Chocolate Crinkle Cookies have a rich and fudgy center with a crisp powdered sugar outer layer. Crinkle Cookies are just as important as Sugar Cookies on your holiday cookie tray.
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You know I love easy desserts with simple ingredients. These Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are no exception.
Why these are the Best Crinkle Cookies:
- Simple Ingredients: Made with just a handful of kitchen staples you probably already have on hand.
- Fast: these cookies can be whipped up quickly and you can chill them ahead.
- Fudgy & Crisp: The centers are soft and gooey with crisp edges.
- Keep Well: most cookies are best eaten fresh but these seem to get better with time.
These cookies are perfect for gifting and they are so good, you’ll want to make a double batch!
What is a Chocolate Crinkle Cookie?
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are like a cross between gooey Fudgy Brownies and crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are rolled in powdered sugar before baking so they form “crinkles” as they expand in the oven.
The best part? Just like a good homemade Baklava, these cookies get better as they get a little stale. The outer layer just gets crunchier, while the center stays so gooey. Let’s just say you’ll find yourself hanging around your cookie jar for several days.
How to Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are a blast to make. If you have kids around, they can help make these cookies. They will love rolling the chocolatey dough into bite-sized balls and coating them with a generous amount of powdered sugar, similar to Russian Tea Cakes.
- Whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly add flour mixture to the cocoa mixture. Mix well.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3 hours and up to overnight.
To Finish and Bake the Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Shape cookie dough into balls (a cookie scoop makes it easy to portion) and roll into powdered sugar.
- Place cookies on a baking sheet, leaving space between each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Cookies will come out soft but will harden as they cool down.
- Once cookies are slightly cooled, move them to a wire rack to fully cool down.
Common Questions
There are two reasons why your Chocolate Crinkle Cookies came out flat. Either the dough wasn’t chilled or you didn’t use enough flour. Make sure to properly measure flour by scooping it into your measuring cup and leveling off the top.
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. Fast forward to today and these cookies are gracing just about every holiday tray each year.
You’ll know when Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are done when they start to develop those signature cracks on top. Typically, this takes anywhere from 10-12 minutes depending on their size.
The dough for crinkle cookies should be very moist. Be sure to measure flour correctly, and it helps to roll the moist dough with wet hands.
Storing Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- 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 for 30 minutes in the fridge before rolling them in powdered sugar. Bake according to instructions.
Make-Ahead Tip: You can make the dough a day or two in advance. Keep it refrigerated and only bake right before serving.
Cookies Recipes You’ll Love
- Peanut Butter Cookies – These nutty cookies always hit the spot
- Snowball Cookies – Melt-in-your-mouth delicious
- Meringue Cookies – easy and so festive dusted in powdered sugar
- Madeleine Cookies – Just as good as Starbucks Madeleine cookies
- Macaroon Cookies – The mother of all coconut cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, (unsweetened)
- 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 confectioners sugar
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine granulated sugar, cocoa powder, oil, vanilla extract and eggs. Whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour together, 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.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Scoop dough with a mini ice cream 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.
- 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 as they cool down.
- Allow cookies to slightly cool. Then, move them to a wire rack to fully cool down.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
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 loved the cookies!!
They are sooooooo good!!! I am ten year old and they are soooo easy to make !! What do I use to scoop the dough if I don’t have a cookie scooper?
So glad you love them! A tablespoon or your hands would be fine to use. The scooper just makes this so much easier and cleaner.
These are my favorite christmas cookies! I tried them on a whim last year and we couldn’t get enough. I ended up making them 2 more times that week and printed the recipe to keep for this year. They were the perfect cookie recipe for my kids to help with and this year they started asking to make them immediately. So easy and fudgy.
I’m so happy these were a hit with everyone, Becky! Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Would it cause issues to substitute the oil with butter?
Hi Lauren, I honestly haven’t tried using butter to advise. I’ve tried vegetable oil (or canola, or light olive oil) successfully.
Would I use the same amount of oil if I used coconut oil or would I use less?
Hi Kayleigh! You should be able to use the same amount in the written recipe. Let us know how it works with coconut oil.
Perfectly perfect ! Exactly as described ,- fudgey and crispy and better and better each day. This is my holiday crinkle from now on without a doubt !
Spectacular! By far the best crinkle cookies we have ever had! Maybe the best cookies in general, and we do a lot of baking. We will make these again, I am sure of it. Thank you!! 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that, Jennifer!
Hello Natasha! We made these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies once, and they’ve quickly become a family favorite! The soft, fudgy center with the powdered sugar coating is simply delicious. They’re so easy to make, and everyone loves how sweet and satisfying they are. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic recipe! Merry Christmas to you and your family, and enjoy the New Year ahead!
I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you.
We made this recipe twice in two days because they were gone in seconds. The second batch we rolled the cookie around 4 Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips before baking. They spread out a little more, but it was like eating a molten lava cookie. My family is hooked.
That’s so great to hear. I’m glad it’s been a hit. Thank you for your review.
Easy recipe and the cookies were so pretty and delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Karen!
So easy and delicious! This is definitely a keeper!
Cookies came out exceptionally well!
I did substitute avocado oil instead of olive oil and it was lighter and just perfect.
Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly- next time I will double the recipe because they disappeared quickly 🙂
They stuck to the pan; horrible. This has never happened before. Does the pan need to be greased?
Hi Lisa, if your baking sheet isn’t non-stick, I would use parchment paper or a Silpat non-stick liner.
Why is when you wet your hands to roll the dough it get flat. It a mess with wet hands and you can’t roll them without wet then the dough is sticky. Any ideas or tips to stop the messy process? I put the dough in the refrigerator over night still sticky and or wet hands were a mess!!
Hi Eloise. That is a common challenge with these cookies. If you live in a humid environment, this can make it more challenging to roll. You could try using a thin layer of oil on your hands instead. You can also try coating your hands in cocoa powder or powdered sugar. Disposable gloves can be helpful to make the process easier or less messy. Be sure to work quickly, as the dough can soften in your hands and become more tricky to roll. Additionally, you can consider freezing the dough for a little while before rolling if the dough still seems too sticky after refrigeration.
These have been a Christmas tradition for my family ever since I found this recipe. Such an easy recipe to follow, with simple ingredients we always already have on hand. My kids love rolling them in the “snow” for me.
These are the best cookies I ever had in my life. It is worth the struggle of mixing it and the 3 hours wait for the dough to chill.
Made these and froze the balls and decided to test bake before Christmas Eve and day as one of the many desserts on this site, and they are absolutely so easy to make, taste sooooo good and they froze and thawed nicely. It truly is one of the easiest things I have ever baked. So good! Thank you! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for sharing about your success with freezing! Merry Christmas to you and your family!
The hardest part was letting the dough chill.
Easy to make. Tastes great.
(and I put a little olive oil on my hands before rolling the dough and it made it effortless).
Yes! I won’t use water I will dev use olive oil next batch around.
Make these cookies for the first time. They turned out amazing. I will definitely make again.
Great recipe. Loved them as a kid and now my [adult] kids make me promise to have them on the cookie tray. Yes they are gooey. A little trick i learned over the years is to drop your scoop of dough directly into the powdered sugar, toss around to coat, then pick up to roll into balls. I then toss in the sugar one more time and place on the cookie sheet. It makes the process quicker.
They spread I didn’t substitute anything – it’s frustrating to spend that much time and use all the ingredients for it to spread.
ROLLING TIP!! These are amazing and I make them every year. Even with wet hands though, the dough was sticky, difficult to roll and a lot would get left on my hands. This year, game changer. I sprayed my hands with a little bit of PAM and the cookies rolled beautifully without loosing any dough. It helped to roll a bit tighter.