Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
For all of the Christmas cookies, candy and goodies that my family has always made for the holidays, somehow crinkle cookies have never been something to show up on cookie trays. I guess we’re always a little too occupied with peanut butter blossoms, snowballs, buckeyes, pizzelle, biscotti and peppermint bark. Those beautiful powdered sugar-covered chocolate crinkle cookies have always been something that I wanted to try and I finally put them on my baking list for this year. If I had known how easy they were to make (no electric mixer required!) and how absolutely phenomenal they tasted, I would have started making them years ago.
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While I love my KitchenAid mixer, I am a huge fan of any recipe that can be made with a couple of bowls, a whisk and a spatula. These cookies fit the bill and the resulting flavor is outstanding. The cookies themselves taste like dense, fudge-like brownies, and the dusting of powdered sugar looks like a fresh snowfall (which I am still impatiently waiting for!).
Are you a crinkle cookie newbie or have you been making them for years? If they’re not part of your holiday repertoire yet, add them to your baking list immediately. Do as I say, not as I do!
One year ago: Classic Thumbprint Cookies
Five years ago: Date Nut Spice Bread
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1½ cups (330 g) light brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together the brown sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl. Combine the unsweetened chocolate and butter in a small bowl and microwave at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until combined. Fold in the flour mixture until no dry streaks remain. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Place the granulated sugar and powdered sugar in separate shallow bowls. Working with 2 tablespoons dough (or a medium cookie scoop) at a time, roll into balls. Drop dough balls directly into granulated sugar and roll to coat. Transfer dough balls to powdered sugar and roll to coat evenly. Evenly space the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cool completely on sheet before serving. The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I have made these delicious cookies for the last four years and they’ve turned out just like the picture. This year I want to add some peppermint extract to the batter. How much should I add? A teaspoon? Half teaspoon?
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed these, they’re one of my favorites, too! I would probably start with ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract and see how you like it. Enjoy!
There is nothing wrong with the recipe, but this is stolen WORD FOR WORD from America’s Test Kitchen….which aired before this site’s original publication date.
It makes it really hard to take this blogger seriously when they didn’t even tweak or put their own spin on someone else’s recipe. It was copy/paste.
Have some integrity and cite your source.
Tastes AMAZING!!!
I have been baking these at Christmas time for several years. We love them. The little crunch from the granulated sugar doesn’t bother us at all. I just made some and would attach a picture, but I don’t know how….
Dough was like cake batter – there was no way to form a ball. I added more flour to make it workable. When baked, the cookies did not spread and crack, they remained a ball. I think something is wrong with the number of eggs, baking powder vs baking soda amounts, or both. Will not be doing this again.
My cookies did not flatten out, what did I do wro g?
These were a hit at work! I added a little peppermint extract in it (less than 1/2 tsp) which was wonderful. The only thing I don’t love is the gritty granulated sugar texture while eating it. If I was making this for home, I’d probably omit it. The taste overall is wonderful though, esp hours after baking or the next day.
Just made these today and I really do enjoy the taste of the cookie. The one big turn off is the texture of the granulated sugar while eating. I understand that it helps prevent the powdered sugar from dissolving. Do you think cocoa powder would have the same effect if substituted?
These were fabulous, easy to make and turned out beautiful
Delicious but not traditional, turned out puffy and more like brownies. I was hoping to make crinkles like my grandma and nanny used to make but I should have just looked in the ancient cook books I took after they passed. My fault for trying to take a short cut but wasn’t what I was expecting. Maybe if you were to cook them longer or something? Or less egg? Idk but they rose up and didn’t fall back down.
I haven’t baked them yet. But they look incredibly sticky. All the recipes I tried for this cookie are the same when it comes to stickiness! Any hints on how to roll balls with this texture?
I have been making these, using this recipe for years. The ONLY modification i have made is to refrigerate the dough before rolling in to balls. I usually refrigerate 10-20 minutes instead of leaving to room temperature for 10 minutes. They come out PERFECT every time and taste wonderful. Our Christmas tradition and we look forward all year for them. AMAZING!
This recipe… does not make real chocolate crinkle cookies haha.. the batter is so liquidy that it’s impossible to roll them into balls and cover in powdered sugar. They end up as fluffy cakey cookies. Bummed because I was hoping for something dense chewy. For dense cookies probably want to leave out all that baking powder?