Let’s make chocolate crinkle cookies. These traditional Christmas cookies are a cut above the rest because they’re as rich and fudgy as homemade brownies. They’re thick and soft-baked in the centers with a little extra chocolate for good measure!
Today I’m showing off sparkly new photos and success tips for my classic double chocolate crinkle cookies! Originally published a few years ago, these classic Christmas cookies have become a staple in many of your kitchens. Readers have said they’re the “best cookies I’ve ever tasted” and “make a double batch right away.” These cookies disappear.
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:
- Double the chocolate—chocolate chips included!
- Taste like brownies
- Soft centers, crisp crackly edges
- Extra thick
- Warm from the oven, they melt in your mouth
As classic as Christmas sugar cookies, as sugar-dusted as snowball cookies, and as irresistible as peanut butter blossoms and pinwheel cookies, these chocolate crinkles will outshine every other cookie on your Christmas cookie platter. And that’s a guarantee.
Behind the Recipe
These chocolate cookies aren’t anything new or groundbreaking, but that’s why they’re perfect. You might actually recognize the base dough because it’s my go-to chocolate cookie! It’s the chocolate cookie recipe I’ve been using for years in recipes like double chocolate chip cookies, inside out chocolate chip cookies, peppermint mocha cookies, Andes mint chocolate cookies, and let’s not forget about the epicness that is salted caramel dark chocolate cookies.
Some of you were having trouble with these cookies over-spreading as a result of the sugar coating on top, so I leave out the milk in this dough.
How are these different from Chocolate Crinkle Cookies in Sally’s Cookie Addiction? Glad you asked! The recipes are a little different. The cookbook version uses melted butter in the dough, so the cookies are a little chewier. Both super moist cookies with excellent chocolate flavor. The cookies in the book are a little thicker in the centers and crumblier on the edges. Today’s cookies—again—taste like moist brownies!
How to Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Mix dry ingredients together. You need all-purpose flour, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat wet ingredients together. You need butter, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Room temperature butter and egg will mix more evenly into each other, creating a uniform texture among all the cookies. Additionally, both whip into a greater volume when at room temperature, producing a softer-crumbed cookie.
- Combine all ingredients. And don’t forget to add the chocolate chips! I like to use mini size so there’s more in every bite.
- Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator. The cookie dough is sticky and unmanageable, so chilling is necessary. Sometimes I chill it overnight, but 3 hours is perfect. Chilled cookie dough is not only easy to handle and roll into balls, it also bakes thicker cookies.
- Roll cookie dough into balls. After chilling, roll the cookie dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie.
- Coat in confectioners’ sugar. Roll the cookie dough balls into granulated sugar, then a hefty dunk in confectioners’ sugar. Why granulated sugar first? That’s a new trick I discovered! See below. 🙂
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. If the cookies aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven for a couple more minutes.
They’ll be extra thick, extra crackly, and extra fudgy inside.
Recommendation from a reader: substitute the chocolate chips for peanut butter chips. I honestly can’t preheat my oven fast enough to try these that way!
How to Prevent the Powdered Sugar from Melting
Before today, I only rolled these chocolate crinkle cookies in confectioners’ sugar. This works great for lemon crinkle cookies, however these particular crinkle cookies are extra moist so the confectioners’ sugar always ends up melting a bit and/or turns yellow-ish as a result from melting. Not a problem, but if you want stark white confectioners’ sugar on top, coat the cookie dough balls in a little granulated sugar first. Just a light layer, then go heavy on that confectioners’ sugar topping. I learned this tip from the wonderful chefs at America’s Test Kitchen and it’s the same process we use to coat Nutella crinkle cookies.
It’s also helpful to bake these cookies on dry days. Any humidity in the air will soak into the confectioners’ sugar, slightly melting it. Sometimes you can’t avoid humidity, but if you’re wondering why the sugar melts, it could be the weather. Again, go heavy on that confectioners’ sugar layer.
As the cookies bake, the confectioners’ sugar coating crinkles and cracks as the cookies take their shape. Hence, the cute crinkle name. I love these.
How to Freeze Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
You can freeze chocolate crinkle cookies before or after baking. To freeze the baked cookies, let them cool completely first. Freeze in single layers between sheets of parchment paper for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter.
How to freeze chocolate crinkle cookie dough: Chill the cookie dough as directed in the recipe below. After that, roll into balls, and chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Then place the solid and cold cookie dough balls into a large zipped-top bag. Freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months. When it’s time to bake the cookies, remove them from the freezer and thaw on the counter for at least 30 minutes. Roll into granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar as instructed in the recipe. Bake as directed.
See more in my How to Freeze Cookie Dough post.
Try these right out of the oven—they’re pure fudge. They will melt in your mouth! Have you tried these before? Let me know!
PrintDouble Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 20-22 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These traditional Christmas cookies are a cut above the rest because they’re as rich and fudgy as brownies. Chilling the cookie dough is important because it helps the flavors to develop, prevents spreading, and makes the otherwise sticky cookie dough easy to handle.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (51g) unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (180g) mini or regular size semi-sweet chocolate chips
Rolling
- 3 Tablespoons (35g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined and then beat in the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be thick and very sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each. A medium cookie scoop is helpful here. Roll each ball very lightly in granulated sugar, then generously in the confectioners’ sugar. Place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls (that are not coated in confectioners’ sugar) freeze well up to 3 months. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Can I add peppermint extract? Yes, absolutely! If you want a chocolate peppermint crinkle cookie, I recommend adding 3/4 or 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract when you add the vanilla.
- Larger Batch: The recipe is easy to double in 1 mixing bowl without overwhelming your mixer. Simply double all of the ingredients. Dough chill time remains the same.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Soooo delicious! These are one of my favorite cookies and I baked them yesterday for the first time: I love them, and I am pretty satisfied of the result I got. I baked the cookies in two pans, but those I baked next ended up much flatter than the first group… do you think it was due to the temperature of the cookie dough? Still, they tasted great! And I love adding chocolate chips to these cookies… especially when they are still warm!
I’ve also frozen some unbaked cookie dough balls, so I am curious to bake them later. It is great that you also provide make ahead and freezing instructions: thank you so much, Sally!
Hi Gabrielle, I’m so glad you loved them! If you cookie sheets were still hot when you placed the second batch on them, that could certainly have caused the cookies to spread out more.
Hi Sally! Will it still be good if I leave out the 1 cup of chocolate chips? Thanks!
Hi Riza! You can leave out the chocolate chips.
Love it
I made these cookies for a Christmas party and they were AMAZING! I added some chopped maraschino cherries to mine 🙂 they are super rich and fudgey, will definitely make them again.
Thanks Sally!
Hi Sally! I made the classic crinkle cookies from your cookie cookbook tonight, but the recipe doesn’t say anything about refrigerating the dough. For the life of me, I can’t get the dough to roll- it’s way too sticky! Did I miss something? Thanks for your help!
Hi Kendall! My cookbook recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies is different from this one. The dough is very sticky, but do your best to roll it– you can even wear kitchen gloves or dust your hands with powdered sugar. If it’s still too sticky, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Hope this helps!
Thanks for yet another awesome recipe, Sally! These came out just as pictured and was pure deliciously fudgy goodness. I cut back the sugars bit, but other than that, followed the recipe to a T. Thanks 🙂
Sally. These. Are. AMAZING!!! i luve these cookiez!
Do you think i could cut out these?!? or should i just leave them circle?
thanx!!
Circle is best. Here is my chocolate sugar cookies recipe if you’re interested!
Chocolate Crinkles are a family tradition in my house! YOUR recipe takes them to another level on YUM! I always have to make more because they are the first to go! My second batch just came out of the oven and they smell wonderful! Thank you for another amazing recipe!!
You’ve made me a chocolate lover, I believe! I just made these, a double batch, and just tried one. OMG!! So good.
Followed the recipe as written, except, I did add some peanut butter chips to the dough. As you always say, peanut butter and chocolate, can’t go wrong.
Chilled for the 3 hours and they didn’t flatten out. Not real poofy, just right.
Another great recipe. Thanks, Sally. Now I have 9 favorites.
These cookies have become my go-to cookie recipe to use during the holiday season. To make them even more festive I love to crush up some candy canes so they are a fine powder and I mix a little bit of the candy cane powder into the powdered sugar. It gives the cookies a slight taste of peppermint that is perfect for the season!
I make these “snowballs” every Christmas with my toddlers and it’s fun and easy for them to roll in the powder sugar. I used to use a different recipe but they were too goopy to roll until now. These are perfect. Thank you.
Hi Sally. The cookie dough tasted wonderful last night! I️ was looking forward to making these all day. However, the dough did not spread one bit, the cookies are a round lump on the rack with light brown powdered sugar… any suggetions for high altitude baking?
These are so delicious! I made them this week to give out to friends and coworkers and they were a huge hit. I added a bit of peppermint extract and some chopped Andes peppermint pieces (the red and white ones, not the green and black creme de menthe version). Instead of rolling the cookie dough balls in powdered sugar prior to baking them, I half-dipped the finished cookies in white chocolate after they’d cooled. The cookies are so fudgy, the texture is perfect, and the flavor is wonderful! I definitely will be making these again.
Just made these with my daughter and rolled them in crushed candy canes and then the icing sugar. They were delicious! She loved making the cookies “play in the snow” before baking. Thanks for another delicious recipe 🙂
Hi! I found your recipe to use the best ingredients. However, I would like to add espresso or coffee to your recipe. How much would I use? What are your thoughts? Thank you!
What a delicious addition. I would add 2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the dough.
Sally could I use a Ghiradelli semi sweet baking bar cut up instead of the chips? Thanks!!
You sure can!
Hi Sally,
I have always wanted to try the crinkle cookies but when I baked other chocolate types, they tasted burnt. I think the parchment paper is the cure for that (I had never used it before) and wow, these cookies are amazing…everything I thought they would be…and perfectly matching your description. Thanks!
These we sooo delicious! So rich and chocolaty. This was the last type of cookie I made for Christmas but the first gone! Make these! You won’t regret it.
I made these cookies last night using peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips and they are so delicious! The texture is perfect….crunchy outside and chewy inside! I only made 6 and I froze the rest of the cookie dough balls. I love that I can just pop them in the oven anytime I want a fresh cookie! Thanks for the great recipe…in fact I love all your recipes! You have the PERFECT scientific understanding of baking, which is very helpful for me.
I made these back in October and froze them, took them out about a month later when friends were staying over and they absolutely LOVED them. My husband and I thought freezing made them more mellow and we liked them just as much if not better than fresh. I used a small cookie scoop and got 27 cookies. I also put the icing sugar in a sandwich bag and dropped the dough balls into it and that worked well for me. Don’t skimp on the icing sugar. I did that for my second sheet of cookies and ended up sprinkling more on after they cooled but it’s not the same.
Growing up, my mom would tell me how her and her mom would make chocolate crinkles every year for Christmas. I was excited to get to make this recipe in remembrance of that tradition! I made these last night as a trial run for a Christmas party I’m attending this Friday night – SO delicious! These are so rich and fudgy, and I love how the powdered sugar turns into a glaze on the outside.
I made them last year and they were a hit. I just made two double batches (which ended up making 7 dozen) for a cookie exchange and they turned out perfectly. I made the dough two days ahead of time so baking 7 dozen didn’t seem so bad.
Thanks for another wonderful recipe. The cookies came out soft and fudgy, Love it!!!
Added 1/2 tsp of peppermint -merry christmas to me! Yum! They came out more mounded than expected so I don’t know if I should have pressed them down a bit before going in the oven? But nevertheless they tasted amazing!
I made these cookies with white chocolate chips (all I had in my cupboard) and they were fantastic!!
Hi Sally. I will make this as soon as we finish off what I just baked. But I was wondering, why do some crinkles come out more cake-y than fudge-y? I looked at the ingredients of several recipes and they are almost the same but mine came out more like cake. Would you know why this happens? Thanks!