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These chewy chocolate crinkle cookies are rolled in powdered sugar with irresistibly crackly tops! They’re ready in less than 30 minutes with only 10 ingredients. You won’t believe how decadent and chocolatey these easy holiday cookies turn out!
Looking for more cookie recipes to satisfy a holiday chocolate craving? Try my chocolate sugar cookies and these double chocolate sandwich cookies.
These chocolate crinkle cookies are fudgy and gooey inside, with crisp, crinkled tops. Rolling the dough in powdered sugar gives these classic cookies their signature snow-dusted look. Sprinkled with a bit of flaky salt and dunked into a glass of milk, they’re any chocolate lover’s cookie dream! Here’s why:
- Chocolatey and chewy. These chocolate crinkle cookies have the BEST texture! The secret to their chewiness is in the melted butter. Melting the butter beforehand lets it work into the dough more smoothly, for chewy, unbelievably moist chocolate cookies.
- Easy to make. Don’t let their gorgeous crackly tops fool you into thinking these cookies are difficult to make. This easy cookie recipe needs only 10 ingredients and they’re ready to eat in less than 30 minutes.
- Full of flavor. Brown sugar and cocoa powder come together for a soft, chocolatey bite with hints of molasses. Freshly baked or a couple of days after, these crinkle cookies taste like brownies and devil’s food cake all in one.
Crinkles (or crinkle cookies) are named after their signature crinkly, crackly tops. Crinkle cookie dough gets rolled in powdered sugar right before baking. As the cookies spread in the oven, the tops crack, creating that classic white, crackled texture.
Crinkle cookies come in a variety of flavors, from red velvet to chocolate and matcha. Just about any cookie can be rolled in powdered sugar to become crinkle cookies! They’re a classic Christmas cookie recipe and one of my favorites next to peppermint chocolate thumbprint cookies, Grinch cookies, and sugar cookies!
What You’ll Need
With only a few easy ingredients, these crinkle cookies are easy to make and extremely chocolatey. For a printable ingredients list with amounts, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- All-purpose flour – Avoid cake flour as it will soften your cookies too much. All-purpose flour is best for providing the structure we need.
- Sugar – I use a combination of granulated sugar and dark brown sugar in this recipe. Light brown sugar works too.
- Baking powder – It’s not the same as baking soda, so don’t try to substitute one for the other.
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – Feel free to use salted butter, just leave out any added salt in the recipe.
- Unsweetened natural cocoa powder – Dutch-processed cocoa powder is also an option. It’ll make the flavor even fudgier.
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar – This is also referred to as confectioners’ sugar. It’s key to these chocolate crinkle cookies’ snowy appearance!
Tips and Variation Ideas
- Use melted butter. Melting the butter completely is a key step to keeping these crinkle cookies soft and chewy.
- Coat the cookies with granulated sugar first. If you find that the powdered sugar melts into your crinkle cookies, roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before rolling them in powdered sugar.
- Check that the cookies are done. Your chocolate crinkle cookies are done when the tops are crackly and a little bit glossy.
- Don’t overbake. Don’t leave your chocolate crinkle cookie in the oven for too long, or the cookies will be dry and overbaked. It’s better to take them out while they’re still slightly underbaked, as the cookies will continue to set up as they cool on the baking sheet.
- Chill the dough. If you have time, chilling the chocolate cookie dough in the fridge for 3-4 hours before rolling will make it more manageable and less sticky.
- Grease your hands. Add a bit of non-stick baking spray or vegetable oil to your hands before rolling the dough into little balls. This will help prevent any sticking.
- Add chocolate chips. Add 1/2-1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the dough for an extra chocolatey cookie.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a couple of reasons why crinkle cookies don’t crack. First, your oven may not be hot enough. Use an oven thermometer to see if it’s preheating properly. Second, it could be expired baking powder. Always check the best-before date!
Warm or room-temperature cookie dough tends to spread and flatten out more than chilled dough. If you’re worried about flat cookies, refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours before rolling it into balls and baking.
Too much flour in the dough can result in dry, cakey cookies. Another reason is overbaking. Don’t leave your cookies in the oven longer than 13 minutes. Even if they’re still soft and gooey in the center, they’ll finish baking in the residual heat once they’re out of the oven.
How to Store
These chocolate crinkle cookies will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Store your crinkle cookies away from sunlight and humidity to keep the powdered sugar from absorbing into the cookies. If this happens, don’t worry. Give the tops a light sprinkling of more sugar when serving, and they’re good as new!
Can I Freeze Crinkle Cookies?
Definitely! These chocolate cookies can be frozen baked or unbaked. Here’s how:
- Unbaked. Scoop the dough into balls, but skip the powdered sugar. Instead, pre-freeze the dough balls on a baking sheet and then transfer them to a freezer bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, roll the dough in powdered sugar and bake as directed straight from frozen.
- Baked. Pre-freeze the cooled cookies on a baking sheet until solid, and transfer them to a freezer bag or container. Freeze the baked cookies for up to 2 months. Thaw the cookies on the counter and re-dust the cookies with powdered sugar before serving.
These snowy chocolate crinkles also look great on a holiday cookie platter next to more favorites, like decorated sugar cookies, sweet anise cookies, and gingerbread men! You could also try:
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 24-28 Cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These decadent chocolate crinkle cookies are ready to eat in 30 minutes! Extremely fudgy and chocolatey and dusted with powdered sugar, they’re the perfect holiday cookie.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (115g) packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (90g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3/4 cup (65g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Combine the melted butter and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. The mixture will be very thick, almost like a paste.
- Stir in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Pour into the dry ingredients and, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat it all together on medium-high speed. The mixture may seem dry at first, but will come together as you continue to mix.
- Measure one tablespoon of the dough. Gently roll into a ball, then roll each ball in confectioners’ sugar to coat.
- Place balls about 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-13 minutes. The cookies will slightly spread and form cracks. The centers will look soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Eggs must be at room temperature. They won’t properly mix into the butter cocoa mixture if they’re cold.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or on the stovetop before you start, so it has time to cool down slightly. We don’t want to cook the eggs.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 115
- Sugar: 14.2 g
- Sodium: 51.7 mg
- Fat: 3.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 21 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 26.5 mg
Perfect! I tried two other recipes that were messy flops, but these make me into Goldilocks – Just right! Thank you.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Lindsay, I just made these cookies tonight. As others said my mixture was sticky and wouldn’t roll, so I used an ice cream 2 tbsp scoop and just placed them on the cookie sheet with powdered sugar underneath them. Then I shook powdered sugar over the tops. They look great and taste good too. However I think I overcooked them a little because I left them in longer being they were double the size. I only yielded 28 cookies because I made bigger ones. Thanks for sharing this.
Yes it the dough fairly sticky. It definitely helps once you drop the balls in some powdered sugar and then you can shape them a little better.
I love that this receipe does not need to be refrigerated before baking and can be scaled down easily. I just made a 1/3 batch of 10 cookies, and they convert beautifully to gluten and dairy free with Bob’s Red Mill One to One Baking Flour and a dairy-free margarine of your choice! I added some espresso powder to bring the chocolate out even more. Can’t wait to try them!!
I’m glad to hear they turned out well! Thanks Olivia!
My cookies are not coming out properly, they’ve turned into giant cookies with little specks of powdered sugar on top. My dough seems extremely wet? Hopefully they taste good and are pretty enough to share, but maybe you can tell me what I did wrong.
It’s hard to say what happened from a distance. Were the eggs at room temperature and butter cooled before adding the two together?
First batch I stuck with 12 minutes in oven then reduced the time with each batch after for a softer cookie, 9 minutes was the winner! Great recipe, thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Hey Lindsay! I tried this recipe today but had a hard time rolling the dough into balls because they were so sticky and eventually formed a chocolate glove on my hands. Any idea what I did wrong? I followed the measurements with a weighing scale and tried adding a bit more flour, but no luck. Thank you!
It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong, it is a fairly sticky dough. You might find it helpful to put the ball into the powder sugar, then roll it a little bit, and then shape it so it doesn’t stick to your hands so badly.
Thanks! I’ll try that next time 🙂
I found this tip to be very helpful. Place the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. It lets you handle the dough and roll them without it significantly sticking to your hands.
What i found making these is putting your hand in the sugar and roll dough briefly to shape a semi (ish) circle the pressing down slightly when on tray.
Can these be made as one large cookie? Say in a 9×11 pan? Any to put this as a top layer on a multi-layer cake.
That’s very hard to say without testing it. I’m not sure. Sorry!
Thanks. I will test and post.
Thank you, I will store in a cool spot, Can you tell me how long they keep?
Kristine
I’d say about 3 days, maybe 4, is safest for soft cookies.
Love these cookies, serving them for Christmas party, do you know if they freeze well.
Thank you,
K
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I haven’t tried freezing them, but I’d think they’d be ok. The only thing that might present an issue is that the powdered sugar might not have the same nice look after thawing, because of the moisture.
Just made these very tasty cookies! They turned out so pretty! My husband loves them. I will definitely make them again. Thank you for sharing this recipe:-)
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hai Mam tried these cookies and it came well.. loved it..
Thank you dear friend ????
Lyndsay, these are my all time favorite cookie so thank you for sharing. Have a delicious weekend xoxo
Chocolate earthquakes! Oh, I used to love these when I was little! Something about licking the powdered sugar off my lips really got me. I haven’t had one in years, I’ll have to try making these.
hey girl- these cookies look amazing!
What a festive and pretty cookie! I’ll definitely make these in the next couple of weeks. I can’t wait for my copy of the cookbook. So excited! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Patricia! I hope you enjoy them and the cookbook!