Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
These chocolate crinkle cookies are soft, cakey, slightly fudgy, and delicious too! The perfect Christmas cookie!
One of my favorite times of year is Christmas because of all the treats, specifically the cookies! Earlier this week I shared my favorite cut-out sugar cookie recipe, so today I wanted to share another classic – these chocolate crinkle cookies.
Truth be told, I attempted these cookies last year around Christmas time and I couldn’t find a recipe that I loved. I wanted the cookies to be soft, a little fudgy, and most importantly I wanted the powdered sugar to hold up well. After a lot of recipe testing, I finally created a recipe that checks all of those boxes and the powdered sugar holds up for days!
These cookies are almost like a cakey brownie, but in cookie form. And yes, they’re just as delicious as they sound!
Ingredients For This Recipe
Unlike most of my other cookie recipes, this one uses melted butter and more eggs to achieve a perfect cookie dough where the powdered sugar holds up. Here are the ingredients that you will be using for this chocolate crinkle cookie recipe:
- All-Purpose Flour: This provides the structure for your cookies, be sure to spoon and level your flour as well. Too much flour can lead do a very dense and crumbly cookie.
- Cocoa Powder: There’s 1 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder in these cookies for maximum chocolate flavor. I used natural unsweetened cocoa powder, but Dutch-process would be fine too. I explain more about the difference between both kinds of cocoa powders here.
- Baking Powder & Salt: The baking powder gives the cookies some lift and the salt balances out the sweetness of the cookies.
- Melted Butter: In many of my cookie recipes I prefer to use softened butter, but for this recipe we’re using melted butter. Many chocolate crinkle cookies use oil, but I find that butter adds more flavor. Be sure to let your butter cool slightly before mixing it with the other ingredients as well.
- Sugar: I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar, the brown sugar adds more flavor to the cookies and keeps them moist. I used light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar will work too.
- Eggs & Vanilla: There are 4 large eggs in these cookies, which may seem like quite a bit, but it’s necessary for this particular dough. I recommend using room temperature eggs because cold eggs can shock the melted butter and cause it to solidify. The vanilla also adds a little flavor.
- Powdered Sugar: Also known as confectioner sugar or icing sugar, the cookie dough is rolled into it right before baking.
How To Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
To make these chocolate crinkle cookies, start by sifting together the flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. I highly recommend doing this, otherwise, you can end up with some lumps of cocoa powder in your cookies. Let’s be honest, no one wants that, so don’t skip it! Then, whisk in the baking powder and salt.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until they’re well combined. Then, mix in the eggs and pure vanilla extract until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix them together until just combined.
This dough is very similar to brownie batter so don’t be worried once you mix it together, this is normal! The dough needs to be covered tightly and chilled for at least 2 hours, this will make the cookies bake up nice and thick and make the dough much easier to work with too.
Once the dough is thoroughly chilled, preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a few large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Take your cookie dough out of the refrigerator, scoop it out, and roll each ball of cookie dough in the powdered sugar. I prefer to use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop because it creates the perfect size cookie. Feel free to use a smaller or larger cookie scoop if you prefer and just adjust the baking time accordingly.
With a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, I find that 11 to 13 minutes is the perfect amount of time to bake them. The tops should look set and they will start to crack when they are done. Just be sure to let them cool completely before enjoying them!
Tips For Storing & Freezing
These crinkle cookies can be stored for up to one week at room temperature in an airtight container, if you need to store them longer then I recommend freezing them.
To freeze the baked cookies, make sure they are cooled completely and store them in a freezer bag or freezer-friendly storage container for up to 3 months. I recommend placing some parchment paper between each layer of cookies so that they don’t stick together. When you’re ready to enjoy the cookies, simply let them sit on the counter for a few hours so that they can come to room temperature.
To freeze the cookie dough, scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for 1 to 2 hours. Store the frozen balls of cookie dough in a freezer bag or freezer-friendly storage container for up to 3 months. To bake the cookies, thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator, coat with powdered sugar, and bake as directed.
Baking Tips
- Make sure to sift your flour and cocoa powder together first, this will remove any lumps that could end up in your cookie dough.
- Let your butter cool slightly before mixing it with the other wet ingredients. If the butter is too hot, you could end up with some scrambled eggs in your dough.
- It’s best to use room temperature eggs for these cookies. To bring your eggs to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Chill the dough for at least 2 hours. This is a sticky cookie dough so chilling it will make it much easier to work with!
- Use a cookie scoop – this will make it so much easier to scoop the dough and the cookies will all bake up uniform in size.
More Chocolate Cookies To Try!
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour spooned & leveled
- 1 cup (85 grams) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (115 grams) unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (150 grams) light brown sugar packed
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (60 grams) powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and cocoa powder together then whisk in the baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. Mix in the eggs and pure vanilla extract until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together until just combined.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough, roll in the powdered sugar, and place onto the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Do you leave them as a ball to cook or press them down?
I leave them as a ball, but feel free to press them down some if you want them to spread more.
How do you keep the icing sugar from melting?
As soon as I put them to bake in the oven the sugar melted.
I just coat them with a thick layer of powdered sugar, like the pictures in the post. Are you making any adjustments to the recipe? It definitely shouldn’t melt into the cookies.
I’d like to make these tomorrow but would like to know if adding 1tsp peppermint extract in place if 1 of the tsp vanilla would work in terms of flavour/texture?
Hi, Jody! I haven’t tested these with peppermint extract, but I do think that would be okay. You could always start out with 1/2 teaspoon then add a bit more if you think it needs it.
I don’t have any parchment paper. Can I use the baking spray that has the shortening and flour in it? Also what is the nutritional information? For example calories per cookie if it yields 32 in a recipe?
Yes, but I would just very lightly spray your baking sheets so the cookies don’t spread too much. I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
I just realized how much sugar is in these. Could the sugar be cut back without affecting the result?
You could probably reduce it by about 1/4 cup, but I wouldn’t recommend more than that. You do need the sugar to balance out the bitterness of the cocoa powder and help the cookies spread.
What a great Christmas cookie recipe! I followed it exactly and they are so chocolately and so beautiful. I’m making them to give to friends for Christmas. Note to myself is to make sure I don’t make the balls too big. These are very rich cookies so small is just right.
I just made these and they are so good! Thank you so much for the recipe. I did cut back some sugar and it turned out just right. Just one question, how can you get less messy while forming the dough to the ball? I used the tablespoon to scoop but it was so sticky. In the end, my hands were sticky too. (The dough was in the fridge for 3-4 hours) Thank you.
A cookie scoop really helps! I just scoop the dough with a cookie scoop, place it in the bowl of powdered sugar, and roll it. Makes it much easier!
I LOVE these cookies and my friends also love them!!
Ive been looking for a scoop to use for them, but i’m not sure how big i would need the scoop to be. How many ounces do you think would be equal to around the 1.5 tablespoons? Thank you for the amazing recipes!! ❤️
Hi, Rachel! I really love the OXO medium (size 40) cookie scoop for this recipe. I would guess 1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough to be around 30 to 32 grams, so just a little over an ounce.
Utterly famtastic ! Beautiful looks and awesome flavor. My neighbors loved them. I highly recommend making these any time of the year.
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I baked these yesterday and they are so chocolatey and delicious. The powdered sugar stayed perfectly. My scoop got a little sticky and my hands too, toward the end. But a small price to pay. These are really great!! Thank you.
Hey, Danielle!
I made the batter for these amazing-looking chocolate crinkle cookies only to realize that I’ve run out of powdered sugar? If I bake these cookies without the powdered sugar, will they still turn out okay even though they won’t be wrinkly? 🙂
Yes, absolutely! You can just bake them as directed without rolling them in any sugar!
I made these and didn’t put them in the fridge first (I forgot). I also rolled them in a course white sugar before the powdered sugar. They tasted even better on the second day. It was like a cup of hot cocoa in cookie form. So delicious! This will be a new addition to our Christmas cookie gift platters this year. Thank you so much for the great recipe.
This did not work out well for me. I have a pile of sticky batter that doesn’t come off my fingers. And this straight out of the refrigerator after chilling overnight. What did I do wrong?
This cookie dough is stickier than other ones, but it should be easier to scoop if you chilled it overnight. Did you double check all of the measurements that you used? If so, I highly recommend scooping the dough with a cookie scoop if you have one. It will make it much easier.
The key here is not wasting anytime to roll the balls of dough right after taking it out of the refrigerator. Cookie scoop does make it easier, too. Thank you Danielle for this smashing cookie recipe.
I lost my recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies so I was looking for a new one. I remembered my recipe had melted butter so decided to try this one. Unfortunately, the dough is very sticky and hard to work so I couldn’t even scoop the dough. I even refrigerated over night. They also came out very cakey and I even baked them 2 minutes less than suggested. I can’t blame the oven because it worked for all my other cookies. ?
Any suggestions
This is a stickier cookie dough, so I do recommend using a cookie scoop if you have one. These cookies are meant to be a little cakey as well. If you’re looking for a recipe that’s soft and chewy you can try this recipe instead.