These chocolate crinkle cookies are rich and incredibly chocolatey—basically brownies in cookie form! With their crackled powdered sugar tops, crispy exteriors, and melt-in-your-mouth centers, they are as beautiful as they are delicious. Plus, they are very easy to prepare, making them perfect for the holidays!
★★★★★
I made this 2 days ago and iit turned out awesome.. My kids loved it. I made it in the night and by next day evening all of it disappeared completely. Thanks for your awesome recipe. The cookies are light with a crispy exterior and a soft melt in your mouth cakey interior. They want me to make it again.
- Divya
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
We first published these chocolate crinkle cookies in 2017, and over the years, especially during the holidays, we've been perfecting them to improve their texture and flavor, just like our healthy Linzer cookies. Here's why we know you'll love them as much as we do!
Rich chocolate flavor—These cookies have extra chocolate! We incorporated melted chocolate into the dough, apart from cocoa powder, resulting in decadent, rich chocolate crinkle cookies that are soft and gooey with a crispy crust!
Easy and fast—They are made with simple ingredients and are easy and quick to prepare, even in advance. It’s also a fun project to do with loved ones, like our Nutella stuffed cookies.
Ingredients For This Recipe
Cocoa powder—For the best chocolate crinkle cookies, we use Dutch cocoa powder to achieve a more intense chocolate flavor and create beautifully dark-colored cookies.
Baking chocolate—Our secret of taking these cookies to another level! It enhances flavor and helps to achieve that gooey melt-in-your-mouth texture and chewy chocolate crinkle cookies! We use semi-sweet chocolate with 55% cocoa.
Butter—Gives the cookies a wonderful buttery flavor! We use unsalted butter, hence the addition of salt. Omit it if using salted butter.
Sugars—The blend of granulated and brown sugar gives these chocolate crinkle cookies the perfect sweetness with a touch of caramel while also preventing them from spreading.
Powdered sugar—This gives the cookies their signature white crinkle look! Depending on your location, it's also known as confectioner sugar. Our snowball cookies without nuts look dreamily snowy with it!
See the recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
A baker's best friend!
Kitchen scale
It provides precise measurements for your ingredients, surpassing measuring cups. We strongly recommend it, as baking is a science!
Step-By-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Mix dry ingredients. In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Mix everything well and set aside. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate gently in the microwave or over the stove (with Bain Marine). Let it cool before using.
- Step 2: Cream butter and sugar. In another bowl, add granulated and brown sugar together with butter. Mix using a handheld or standing mixer until pale.
- Step 3: Add the rest. Then add the cooled melted chocolate, vanilla extract, and the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition.
- Step 4: Add in dry ingredients. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to overmix to prevent tough cookies. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or until firm.
- Step 5: Assemble. Scoop the dough into 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls and roll them in icing sugar to coat. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, keeping them 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
- Step 6: Bake. Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (175ºC) on the middle rack for 10 minutes. Avoid overbaking to prevent them from becoming dry. Enjoy your fudgy chocolate crinkle cookies!
Recipe Expert Tips
If you're going to make this chocolate crinkle cookies recipe, make sure to follow these top tips!
- Let the melted chocolate cool slightly before using. This will avoid making the dough too loose with the heat.
- Chill the dough. This is important so it gets to the right consistency and is more manageable before baking, a method that we use in our peanut butter chocolate cookies.
- Bake immediately after coating the cookies with powdered sugar. It will prevent the cookies from absorbing the sugar if you let them sit on the counter. So coat them in batches as you're baking!
How To Store And Freeze
Store—Keep these cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days and in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze the raw dough—After chilling the dough, scoop it into balls and place them on a parchment-lined tray. Freeze for 1 hour until solid, then transfer to an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw for 30 minutes or until they reach the previously chilled consistency before baking as instructed.
Freeze the baked cookies—After they have completely cooled, store them in an airtight container in the freezer for up to six months. Thaw them at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
There are two reasons for that if you haven't changed or substituted anything in the recipe:
1) The dough wasn't chilled long enough. Depending on the coldness of your fridge, it might take more than 3 hours to chill. Chill until it's firm.
2) There wasn't enough flour in the dough to help the cookies' structure. We highly recommend using a kitchen scale, as it's more precise. If using cup measurements, use the scoop and level method.
The dough is supposed to be sticky at the beginning, so it must be chilled for at least 3 hours until it is firm enough to handle. Give it time.
They should have the crack signature; however, if they didn't, these might be the reasons:
1) The oven wasn't hot enough. Make sure to preheat it; using a portable thermometer helps nail the correct temperature.
2) Expired baking powder, which prevented the cookies from expanding and creating that unique crackling look.
Did you try these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies?
Please leave us ★★★★★ ratings and feedback below in the comment section. We'd love to know how it went, what you liked, or if there's anything we can improve. Share and tag us on Instagram; we'd like to see your creation.
Thank you! -Bea and Marco
Watch How To Make Them
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (40 g) Dutch cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredient
- 2 oz (60 g) semisweet baking chocolate 55% cocoa , cut into chunks
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter , room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (75 g) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
Other
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
Dry Ingredients
- In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Mix everything well and set aside.
Wet Ingredients
- Melt the chocolate gently in the microwave or over the stove (use the Bain Marine method). Let it cool before using.
- In another bowl, add granulated and brown sugar together with butter. Mix using a handheld or standing mixer until pale.
- Then add the cooled melted chocolate, vanilla extract, and the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition.
- Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, being careful not to overmix to prevent tough cookies. Cover the bowl with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or until firm.
Assemble
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough using an ice cream scoop into 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls and roll them in icing sugar to coat. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, keeping them 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Do this step just before baking, don't coat the balls in powdered sugar, and let them sit around.
Bake
- Bake on the middle rack for 10 minutes. Avoid overbaking to prevent them from becoming dry. Let them cool for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Enjoy your fudgy chocolate crinkle cookies!
Notes
- Use the scoop and level method. This prevents from using excess flour, resulting in tough cookies.
- Let the melted chocolate cool slightly before using. This will avoid making the dough too loose with the heat.
- Chill the dough. This is important so it gets to the right consistency and is more manageable before baking.
- Bake immediately after coating the cookies with powdered sugar. It will prevent the cookies from absorbing the sugar if you let them sit on the counter. So coat them in batches as you're baking!
Nutrition Facts
The nutrition facts provided are an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Originally published on Oct 28, 2017. Updated with improved text, recipe, and pictures on Dec 6, 2024.
Divya says
I tried this recipe.Came out really well.Very tasty and delicious.
Bea & Marco says
Yay! We're happy to hear that. Thank you!
Joelle says
Can I swap cocoa powder with strawberry powder? Do i use the same amount if so? I wanted to make this is different flavors 🙂
Bea says
Sorry, I haven't tried with strawberry powder. Let me know if you try it.
Divya says
I made this 2 days ago and iit turned out awesome.. My kids loved it. I made it in the night and by next day evening all of it disappeared completely. Thanks for your awesome recipe. The cookies are light with a crispy exterior and a soft melt in your mouth cakey interior. They want me to make it again.
Bea says
That's great Divya! Thank you!