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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are one of those classic recipes that I remember from my childhood. They’re rich and chocolatey, fudgy, soft, and are so pretty with the crackled powdered sugar tops. These are a must on any holiday cookie tray!
I remember making easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies as a kid during our Christmas cookie baking sessions – I always loved how much chocolate flavor they had! They’re almost like the center of brownies – which I love so much. I’ve perfected the recipe so that they’re perfectly soft. Plus they’re so pretty – and I’ve tested them several times so they’re guaranteed to become your favorite Christmas cookies.
Ingredients Needed
- All-purpose flour – be sure to measure it correctly.
- Cocoa powder – Use unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking powder – makes them nice and soft – normally cookies use baking soda, but we want a soft cake-like cookie for these.
- Vegetable oil – makes these mix up easy.
- Brown sugar- I love the softness that brown sugar brings to the cookies.
- Powdered sugar – For coating; the confectioners’ sugar gives tehm that crinkley look.
How to make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Combine dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, then set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients: Using a hand mixer on medium speed, mix oil, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Slowly mix in the previous dry ingredients until you have a dough.
- Mix wet ingredients and flour mixture. Chill your dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Place the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Scoop cookie dough into 1-inch balls and roll them in the powdered sugar until they are coated. Place cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Bake the cookies until the powered sugar coating is cracked and no longer glossy on top.
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Expert Tips
- Don’t over bake these – they’ll get dry if they cook too long.
- Normally I chill cookie dough after scooping but these are too soft to roll right away. Chill the dough at least 30 minutes before scooping.
- I recommend using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop for these. They’ll spread a little bit and 2-tablespoon size cookies might get too big.
- You can freeze these cookies for up to a month.
Storing Crinkle Cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. You can also freeze them – place layers of cookies between paper towels in freezer bags and they’ll store for at least a month.
FAQs
There are generally two reasons why cookies go flat, one is that the butter you used was too soft or downright melted even. The other is that not enough flour was used.
Chances are they need a few more minutes in the oven. they’re done once they lose their glossy sheen and look dull and cracked on top.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (186g) all purpose flour
- ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup (57g) powdered sugar for coating
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer, mix oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Slowly mix in dry ingredients. The dough is very wet.
- Chill the bowl of cookie dough at least 30-45 minutes, or until you're able to scoop and roll the dough without it falling apart.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Place powdered sugar in a small bowl. Scoop 1 or 2 tablespoon balls of dough. Roll the cookies in the powdered sugar then evenly space them cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Bake for about 7-10 minutes depending on size, rotating pans halfway through baking.
Recipe Notes
- Normally I scoop cookie dough before chilling but for this recipe it’s important to chill it first, otherwise the dough is too wet to roll in powdered sugar.
- I recommend making 1 tablespoon size cookies – these will spread just a bit and they’re rich, so 2 tablespoon cookies might be a bit large.
Amazing recipe but I did all the steps correct but when I put them in for 10 min, they were still undercooked
All ovens bake differently – it could take longer for your oven.
Awful recipe! I have made crinkle cookies before and never had so much difficulty making them, even after the batter being in the fridge for over 2 hours! The flavor wasn’t rich either. Good thing I have a fantastic backup chocolate crinkle cookie!
On another note, the dough is super sticky if you rub your hands in some powdered sugar and then pick up the dough, and roll a couple, and do the same again it helps tremendously!
Perfect cookie. I did substitute half a cup of oil for half a cup of melted butter because I had no oil and they came out just fine! Thanks!!
Yes, the dough is gooey & messy but a great tasting cookie, I topped mine with Hershey’s Peppermint Kisses for the holidays…deep chocolate flavor cookie, not too sweet with the peppermint topping yum!
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