Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

The perfect Christmas cookie is here. Meet my soft and chewy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies filled with chocolate chips and covered in sugar. They boast a fudgy brownie-like centre and a festive sugar crust.

These are amazing!! It’s a brownie but in cookie form! Every time bake them they are an instant hit!

– Rachel

There is something incredibly festive about these cookies. I think it’s their white coating, which looks like a beautiful dusting of snow. Here in Australia, Christmas lands in the middle of summer which means all things hot and humid, so I have a soft spot for all things snow – especially at this time of the year.

When I was testing this recipe, I knew I wanted a few things – a stark white shell, a fudgy chocolate centre and classic chewy edges. And it took quite a few batches to get it just right.

Recipe testing

RECIPE TEST #1: I started by adjusting my Chocolate Fudge Cookie recipe but added slightly more flour and did one coating of icing sugar. The first problem I had was the sugar soaking into the cookie, resulting in a lacklustre coating once baked. My cookie was also slightly cakey – and I also had problems with the cookies not spreading.

RECIPE TEST #2: I decided to use melted butter instead of softened butter to help with the cookie spreading correctly. I also swapped out the brown sugar for caster sugar. I added an extra egg for moisture and used baking powder instead of soda. I had to chill the dough but was happy with the outcome – aside from the sugar coating which was still not thick enough.

RECIPE TEST #3: This time, I took inspiration from my Brownie Cookie recipe, and use real melted chocolate IN the cookie batter. I also reduced the amount of flour and double rolled the cookies – in both white sugar AND icing sugar. These cookies were good but a little too much like a brownie and not a classic cookie. I had solved the sugar problem though! They were lovely and white!

RECIPE TEST #4: I went back to test 2 but reduced the baking powder and upped the chocolate chips to make sure the cookie was lovely and fudgy. And BOOM, the result was PERFECT. A deliciously soft and chewy chocolate cookie with a perfectly white crinkled finish.

What are Chocolate Crinkle Cookies?

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are chocolate cookies that are rolled in icing sugar or powdered sugar before being baked in the oven. The result is a deliciously fudgy chocolate cookie with a lovely white, crinkly finish that’s soft and sweet.

How to make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

• This is a simple mix and stir recipe so you don’t need an electric mixer. But you will need to chill the cookie dough for 1 hour.
• Start by melting your butter in the microwave. Then add caster sugar (or granulated sugar) and vanilla and gently whisk together.
• Add eggs and whisk together, just to break up the egg yolks.
• Then add plain flour (or all purpose flour), cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. To ensure your cookies spread correctly, I highly recommend measuring out your flour and cocoa powder in grams using a baking scale. It’s very easy to overmeasure flour when using cup measurements. If you’ve had problems in the past with your cookies not spreading correctly in the oven, read my tips here.
• A sticky chocolate cookie dough will form. Throw in the chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• By now the cookie dough will still be soft and sticky, but it should be just firm enough that you can scoop it and roll it into balls using your hands.
• Scoop out 1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough and then roll them in a bowl of white sugar (or granulated sugar). Caster sugar is too fine and not as effective in this step. We roll the cookie dough in this sugar first to ensure the second coating of icing sugar doesn’t soak into the cookie dough when baked.
• Finally, roll the cookie dough balls in a thick coating of icing sugar (or powdered sugar). Make sure you coat them really well. After I place them on my baking tray, I’ll sometimes go around again and give any that don’t look fully coated a second roll.
• Bake! Cookies will spread out naturally in the oven and get a beautiful, crinkly, white coating. Leave them to cool completely, before enjoying.

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Let’s Bake

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Yield Makes 15–16 cookies 1x

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 11 reviews

Prep: 90 minutesCook: 12 minutesTotal: 1 hour 42 minutes

Perfect Chocolate Crinkle Cookies made from scratch.

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Ingredients

Chocolate cookies

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 175 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour, sifted
• 40 grams (1/2 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 160 grams (1 cup) chocolate chips

Sugar coating

• 100 grams (1/2 cup) white sugar or granulated sugar
• 65 grams (1/2 cup) pure icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted

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Instructions

1. Place butter in a large heatproof bowl. Heat butter in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted and smooth. 
2. Add sugar and vanilla and use a hand whisk to combine. Add eggs. Whisk again, breaking up the egg yolks.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Then add to butter mixture and whisk until a sticky chocolate cookie dough forms.
4. Finally, stir through chocolate chips. Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up. 
5. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays with baking or parchment paper.
6. Set out your sugars in two bowls ready for rolling. Then scoop out cookie dough, roughly 1.5 tablespoons per cookie, and roll into balls using your hands. The dough will still be soft and sticky but it should be firm enough to work with. If not, place it back in the fridge for another 15 minutes and check again.
7. Roll each cookie dough ball first in the white sugar and then in the icing sugar before placing on your prepared trays. Repeat until all cookie dough balls have been coated in the two sugars. 
8. Do a quick check and if any of your cookie dough balls aren’t looking completely covered in icing sugar, roll them again.
9. Bake cookies for approximately 11-13 minutes or until they’ve spread out and developed a crinkley top. Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Store cookies in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge. 

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 cookie Calories: 230 Sugar: 25.1 g Sodium: 47.2 mg Fat: 9.5 g Carbohydrates: 35.7 g Protein: 3.1 g Cholesterol: 38.7 mg

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: CookiesCuisine: American

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Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.