.

So let’s get into it and make some fudgey cosmic brownies! If you love baking, you have to check out my post for 50+ Gluten Free Dessert Recipes! If you’re looking for more brownie recipes, try my Rich & Fudgey Oat Flour Brownies or these Gluten Free Peanut Butter Brownies!

If you love using almond flour in your recipes check out my Ultimate List of Almond Flour Recipes and my tutorial for How to Make Almond Flour!

What are cosmic brownies?

Cosmic brownies are a base layer of brownie topped with a chocolate frosting and colorful chocolate candies. They were first made popular by the Little Debbie Company.

How to make brownies fudgey?

Fudgey brownies have a higher fat compared to cakey brownies. Here are a few tips to make sure you have perfectly fudgey everytime.

Butter/oil. Here’s the deal. A lot of store-bought fudgey brownies use some sort of corn syrup and cornstarch. In my book, in order to make fudgey brownies, I tend to use a couple extra tablespoons of butter or mellow oil. It is a decadent dessert, after all! Check out my favorite trick for How to Soften Butter!

More Chocolate. Another option to get your brownies fudgier is to melt some chocolate and mix it into your brownie batter. Although I don’t do melted chocolate in this recipe, check out these fudgey brownies to see what I’m talking about.

This is an overhead image of cosmic brownies with chocolate frosting and colorful candies on top. The brownies sit on a white piece of parchment paper.

Ingredients and Substitutions:

  • Butter: I used butter, but you could also use ghee, refined coconut oil, or your favorite vegetable oil.
  • Coconut sugar: If you don’t have coconut sugar, feel free to sub in another granular sweetener like brown or white sugar.
  • Eggs: Just two
  • Vanilla extract
  • Almond flour: Surprise! The base of these is almond flour which makes for a fluffy yet dense brownie
  • Cocoa powder: because… it’s a brownie!
  • Baking soda
  • Salt

How to make Fudgey Cosmic Brownies:

Mix. First you’ll whisk together all the ingredients in a large bowl. The batter will be luscious, fluffy, and super rich. Transfer the batter to an 8×8 square pan lined with parchment paper and then pop it in the oven.

Bake. For me 13 minutes was perfect for baking these brownies. This may vary depending o your oven or elevation, but it should be right around the 12 – 15 minute mark. Give the pan a little jiggle. If the center doesn’t move, then the brownies are set and baked!

Ganache. Wait until the brownies are cool before you get started on the ganache. Whisk together the ganache ingredients and pour it on top of the brownies. Sprinkle with the colorful chocolate candies.

Chill. Pop the brownies in the fridge to allow the ganache to set. After about 1 – 2 hours, you can remove the brownies. Pull the parchment paper edges up to remove the brownies from the pan. These brownies are best cut and served chilled.

HOT TIP! Want perfect lines when you cut your brownies? Use a plastic knife! Plastic knives glide through your brownie as you cut. With metal knives, crumbs tend to get stuck as you glide resulting in messy brownie squares. I couldn’t find a plastic knife in my house so I wiped my knife clean between each slice. It wasn’t AS good as a plastic knife, but better than expected 🙂

How to store these brownies?

Pantry. Keep the brownies in an airtight container in the pantry our out on the counter for about three days, then transfer to the fridge.

Fridge. These brownies can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

Freezer. You can also freeze them! Individually wrap the brownies in plastic wrap or plastic baggies and freeze them for a couple months! Allow them to defrost in the fridge the night before and come to room temperature on the counter before you serve.

This image is a side view of a stack of three cosmic brownies. The brownies have a base layer of brownie, a layer of chocolate frosting, and a top layer of colorful candies. The brownies sit on a piece of white parchment paper and other brownies are blurred in the white background.

More brownies to try:

  • Fudgey Gluten Free Brownies
  • Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies (gluten free)
  • Gluten Free Peppermint Brownie Skillet
  • Chewy Chocolate Brownie Cookies
  • Gluten Free Tahini Brownies
  • Avocado Brownies

Did you make this? Leave a review below and tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!

This is an overhead image of brownies with chocolate frosting and colorful candies on top. The brownies sit on a white piece of parchment paper. Recipe
GF Gluten-Free VG Vegetarian

Moist & Fudgey Cosmic Brownies with Almond Flour

This copycat recipe for Fudgey Cosmic Brownies is rich and chewy just like your favorite store-bought childhood treat!

Recipe by:Lindsay Grimes
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review
Prep: 10 min + 2 hours chill timeCook: 13 minTotal: 23 min
Print recipe Rate recipe Pin Save recipe
Servings: 16 brownies 1x

Ingredients

Brownies:

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup blanched almond flour
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Frosting:

  • 1 cup chocolate chips, melted
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • colorful candy coated chocolate candies (about 2 tablespoons)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, coconut sugar, eggs, and vanilla. 
  3. Once combined, add the almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. 
  4. Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper and transfer the brownie batter to the pan. Spread it out in an even layer. 
  5. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until the center is set and doesn’t jiggle when you give the pan a shake. 
  6. Allow the brownies to cool before you make the chocolate ganache frosting. 
  7. Whisk together the melted chocolate (Check out my tutorial How to Melt Chocolate Chips), cream, and butter until smooth. 
  8. Spread the chocolate out on top of the brownies. 
  9. Sprinkle the top with the colorful candies. 
  10. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours until the frosting is set. 
  11. Pull the edges of the parchment paper up to remove the brownies from the pan.
  12. Use a plastic knife (cleaner lines) to cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

Nutrition Info:

  • Serving Size: 1 brownie
  • Calories: 138
  • Sugar: 11.5g
  • Sodium: 112mg
  • Fat: 8.9g
  • Saturated Fat: 5.1g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 0g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 13.2g
  • Fiber: 0.8g
  • Protein: 2.1g
  • Cholesterol: 36mg
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15 no bake desserts

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  1. AvatarCarol Johnson says

    Posted on 2/21/22 at 10:14 am

    Made these these today and I used mint chocolate chips and they r delicious!

    Reply

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Lindsay

Nice to Meet You!

I’m Lindsay - cookbook author, blogger and chocolate lover! If gluten-free desserts are your jam, you’re in the right place! I live in south Jersey with my family and new puppy Roxie! Some of my favorite things are oat milk lattes, sunny days and warm, gooey chocolate chip cookies.

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GF Gluten-Free DF Dairy-Free V Vegan VG Vegetarian EF Egg-Free NF Nut-Free P Paleo Browse All

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This is an image of a cosmic brownie with a layer of fudgey brownie, a layer of chocolate ganache frosting, and colorful chocolates on top. The brownie is leaning against another brownie and both sit on a piece of white parchment paper. Text overlay reads "fudgey cosmic brownies".
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