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. 
Made these several times but still they don’t spread that much and are very cakey! Tasty but I don’t know I follow the recipe but still find they are quite round and a bit dry .
Hi there! Are you measuring your flour by weight? If you don’t have a food scale, be sure to measure correctly by fluffing your flour and spooning it into your measuring cup and leveling it off with the knife or the end of your spoon. Too much flour is the most common reason for cakey/dry cookies.
I have this How to Measure Ingredients (Wet and Dry) VIDEO here to help.
Made these this
morning, they are so so. They are pretty though. I might ice them to give them a little more pizzaz.
Hi Cathy! They shouldn’t be tough. Did you make any change or use too much flour? That would likely be the issue. I have a How to Measure Ingredients (Wet and Dry) VIDEO here to help.
Hi Natasha. Can I add mini chocolate chips to the dough?
I think that’s fine! Please let us know how it turns out if you try them with mini chocolate chips.
I finally made the cookies and added 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Next time I may add another 1/4 cup of the chips. They were a huge hit and will definitely be made again. Thank you.
Ok, so this recipe is amazing, love these cookies so much! But is there a trick to doubling/tripling? I’ve tried twice to double and the dough is just sooooooooooooo much harder to work with than if I make a single batch. How can I make more of these cookies without overcomplicating my life???
Hi Darcie! It’s possible to double but it does become harder to work with since you’re working with a larger amount.
I used to make this Holiday cookie every year but I sadly lost my moms recipe card. I made this cookie recipe but my cookies were not fluffy and chewy like I remembered. Instead they turned out like a cake consistency. I chilled the dough for 2hrs until firm. Should there be baking soda in this recipe along with baking powder? What did I do wrong?
Hi Jennifer! A “cake-like” consistency is often due to using too much flour. Be sure to Measure correctly per my tutorial linked here. They can also seem more dense and cakey if they are over baked and dry out.
Amazing! Can I make this with whole wheat all purpose?
I haven’t tested that but whole-wheat flour is denser and absorbs more liquid, so your cookies may be a bit drier or heavier.
Попробовала это печенье 5 лет назад, и до сих пор оно у меня в фаворитах! Спасибо, Наташа за такие шедевральные рецепты! Обожаю ваш блог!😍😘
TRANSLATION: 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! 😍😘
Hi Dina! Thank you so much. I’m so happy you love these cookies.
Can I freeze the cookies after I bake them?
Hi Joseph, These are freezer-friendly before baking (see my note above). I haven’t tried freezing them after baking to advise on the outcome. I think it could work, but not sure how it would affect the texture and likely you’ll need to re-coat them in powdered sugar.
I absolutely love these cookies. Always a big hit with people too. So easy to make.
I haven’t made these yet but goi g to tonight. A friend did and fave me a couple. They ate very good.
Hi,
I really love this recipe and I’ve gotten so many compliments on these cookies. I have a weird question though. Has the recipe been updated or altered in the last year at all? This last time I made it, I don’t think I made any changes, but it seems to be coming out differently, both being a little more runny and also seeming like the flavor is slightly less fudgy. If it’s not the recipe it could very well be the warmer weather, so I’m gonna try chilling it overnight. I just wanted to double-check on the recipe in case. Thanks so much!
Hi Bethany! I updated the recipe over 2 years ago after multiple reports of it having too much oil. It was updated to use 1/4 cup extra light olive oil. Using less oil did result in a dough that was easier to work with.
These are always a favorite to both bake and eat! I usually end up making loads of batches. I was wondering though, can I make these gluten free? I have a friend who can’t have gluten.
Great to hear that you always use this recipe! I have not tested that yet but feel free to experiment using gluten free ingredients! We’d love to know how it goes if you give it a try!
Hi. I used to be gluten free and made both chocolate and lemon crinkle cookies. The Loopy Whisk is a simply wonderful website and you’ll find both recipes on there. Good luck.
Last batch did not harden enough for my preference. What did I do wrong? Over, under cook?
Hello there! It could be because of several reasons like insufficient chilling time, incorrect oven temperature, overbaking or in correct flour measurement. You can try refrigerating the dough for at least 3 hours. Bake at 325°F (163°C) and use the spoon-and-level method to prevent using too much flour.
These cookies are awesome I could have eaten all of them but I shared
Love love love this recipe!! A staple in our family gatherings. I make lots of batches. Is using a hand mixer ok? Will it make a difference?
Hi Ana, you can try that, just be sure to not overmix or let too much air into the dough, we used a hand whisk for this.
They tasted really good. Could I not use Confectioners sugar? If I do not have any on hand.
If you don’t have powdered sugar on hand, you can use other substitutes like grind granulated sugar, cornstarch and granulated sugar, honey powder or coconut powdered sugar.
I don’t roll them in anything and they come out fine
Amazing recipe. Started baking a month ago and your recipes never disappoint! Do you have any recipe for different flavors of crinkle cookies? Aka matcha etc.
Hi Andy, I don’t have any variations yet but I love that idea!
You can find plenty of recipes online for lemon crinkle cookies which are delicious. Good luck.
These cookies are so good! We always double the batch because they go so quick! We live where it gets really humid sometime so I’ve had to put the cookie balls into the freezer for a bit before coating in sugar and then they turn out great! Also I’ve started to use nitrile gloves when rolling them out and it makes the process SO easy, they don’t stick to the gloves at all, no wetting hands or oil required.
Thank you for sharing that, Olga! I’m happy to hear you enjoy this recipe!
Great recipe, I will be keeping this one! So simple and love using olive oil or avocado oil to make it ‘lighter’. I did one batch as written and one where I added some cinnamon – both delicious. A (very) well rounded cookie scoop yielded ~ 14 cookies and looked even more impressive 🙂
Would it still work if I only did two hours in the fridge?
Hi Aliyah! You can try less time, but it’s very important for the dough to be chilled long enough for them to turn out well.
Can I make the dough and freeze to bake later? Would I scoop, ball, freeze then bake? Or scoop, chill, ball, freeze and bake?
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.