Buzz
You gave those TikTok Nutella and Biscoff cookie butter freezer brownies a go and loved the taste, but hated the process. Spreading Nutella and cookie butter onto parchment paper was a sticky nightmare, they took forever to freeze, and by the time they were ready, you’d spent hours on it. Good news: there’s a quicker and easier way to make this layered brownie treat (because brownies shouldn’t take forever). It turns out the key is freezing the right layers.
The original TikTok freezer brownie method has you spread thin layers of Nutella and Biscoff cookie butter onto separate pieces of parchment paper, freeze them until firm, then layer them between brownie batter. Once the layers have frozen, you peel them off and arrange them between the batter layers, adding a final dollop of brownie batter on top. Then, just bake it, and you’ll end up with gooey brownies full of distinct candy-butter layers.
It sounds great in theory, but there were three major problems: the Nutella and Biscoff layers take forever to freeze, they soften too quickly, making it hard to peel them off the parchment, and the frozen layers are tricky to align properly with the pan’s corners and edges.
The concept of perfectly layered brownies sounded amazing to me, though the method seemed a bit off. Both the Biscoff and Nutella spreads are made with different oils, and freezing an unsaturated fat will take a long time and the results won’t last, since unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. Even if you manage to get these dessert spreads to freeze, they’ll soften quickly. Without a walk-in fridge and gloves, your warm hands and room temperatures above 40°F will be enough to melt the cookie butter.
So, I decided to switch things up.
Most brownie recipes use a high amount of butter, which is a saturated fat that solidifies easily in the freezer. Butter freezes quickly and holds a firm texture, making it a great base for spreading sweet, gooey layers. Plus, it only takes 10-15 minutes to firm up, so there’s no need to wait hours in advance.
Prepare your brownie batter of choice. This could be a homemade recipe with butter, or a boxed mix. If you’re using a boxed mix, it typically requires adding egg, water, and oil to the dry mix. Just swap out the oil measurement for an equal amount of melted butter. For example, I used a Duncan Hines boxed mix that called for ½ cup of oil, but I melted one stick of butter instead. It worked perfectly, giving me the added bonus of a richer butter flavor. Plus, butter firms up more than oil after baking, making it easier to cut perfect squares and reveal all your layers.
Spread about ⅓ of the batter into a buttered and parchment-lined baking dish, using the size specified in the brownie recipe. Freeze the batter for 10-15 minutes. Keep your chocolate hazelnut and cookie spreads at room temperature so they’re easy to spread. Once the batter has firmed up, remove it from the freezer and layer on the Nutella. This step allows you to spread the chocolate-hazelnut filling all the way to the edges and corners, and you can adjust the thickness to your liking—whether it’s paper-thin or up to ¼-inch thick—giving you more control than the original method. Then, immediately top with another ⅓ of your brownie batter.
Place the dish back in the freezer for another 10-15 minutes. Spread the cookie butter over the middle brownie layer to your preferred thickness. Immediately add the final layer of brownie batter over the Biscoff. Bake the layered brownie according to the recipe’s instructions and your desired outcome, allowing a few extra minutes to compensate for the cold temperature and the extra layers. I like a fudgy yet set center, so I added 7-10 minutes to the bake time.
Enjoy the brownies however you prefer—fresh and gooey, or cold and fudgy. The brownies slice better after chilling, and you can refrigerate them further if you want the layers to stand out in every cut. This method also works well for other spreads that don’t freeze, like fruit jams, frostings, or marshmallow fluff. Get creative and have fun experimenting with your own viral brownie combinations.
