Chocolate Crinkle Cookies have a rich, fudgy center with a crisp powdered-sugar coating. They taste like hot chocolate in cookie form and disappear faster than I can plate them. These cookies are perfect any time of the year, but look especially festive served on a holiday cookie platter.
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Helpful Reader Review
“I tried these cookies 5 years ago, and they’re still one of my favorites! Thank you, Natasha, for such masterpiece recipes! I love your blog! 😍😘” – Dina ★★★★★
Easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
You know I love easy desserts with simple ingredients. This Chocolate Crinkle Cookies recipe is no exception, since there aren’t any fancy ingredients or techniques here. Mix, refrigerate, and scoop–done!
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are like a cross between fudgy Brownies and Chocolate Chip Cookies that are rolled in powdered sugar to form “crinkles” as they expand in the oven. Crinkle cookies are perfect for gifting, since they get better the next day, and they are so good, you’ll want to make a double batch!
Did You Know?
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies first premiered in Betty Crocker’s famous cookie cookbook, “Cooky Carnival”. Crocker recounts being served the cookies by home chef Helen Fredell and begging her for the recipe.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Ingredients
Check your pantry and fridge for all you need to make my delicious chocolate crinkle cookies. Be sure to measure correctly so the cookies expand and rise correctly.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – fluff the powder with a fork, then spoon it into the measuring cup to be sure you have the right amount of cocoa.
- Wet Ingredients – sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and Vanilla Extract
- Dry ingredients – Flour, baking powder, and salt
- Confectioner’s sugar – for rolling the dough and creating crinkles. For a more festive look, try swapping with holiday sprinkles (Halloween-themed sprinkles look great, too!) or colored sugar.
How to Make Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are a blast to make because rolling the chocolatey dough and coating it in powdered sugar is good, messy fun, similar to making Russian Tea Cakes.
- Whisk the sugar, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs together in a bowl.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) in a separate mixing bowl. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix well.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3 hours or up to overnight. This is essential for making a rollable and rising dough.
- Roll – Preheat the oven to 350°F. Shape cookie dough into balls (a cookie scoop makes it easy to portion) and roll in powdered sugar (wet hands make it easier to handle).
- Bake – Space the cookies on a lined baking sheet, and then bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool on the sheet. Once cookies are slightly cooled, move them to a wire rack to fully cool down.
Pro Tip:
Chocolate crinkle cookies come out of the oven soft, but the outside hardens as they cool. In fact, they continue to get crispy as they sit, but the inside stays fudgey.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are just as important as Sugar Cookies and Gingerbread Cookies on your holiday cookie tray, so place them next to my Christmas Snowball Cookies and Homemade Baklava for a decadent, well-rounded dessert table!
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil, (or canola, or light olive oil)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Whisk – In a mixing bowl, combine granulated sugar, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs. Whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Mix – In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cocoa mixture and stir to combine.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.*
- Roll – Preheat the oven to 350°F. Scoop dough with a cookie scoop for even portioning into 20 cookies, then roll cookie dough into even-sized balls (it's easier to roll with wet hands) and generously roll each into powdered sugar.
- Bake – Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet, being sure to leave space between each of the cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Cookies will come out soft but will harden on the outside as they cool down. Cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.
Notes
- Room Temperature: Keep your Chocolate Crinkle Cookies stored in an airtight container on the counter. They should stay fresh for up to a week.
- Freezing: Freeze your dough balls for up to 2 months in an airtight container. When you are ready to bake, remove them from the freezer and allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling them in powdered sugar, or bake from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the bake time.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Cookies Recipes You’ll Love
Cookie recipes, like my chocolate crinkle cookies, are so fun to make and share, so once you try this recipe, check out these other sweet treats:
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Meringue Cookies
- Madeleine Cookies
- Macaroon Cookies
- Toffee Recipe
- Cranberry Cookies
- Snickerdoodles
- Palmiers Cookies
- Rugelach
- Biscotti
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
I made these with my daughter. What an easy cookie to make. Have you ever used mint extract instead of vanilla? We bought some the other day to experiment with.
Hi Amanda, I haven’t tried that yet but I think it’s a good idea to try and experiment!
I have a similar recipe that calls for the addition of chocolate chips. Sometimes we’ve used mint chocolate chips and they turned out really good.
so I made it, it was so easy I couldn’t believe it. very deish and it’s gone lol
So great to hear that, thank you for your good feedback!
I followed the recipe to a T by measuring/leveling flour and chilled for about 6 hours but cookies were flat. Couldn’t roll them because would stick to hands. Don’t know what I did wrong.
Hi Jeney, please read the “Why are my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies flat?” in the recipe. I hope that helps.
Love these cookies! Do you think its safe to freeze the finished cookies?
Thanks.
Hi Diana, these are freezer-friendly before baking. I haven’t tried freezing them after baking to advise on the outcome. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I had to up the temperature to 375. I did 350 for 12 min. The center was raw. The center was cooked at 375. Good cookie .
I plan to make these this year for my family.I always add a new cookie,this one will be my choice this year. Have you ever added white chocolate chips to the recipe? Good idea? THANKS.
Hi Toni, I haven’t added white chocolate chips but I think that would hinder how they spread and form the crinkles. If you experiment, let me know. If you want to hide chocolate morsels in the center, you might try that with our Russian Tea Cakes instead.
Hi, can i use Dutch processed cocoa powder?
Hi Chin, yes that should work well with dutch processed cocoa powder.
Hi natasha, thank you for sharing this recipe.. Love the crinkles, it is so delicious and my nephew and nieces love it..
I’m glad to hear that, Chin. You are so welcome!
Do you have to sift the flour? Above it says “sift”, but in the recipe it just says to “combine”…
Hi Desiree, yes, we used sifted flour but then combined it with the other ingredients.
I haven’t sifted the flour it turned out great
Oh my those look delicious! I have been on the hunt for a Ukrainian cookie recipe. At a recent potluck, there were these really soft, moist cookies, shaped like little logs. They had almost like a ricotta cheese texture, I don’t think they are baked at all. Anyway, maybe you happen to know something like it for a future recipe post 🤷♀️
Hi Ines, I’d love to know the name of them!
Just made these cookies, they turned out perfect. Didn’t flatten and were so gooey on the inside. I was worried they would be too sweet with the powdered sugar on top, but the cocoa provided a nice balance and they were just right. I’m just sad there’s none left to try how they taste a few days later… Guess I need to make them again.
Hi Larisa, so great to hear that it was a hit! Thanks for your great comments and feedback, we appreciate it!
I have been looking for a recipe like this except I want to roll the ball in sugar instead of powdered sugar. Will it get the crinkled effect if I do that? Thanks!
I haven’t tried that yet but you can do an experiment on a few cookies first and see how it goes.
One of my most favorite cookies ever!!!! My 3 year old and I had so much fun making them! Definitely will be making another batch for Christmas 🎄
These cookies are so festive and perfect for Christmas!
Hi, I’m a new baker, I’m wondering does the recipe use milk
Hi Rosemary, it doesn’t have milk. Please go through the recipe again and it’s list of ingredients.
Can you please do tomba chicken please 😢😢😢🙂🙂🙂
Thank you for that suggestion, Malak!
Hi! Can I replace the vegetable oil with melted butter in this recipe?
Hi Jacqueline, I honestly haven’t tried using butter yet toa advise. I’ve tried 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola, or light olive oil)
Did you know you can also use chocolate cake mix to make these as well. I’ve also used lemon cake mix to make lemon crinkle cookies
Thank you so much for sharing that tip with me, Donna! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Donna would you mind sharing your recipe that you used to make your Lemon crinkle cookies please.
Can I replace the sugar with stevia sugar in this recipe?
Hi Carol, I haven’t tested that substitution to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
what type of Hand mixer do u use Natasha?
Hi Amy, you can find our favorite tools in our Blog Shop here or our Amazon shop here.
Don’t need mixer. Easy by hand
Seriously such a delicious cookie! My family love them!
Glad to hear that, Melissa. Thank you!
So easy and so good! Loved the powdered sugar with the chocolate cookies.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
These are one of our very favorite holiday cookies! So easy to make and so soft and chewy!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Do you need to butter cookie sheets before baking?
Natasha!!!! ive been looking for a crinkle cookie recipe from you and you’ve finally posted one! can’t wait to try it this Christmas!
I hope you love this recipe!