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, chocolate frosted cookies, peppermint mocha cookies, and Andes mint chocolate cookies. I even turned it into chocolate raspberry crinkles 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!
Double 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
We love these cookies!
I made these and didn’t have the full amount of chocolate chips to add, so ground up some dark-chocolate covered espresso beans until they were pretty fine, but still had a few small pieces. Oh, my! They were decadent, especially still warm from the oven or heated briefly in the microwave. A definite keeper! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Can you use dutch process cocoa in this recipe? Thank you ~
Hi Karen, since this recipe uses baking soda you want a natural cocoa powder. If you’re interested in more about the differences between the two, you might find this post helpful: Dutch-process Vs Natural Cocoa Powder.
Started making these cookies about 2 years ago. My kids ask for them every year now. They really are delicious. Probably more time consuming than some cookies, but so very worth it.
Hi Sally (and team), I’m planning on making your crinkles since I noticed you use butter rather than oil. Butter does make everything taste better, but slightly more difficult to roll. Have you had any problems rolling dough because of it? I love to use espresso in the dough, but you don’t have it in yours. Do you have any idea how much I would use? Peppermint extract sounds heavenly. I want to put that in mine also, or do you think it will be too many different flavors jumbled in there? Thanks for your fantastic site and quick responses! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!
Hi Bella, While you can certainly try reducing the sugar if you wish, keep in mind that it plays an important role in the taste, texture, and overall structure of the cookies. Results will vary with less sugar. You can definitely use espresso and peppermint – the taste is like a peppermint mocha! You can see that we use them both in these peppermint mocha cookies.
I love that these crinkle cookies have not only cocoa powder but also chocolate inside
However, I have one question. Can I use less sugar in the dough? I do not like very sweet desserts and I try to reduce the amount of it. This time I am afraid these won’t turn out as well after I use less sugar.
Hi Eim, While you can certainly try reducing the sugar if you wish, keep in mind that it plays an important role in the taste, texture, and overall structure of the cookies. Results will vary with less sugar.
These were great! Turned out perfect and tasted like fudge brownies except in cookie form.
So…. I accidently added double the amount of cocoa powder. Is there a way I can fix this or will I need to scratch everything? SOS
Hi Kassie, there’s really not much you can do if everything has been mixed together already, unfortunately. You could still bake the cookies, they will just be more dry.
You are my trusted source for all the best recipes, so I know when something doesn’t turn out that something is wrong on my end. When making these cookies, the confectioner’s sugar melted so the lovely white coating became a wet, gooey mess. I tried baking them longer to dry out the coating, but this resulted in hard cookies. I followed your recipe exactly and even weighed the ingredients. I realized after baking all the cookies that when my oven indicates it is preheated to 350 degrees F. it is just heated to 300 degrees F. Could this have caused the problem or are there other things involved. The humidity in my home is around 40%, so I don’t think that explains it. Maybe the dough got too warm? I would love to know your thoughts on this.
Hi Margo, happy to help troubleshoot! If the powdered sugar coating melts too much into the cookies, you can use a small sieve to dust more on top after cooling. It does sound like an oven thermometer is needed for your oven if it is that far off!
I very much enjoyed these cookies but felt like it was too much flour/cocoa powder. Has anyone else had that problem.
Hi Katie! Did the dough seem dry? How did you measure the flour and cocoa powder? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Love this recipe!!!
Can i add some crushed candy cane to the mix
We would reduce the amount of mini chocolate chips if you add crushed candy canes – sounds delicious!
Hi Sally! I love your blog so much. Whenever I need a perfect recipe I come here and I never leave disappointed! I was looking for a cookie recipe I made a few years ago called Chunky Brownie I think. I couldn’t find it. Did you remove it from the blog? I made these anyway and they have been a huge hit.
Hi Vicky! Could it be our brownie walnut chunk cookies? We unpublished it that older recipe. We still have it, so send us an email and we can forward it to you. sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com
Hi! Made these last year; they are sooo good.
Do you think I could skip the confectioners sugar and put a Hersey peppermint kiss on top, sort like peanut butter kisses?
Thanks & Happy Holidays
Hi Glenda, yes, you can use this cookie base for blossom cookies. OR see how we made these Candy Cane Kiss Cookies (scroll down for the chocolate version).
I’m considering putting a cherry in the center of these, but I’m worried it might affect the rise/shape too much. If it’s not going to work, I would rather try another cookie than make these without. (I see your chocolate butter cookies with the cherry – so cute! but I want more chocolate-forward flavor.) Can you offer some advice so I don’t waste the time/ingredients of a test batch? Thank you! Love your recipes! ❤️
Hi Alison, yes, we think it should work. If you try it, please report back and let us know how they turn out!
Hi there! I am planning to make cookie dough and freeze it in balls, then bake it a week later. For this recipe, could I roll the balls in powdered sugar before freezing, or would that mess up the crinkle effect when baking from frozen later on? Thank you!
Hi Hannah! We would not freeze them with the coating – we would thaw, then coat, and then bake them.
I saw the modification to make it a peppermint chocolate crinkle by adding some peppermint extract. Would it work to use peppermint baking chips instead any maybe espresso powder? I’d love to do similar to your peppermint mocha cookies, but in crinkle form because these are sooooo good!
Hi Sara, we haven’t tested it so can’t say for sure, but that sounds like it should work!
I love the recipe and I have made it a few times but I can’t seem to perfect it 🙁 I find my always spread a little too much and never looks as uniform! I made sure to keep the dough in the fridge for 10 hours and in between baking the batches. Any tips would be appreciated! Thank you 🙂
Hi Randihika, here’s all our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
add a tablespoon of instant espresso powder! you won’t regret it!
Ooooh great suggestion!
I can’t buy espresso powder. Is instant coffee a good substitute or too granular?
Instant coffee is a great substitute! If yours is has large pieces, you can try grinding them up a bit.
Followed recipe as written…they were OK but will stick to my sisters recipe with melted chocolate in the batter.
I’d like to add a bit of color to them, like red and green sprinkles on top. But I don’t want them to melt or bleed. Any suggestions?
I love every recipe I’ve made from here!
Hi Lili, instead of confectioners’ sugar, you can roll the cookie dough balls in sprinkles. Enjoy!
it is a GRAND recipe 🙂
Is Dutch process cocoa powder okay to use for this recipe?
Hi Nicole, since this recipe uses baking soda you want a natural cocoa powder. If you’re interested in more about the differences between the two, you might find this post helpful: Dutch-process Vs Natural Cocoa Powder
I used fry’s Dutch cocoa powder and they came out perfect, pull them out a minute before you think they’re done!! Enjoy
Tasty cookie
just wanted to take a moment to thank you for sharing your wonderful cookie recipe. The results were absolutely delicious! The texture, flavor, and balance of ingredients were perfect, and it’s hands down one of the best cookie recipes I’ve tried.
Not only was the process easy to follow, but it also filled my kitchen with the most wonderful aroma. These cookies have quickly become a new favorite in our household, and I can’t wait to make them again.
Thank you for sharing such a delightful recipe – it’s a true treat!
This is a definite keeper. I used Gluten Free 1:1 flour blend in place of the flour and followed the rest of the recipe as written (including the chocolate chips). You cannot tell that Gluten Free flour blend was used. Important to note – you cannot just use Gluten Free flour, it has to be the 1:1 (cup for cup) Gluten Free Flour Blend, which includes a few other ingredients to help it perform in recipes like all purpose flour. These cookies are perfectly sweet, chewy, fudgy and have those delicious slightly crisp edges I love. Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe Sally!!
I love this recipe. Could I add some
Peppermint extract to it? We love the texture of this recipe but want a mint chocolate cookie.
Hi Crystal, We love adding peppermint! We recommend adding 3/4 or 1 teaspoon peppermint extract in addition to the vanilla. You might also enjoy the recipe for Peppermint Mocha Cookies
Can you make these gluten free?
Hi Tracey, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flours, but some readers have reported success using 1:1 flour substitutes (like Cup4Cup). If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Cookies tasted great, so rich and chocolatey!! I had problems with the icing sugar melting and the bottom of the cookies burning. Burning the bottoms of cookies is a common problem I seem to have despite following the recipe exactly and always doing the low end of bake time. Any tips?
Hi Nicole, it could be that your baking sheet is too close to a bottom heating element in your oven. You could try baking them on a higher rack, or else placing a second baking sheet on the rack below, to help shield the bottom of your baking sheet from the bottom heating element. Another cause could be your baking sheet itself. We find that cookies brown more/faster when baked on dark-colored baking sheets vs. silver light-colored baking sheets. We also recommend using a silicone baking mat, if possible. Hope these tips help fix the issue!
Hi Nicole! Your oven may run a little hot – we always recommend using an in-oven thermometer. We also find that darker metal cookie sheets can over-bake cookie bottoms. Did you use parchment or silicone liners on your baking sheets? You can also try moving your baking rack to a different position in your oven, we usually bake in the lower third of the oven. Hope these tips help!
I’ve made this exact recipe numerous times because it’s the best but this year my cookies are going flat. They still are wonderful just flatter than I’m used to. Any ideas on that?
Hi Marva, here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
i have the same problem as laura, they spread completely thin even after only 9 minutes, temperature, ingretients…everything was as inticated!
Hi Camila, if you decide to try these again, we recommend adding an extra tablespoon or two of flour to your dough. And here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!