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 used Hersey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa powder. Wow! Easy recipe, I refrigerated overnight, and they are yummy!!!!
These are always a hit! I’m so glad you loved them, Colleen!
I have made these and they are excellent. That being said, the recipe keeps flipping to ads and is very annoying. I know you have to have ads but there should be a way to stop recipe from flipping!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Barb! Thank you for sharing your concerns and feedback. The only way we can continue providing free recipes is by having ads on our site, so we are not able to remove those at this time. We find that most people would rather see the ads than pay to see the recipes. But we will definitely take note of your feedback and use it to improve our website.
I appreciate your feedback, and I hope you love every recipe you try.
I agree with Barb. I’m trying to read the comments and the page just keeps flipping back to the top to different areas with ads causing us to go back and find where we left off. I understand a pop up add that you can exit out but this is moving us up and down the page not leaving us where we left off. Very annoying and discouraging to use your recipe. I’ve used your recipes before and never had this problem before. Maybe you should look into this as it seems like a glitch…
Hi Kati, I have sent your message to our tech team to investigate as that should not be occurring. Hopefully, they will be able to identify and implement a fix quickly. Thank you for letting me know. Your feedback is important to me.
I’m curious to know why doesn’t the recipe time include the 3 hours (or longer) fridge time? I can’t properly rate the recipe because I haven’t made them yet but when I read 25 minutes total time, I wasn’t expecting to see the 3+ hours time refrigeration required. Maybe I’ll give them a try when I have more time to devote to them!
Hi Kristina! Those are waiting hours, not active prepping/labor hours so that is why they are not included in the total time. This recipe is very simple and the dough can be made 1-2 days in advance and then baked before serving. The dough needs to be chilled long enough or the cookies will be flat.
why am I seeing Natalya Drozhzhin from Momsdish at the bottom of all Natasha’s recipes???
She is a personal friend of mine and also a food blogger, I’ve had a few guest recipe on my blog.
I attempted to make these but they flattened out immediately on the pan before I even had the chance to put them in the oven. It’s like they melted in my hand rolling them…even after wetting them in ice cold water.
Hi Kristina! See my notes above “Why are my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies flat?”
Can you tell me how much butter to substitute instead of oil, please? These cookies look so good! Thank you.
Hi Cee, I honestly haven’t tried using butter yet to advise. I’ve tried 1/2 cup vegetable oil (or canola, or light olive oil)
I made these today. They are delightful and delicious, reminiscent of brownies. I’ll make again.
Good to know that you liked this recipe!
Can I freeze the cookies after baking? I will be baking lots of cookies for Christmas. I was planning on freezing until ready to share.
Hi Shirlee, yes you can freeze them. Please go through this portion in the recipe “Storing Chocolate Crinkle Cookies” as I have provided some tips on how to store or freeze them.
I have been comparing recipes and notice that yours asks for 1/2 cup oil whereas the others ask for 1/4 cup oil. I wonder if that’s why some bakers are noticing that their cookies spread too much.
Made crinkle cookies, Natasha they are incredible and so easy. Thank you and Merry Christmas
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you loved them. Merry Christmas!
Can you make the dough a few days in advance and just keep it in the fridge?
Hi Mariya! I have not tested that to know if it would affect the texture of the cookie but you can freeze them before baking (see my notes above).
I love these cookies!! I made them last year and they were a huge hit- I added cinnamon and chilli powder for an extra “hit”! This year I’ve made them with the chilli and cinnamon, and added the spices to the icing sugar- yummy!! I’ve also made some with ground up candy canes and added some candy cane dust to the icing sugar for extra flavour… I’m calling them my “Fire and Ice” Christmas Crinkle Cookies 😉
That’s brilliant! And they sound amazing, Katherine! Thank you for sharing.
Katherine I was wondering about the cinnamon. I wanted to add some but afraid to. Can you tell me how much cinnamon, please? Thank you so much!
I just made these cookies, and they were super easy and delicious. My family and friends all begged for the recipe! I used my Ninja Air Fryer Oven, and they came out even more fudgy in the middle. I did notice a couple of the balls I had prerolled in the confectioner’s sugar, started to seep into the dough. Maybe that’s the reason some people had problems. I just made sure to roll the balls in the sugar, right before I put them onto the pan, and into the airfryer.
Thank you for sharing, Renee!
I love these cookies. I make them as part of my Christmas cookie batch every year! A little tip so the powdered sugar stays stark white and doesn’t melt as much…. First roll dough in a light layer of normal sugar. Then, heavily coat it with the powdered sugar!
Thanks for sharing, Jess! 🙂
I didn’t love this recipe. It was fine, but I felt like the oil flavor really came through, so I wish it had used butter. Also I had the issue with the sugar dissolving that a lot of people had. Also they were flatter than I had hoped even though I weighed the flour and chilled for four hours. There’s probably better chocolate crinkle recipes out there.
Hi Marissa, I’m sorry these didn’t work out as expected for you. Without being there, it’s hard to say what the culprit might be. I suggest checking out our post on how we measure ingredients to see if maybe the measurements could be off?
I made these tonight as one of my Christmas cookies this year, and they were perfect. I wish I could share my pic to show you. This going to be a go to from now on.
I’m happy to know that you found your new favorite recipe!
Hi Natasha, I made these twice and they taste AMAZING, but the powdered sugar dissolves when it bakes, it comes out with the crinkles, but the sugar on top is very faded and just doesn’t look as nice. Why did this happen and do you know how to fix? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer! This happens from moisture on the cookie causing the sugar to melt or even from humidity in the air. Give them a generous coat of powdered sugar. You can also lightly roll the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar first, then coat them in powdered sugar to see if that helps.
I made these from a different recipe and that recipe suggested rolling all the balls in powdered sugar, and then rolling them a second time in powdered sugar. They came out looking great!
I’m going to try these cookies for the firsttime, and I was wondering if it matters why brand of cocoa powder you use?
Thanks
Hi Tara, I hope you love this recipe! As long as its regular un-sweetened cocoa it should work great!
I would not make any cookies with oil, so I used butter and they were fantastic! The dough was chilled and formed perfectly. I wanted the real crinkle experience, so I rolled the dough in white sugar before rolling in the powdered sugar. They were a home run!
Glad you enjoyed the results!
I tried cooking a batch of these yummy cookies. They tasted great but the sugar hardly showed. It seemed to fall off the cookies.
What did I do wrong??
Hi Evelyn! Look over my recipe notes and pictures again to see if you missed anything or to see if your cookies looked different than mine. Watch my tutorial on how to measure your ingredients correctly. These cookies are extra moist so the confectioner’s sugar could melt a bit but it shouldn’t be falling off of the cookies. A few things that could help, be VERY generous when rolling them in the sugar! Also, you could try rolling the cookie dough balls in a little granulated sugar first (a very light coat) before rolling them in the confectioner’s sugar. I hope that helps!
I have made these cookies before and they turned out great.Can these cookies be frozen after baking?
Hi Gloria, 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.