Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
These chocolate crinkle cookies are the ultimate holiday classic—soft, fudgy, and coated in snowy powdered sugar. Each bite delivers rich, chocolatey goodness with a melt-in-your-mouth texture that’s equal parts brownie and cookie. Beautiful, simple, and perfectly sweet, they’re a must-bake for any cookie tray or cozy night in.
Meet your new favorite chocolate fix: chocolate crinkle cookies!
They’re rich, fudgy, and ridiculously easy to make — no stress, just pure chocolate bliss. The perfect Christmas cookie for a cookie exchange or “just because I deserve it” cookie.
A quick mix, a chill in the fridge, a roll in powdered sugar — and boom! You’ve got soft, fudgy cookies that look bakery-fancy but take almost no effort.
Go ahead — tie that scrunchie, turn up the synths, and make a batch of these chocolate crinkle cookies. Your sweet tooth will be like, “Gag me with a spoon… but in a good way!”
If chocolate is your love language, check out my death by chocolate cupcakes, cocoa brownies, and brownie cookies.
How to Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Step 1: Make the cookie dough. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until the cookie dough forms.
Step 2: Chill the cookie dough. Cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
Step 3: Prep and preheat. Preheat the oven and line baking pans with silicone mats or parchment paper.
Step 4: Portion and roll the cookies. Portion the cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop and roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar and then in powdered sugar.
Step 5: Bake the cookies. Place the sugar-coated cookie dough balls on the pans and bake the cookies for 12 to 13 minutes. Cool the cookies on the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Courtney’s Expert Cookie Baking Tips
- Use dark cocoa powder or black cocoa powder for the richest chocolate flavor.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (1½ tablespoons) to portion the cookie dough to create round, uniform-sized cookies.
- Immediately when the cookies come out of the oven, use the back of a spoon to gently shape the cookies into perfectly round circles.
- Don’t skip chilling the cookie dough. Chill helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much and helps create the chewy texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Rolling the cookies in granulated sugar creates a bit of a barrier between the cookie dough and the powdered sugar. This prevents the powdered sugar from melting into the cookie dough while baking and creates the perfect crackly appearance.
Yes! Use a large cookie scoop or a small cookie scoop to make the cookies larger or smaller. The yield of the recipe and the baking times will vary. For larger cookies, you will want to increase the baking time by a 3 to 4 minutes and for smaller cookies, decrease the baking time by 1 or 2 minutes.
Yes, you can. The cookies will have a lighter chocolate flavor and color. If you can use dark or black cocoa powder, I highly recommend it for these cookies to create a rich and fudgy chocolate flavor and a deep brown color.
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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Dough
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (86 g) dark cocoa powder
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) baking powder
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
- 4 (4) large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp (2 tsp) vanilla extract
Additional Ingredients
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, dark cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, mix together the granulated sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined and smooth.
- Add in dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the cookie dough comes together. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to ensure the ingredients are well combined. Note: The cookie dough will be soft and sticky.
- Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
- While the cookie dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉ (177℃). Line baking sheet pans with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Add the granulated sugar to a bowl and the powdered sugar to a separate bowl. Portion the cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop (1½ tablespoons). Roll the chilled cookie dough balls first in the granulated sugar and then in the powdered sugar.
- Place the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking pan, allowing room for spreading. Bake the cookies for about 12 to 13 minutes until the edges of the cookies are set and the centers are soft. Cool the cookies on the pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Room temperature: Store the cookies in an airtight container or in a resealable storage bag at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Refrigerator: Store the portioned cookie dough balls in an airtight container or resealable storage bag in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. To use, roll the cookies in the sugars, and bake as directed.
- Freezer: Store the portioned cookie dough balls in an airtight container or resealable storage bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the cookie dough for 1 hour, roll in the sugars, and then bake as directed. Store the baked cookies in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
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About Courtney
Baker | 80s Lover | Cookbook Author
Courtney is a self-taught home baker and cookbook author of “Girls Just Wanna Bake Cupcakes”. She loves to create new and unique recipes while simultaneously listening to 80s music.
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