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If you’ve never had a warm self-saucing chocolate cake, prepare to fall in love. This Chocolate Cobbler Recipe is made in an 8-inch brownie pan. The best way to describe it is basically a brownie baked with hot fudge on the bottom. The method of baking is so weird, but you just have to trust me here!
I’ve heard this chocolate cobbler recipe called many things over the years: chocolate pudding cake, mud pie, brownie pie, brownie fudge bake, death by chocolate, and more. But mainly, I hear it referred to as ‘the best chocolate dessert ever.’ Which is 100% true.
Essentially, it’s a brownie baked with hot fudge sauce, all in one pan!
What is Chocolate Cobbler?
Chocolate cobbler is a warm, gooey chocolate dessert that is part brownie and part hot fudge sauce. It’s incredibly easy to make and is best served warm from the oven.
The method to make this Chocolate Cobbler feels very strange. It starts with a thick layer of brownie batter on the bottom of the baking dish, followed by a crumbled dry mixture on top. Boiling water is poured on top of both layers in the dish—it is never stirred. Resist the urge to stir the layers together, or you will not get a layer of fudge on the bottom with brownie on top!
Watch the video below to see what I mean. Thick batter has dry crumble on top, followed by a pool of hot water that is never stirred in!
You will doubt me when you’re baking. You will think I’m crazy, but when it comes out of the oven, you will become a believer. At that point, you will praise me for helping you get brownies and hot fudge sauce in the same pan for such little effort!
This recipe for chocolate cobbler is amazing served with vanilla ice cream, because the heat of the fudge sauce just begs for it. Warm chocolate cake with fudge sauce and ice cream is the literal definition of ‘best chocolate dessert ever.’
Fun side note: this recipe is entirely egg free, so if you’re out of eggs or avoiding eggs because of an egg allergy, you can enjoy this! I seem to have a lot of Moms write writing to me and asking for more egg-free recipes for their kiddos once they discover my small batch of chocolate cupcakes are egg-free.
Baking tips for this Southern Chocolate Cobbler Recipe:
- The pan I use is an 8 or 9-inch square brownie pan.
- If you want this recipe to serve just two: you can also halve the recipe and bake it in a 0.6-quart (20-ounce) dish. To see if your small baking dish will work, fill it up with water—it should hold 2.5 cups of water to the top.
- Bake this chocolate cobbler on a sheet pan to catch drips from the hot fudge sauce bubbling up from underneath.
- Let it cool for 15 minutes before scooping and serving with vanilla ice cream.
- Yes, the recipe really doesn’t have any eggs!
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour. For the bottom brownie layer, you need regular all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder. Baking powder makes the brownie topping puff up in the oven.
- Espresso Powder. To enhance the chocolate flavor (especially when water is an ingredient in a recipe), I always add a little espresso powder. It doesn’t make the dessert taste like coffee at all; it just makes everything taste richer.
- Cocoa Powder. We need unsweetened cocoa powder for the brownie bottom and for the hot fudge sauce.
- Milk. The best milk to bake with is whole milk, but you can use 2% if that’s all you have.
- Sugar. The bottom brownie layer uses white granulated sugar only.
- Butter. Melted unsalted butter to make the batter.
- Vanilla. Use real pure vanilla extract.
- Brown Sugar. The top hot fudge layer uses brown sugar–you can se light or dark.
How to Make Chocolate Cobbler
- Preheat the oven to 350 and have ready a 8-inch square baking dish. There’s no need to grease or line the pan.
2. First, make the brownie layer: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, espresso powder (if using), and the cocoa powder.
3. Stir in the milk, granulated sugar, melted butter and vanilla. The batter will be very thick.
4. Spread it in an even layer on the bottom of the baking dish.
5. In a separate bowl, make the top layer: whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar and brown sugar.
6. Sprinkle this over the brownie batter evenly. Do not stir or mix!
7. Pour the hot tap water on top of everything, but DO NOT STIR. Bake on a small sheet pan to catch any potential overflow for 35 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving hot.
How to serve Brownie Cobbler
This brownie cobbler is best served warm, almost immediately after baking. Truly, 15 minutes after it comes out of the oven is the peak point of deliciousness and temperature. You want the brownie layer to firm up and for the hot fudge on top to be melty and gooey.
How to store this Recipe for Chocolate Cobbler
If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Before serving, it’s best to warm it in the oven to make it melty again.
Southern Chocolate Cobbler
Southern chocolate cobbler recipe.
Ingredients
- For the brownie bottom layer:
- 1 cup flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup milk
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- For the top layers:
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup hot tap water
- for serving: vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and have ready an 8 or 9-inch square brownie pan.
- First, make the brownie layer: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, espresso powder (if using), and the cocoa powder. Stir in the milk, granulated sugar, melted butter and vanilla. The batter will be very thick. Spread it in an even layer in the baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, make the top layer: whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar and brown sugar. Sprinkle this over the brownie batter evenly.
- Pour the hot tap water on top of everything, but DO NOT STIR.
- Bake the cobbler on a small sheet pan to catch overflow for 35 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving hot.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 482Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 318mgCarbohydrates: 85gFiber: 2gSugar: 60gProtein: 6g
Pure chocolate bliss! This will be another frequent repeat!
I am so glad I found this recipe! My mom used to make this when I was growing up, only she made it in an 8×8 pan, so it served several people. I’ve always wished there was a way to make a smaller amount since I live alone. I’ll definitely be making this soon!
this is delish…i made it the first time and ate the whole thing by myself in one day…the second time, i halved it, and cooked it in the microwave , kind of like a brownie in a mug, it was done in 2 1/2 minutes! and it was delish!…
What wattage is your microwave? Mine is 700 watt and I’m trying to judge how long this would take if I also halved the recipe. Thanks.
Made this tonight for the family and it was absolutely delicious! I used a small casserole dish. Not sure of the size but it was big enough so nothing ran over the edges. Thank goodness! Wouldn’t want to waste a drop of it! It was the perfect amount for the 4 of us with a scoop or two of ice cream on top. Just sooooo good! Great dessert for a special occasion.
Happened to have the right size dish – thanks so much for explaining the correct size in such detail. This recipe was a great treat! With just the 2 of us, it made enough for 4 servings. I made it with Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder; next time I’ll try it with regular, plain cocoa powder. Also, in my countertop convection oven, it baked for 35 minutes at 325* (rather than 350*) & it turned out fine.
You said you made a video, there is no video that I can find in this post
It’s in the side bar on mobile. It’s in the paragraph on desktop. Unless you have ad blocker and pop-up blocker enabled?
Last night I was thinking about chocolate pudding cake from my childhood and decided I needed to search for a two serving recipe. This morning I open Pinterest and this is one of the first things I see! Thank you for developing a small batch recipe. As a chocoholic and diabetic I don’t dare have a full sized cake in the house. I am looking forward to trying this out sometime when I have someone to share it with.
Has anyone tried making this on the STOVETOP ? My mom used to make a similar dish and she made it in a medium? saucepan on the stove. I am pretty sure she had the lid on but not sure of the burner setting. I am ovenless currently and would like to try doing it on the stovetop. Her recipe was very close to yours but had chopped nuts and was called Chocolate Brownie Pudding. Thanks~
I’d like to try baking this in 2 ramekins, any guesses for how much baking time to reduce? Or what is the best way to watch/judge that it is done since with the sauce at the bottom the toothpick probably wouldn’t be helpful. I know that isn’t the way you wrote or designed the recipe, thanks for any educated guesses you could suggest
I don’t see myself sharing this with anybody….