With a fudgy, melty interior loaded with chocolate chips, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are the perfect holiday cookie for any and all chocolate lovers! If you're looking to bake up a stellar batch of beautiful Crinkle Cookies to share this holiday season, this is the recipe for you.
In addition to a foolproof, no-chill Crinkle Cookie recipe, we'll also uncover the secret to perfect, chewy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, plus freezing tips for both the cookie dough and the final product!
Need more cookie inspiration for the chocolate lovers in your life? Add soft and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, chocolate-dipped Coconut Macaroons, and Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies (with the perfect cookie-to-kiss ratio) to the menu!
HOW TO MAKE CRINKLE COOKIES FROM SCRATCH
Crinkle Cookies made with chocolate chips and coated in powdered sugar are a soft and chewy, homemade cookie perfect for the holidays. They're easy to make from scratch, and these, in particular, have been a fan-favorite from my kitchen for almost a solid decade now.
-
Prep - Don't forget to preheat the oven to 325°, and have ready a cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. This ensures your cookies come off the baking sheet with no problem at all!
-
Mix the Dry Ingredients - Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sea salt. Then, set aside and start on your wet ingredients!
-
Cream the Eggs and Sugar - Add the sugar and eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and mix on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes, until pale yellow and noticeably thicker. If you do not have a stand mixer, you can use a large bowl and a handheld mixer. Then, add in the vanilla, followed by streaming in the melted butter.
-
Add the Dry Ingredients to the Wet Ingredients - Gradually add in the dry ingredients, followed by the chocolate chips.
-
Roll in Powdered Sugar - Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball with damp hands, and press gently on the cookie sheet to flatten slightly. Then, roll the cookie dough in the powdered sugar and transfer back to the baking sheet.
-
Bake - Bake for 12-14 minutes, serve and enjoy!
WHAT MAKES A COOKIE CHEWY?
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are known for their chewy interior, but what is it that gives them that signature chewy texture? It's mostly thanks to the eggs. If you are an experienced baker, you might have noticed this recipe calls for 3 eggs, where 2 is typically standard for a drop cookie.
The extra egg, in addition, to properly creaming the eggs and sugar, is what makes these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies perfectly chewy, gives them their beautiful height, and enables a seriously stunning "crinkle" to spread across the top.
You might find yourself tempted to move on to the next stage of the recipe before your eggs and sugar have been properly cream, but I highly encourage you to stay the course. It's only going to take a few minutes, and the result will be a perfectly baked, chewy Chocolate Crinkle Cookie.
HOW TO KNOW WHEN EGGS AND SUGAR ARE "CREAMED"
To cream eggs and sugar, mix together on medium-high to high speed until light and fluffy. If you’re wondering if you’ve reached the “light and fluffy” stage, you probably haven’t yet. The mixture will be pale yellow and almost doubled in volume when properly creamed, and it will likely take you around 3 minutes to get there.
Note, if your Chocolate Crinkles fall flat, not creaming the eggs and sugar is probably the culprit. So taking the time to complete this step properly, really will pay off in the end.
NO-CHILL CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES
Many Chocolate Crinkle Cookie recipes call for chilling the dough before you can scoop and roll it into balls. Luckily, this is not one of those recipes. This recipe has been simplified to exclude both having to melt down chocolate and chilling the dough, making it an over-the-top, easy Crinkle Cookies recipe! So you can now scoop your cookie dough right away and enjoy a batch of warm, gooey cookies without all that pesky waiting.
However, because of the uptick in the egg count, this cookie dough is still slightly sticky, and there's just no getting around it. Dusting your hands with powdered sugar will keep rolling the dough into balls a smooth and streamlined process. If you have a cookie scoop, while not necessary, it would also come in handy here.
HOW TO STORE AND FREEZE CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES
If you want to give yourself a serious head start (like a 2-month head start) you can absolutely do that with these cookies. You can freeze Chocolate Crinkle cookie dough balls, and pull off a batch of freshly baked chocolate cookies any day of the week, completely on a whim!
COOKIE DOUGH (FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS)
- To freeze Chocolate Crinkle cookie dough, roll in powdered sugar first. Rolling the cookie dough in powdered sugar at this point (rather than directly before baking) helps to keep the cookie dough from sticking -- cause remember -- it is a sticky dough after all.
- Once coated in powdered sugar, transfer to a snug, airtight, freezer-safe container, separate each layer of cookie dough with sheets of wax paper, and seal.
- Bake within 2 months for best results.
STORING BAKED COOKIES
You can store your baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, and they will stay fresh for up to 3 days. However, to preserve them longer, you can also freeze Crinkle Cookies even after baking.
BAKED COOKIES (FREEZING INSTRUCTIONS)
Once your cookies have baked and cooled, simply place them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag, taking care to press out any excess air for up to 2 months. You could also freeze them in a freezer-safe, airtight storage container, just be sure the container fits the cookies snugly, and there is not a ton of room for air to circulate around them.
5 MORE COOKIE RECIPES YOU'LL LOVE
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies with a cascade of white Peppermint Frosting are rich, chewy, and delightfully festive!
- Chocolate Drop Cookies are full of chocolate, soft, gooey, and easy to make! If you're looking for a chocolate cookie with no chill-time required, this one is perfect!
- Thumbprint Hershey Kiss Cookies are soft and chewy, with the perfect peanut butter cookie-to-kiss ratio!
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are a souped-up, seriously amazing take on a classic! Instant vanilla pudding keeps these cookies insanely moist, and they are a guaranteed crowd pleaser!
- Easy Coconut Macaroons are the perfect gluten-free cookie for entertaining! They're easy to make and freeze beautifully!
- S'mores Cookies are wonderful for the holidays, with a cookie base made to emulate the flavors of a graham cracker, topped with a gooey marshmallow and a chocolate kiss!
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ¾ cup confectioners powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325° and have ready a cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and sea salt. Set aside until ready to use.
- Add the sugar and eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and mix on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes, until pale yellow and noticeably thicker. If you do not have a stand mixer, use a large bowl and a handheld mixer. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add in the vanilla, followed by streaming in the melted and cooled butter.
- With the mixer still on low, gradually add in the dry ingredients. Add the chocolate chips and mix once more.
- Have ready a small bowl of confectioners sugar, and dust your hands with powdered sugar as well. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball, and press gently to flatten. Roll the cookie dough in the powdered sugar and transfer to the baking sheet, placing each about 2" apart.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
Debra says
Wow....these look incredibly decadent. I've just started to deliberate which cookies I'll do for the annual neighborhood cookie swap. Winner Winner Chicken Dinner. I'll look no further. Thanks so much.
Kelly Anthony says
Thank you so much, Debra 🙂 I love that y'all have a cookie swap! That's so fun 🙂
Ellen says
A favorite cookie in my family. Love that your version is no chill!
Leslie says
I am thoroughly intrigued. Gotta try this. Creaming the eggs and sugar is genius, and I hate having to melt chocolate for recipes.
Traci says
Great recipe! I love the tip for creaming butter and sugar too. I don't think I've ever done that, and now I wanna hop in the kitchen just to try it out! Thanks for sharing...just pinned! 🙂
Shanika says
These crinkled cookies look so gorgeous! They are the perfect holiday cookies for sure!
Jessica Formicola says
These are my favorite Christmas cookies! Can't wait to try them!
Beth says
They really are a pretty cookie! Believe it, or not, I have never made them! I may have to rectify that situation this year! Thanks for all of the great tips!
Sonal says
Love the chocolate crinkle cookies. These look perfectly ready for the holiday season. Can never have enough of these.
Kelly Anthony says
Me either! Thank you, Sonal!
Cliona Keane says
These look amazing! Perfect for the holidays. They look beautifully soft and chewy, with that crunch on the outside!
Kelly Anthony says
Perfect observations 😉 Thank you, Cliona!
Mary Bostow says
Oh yum! My whole family would go crazy for these Christmas cookies! This is absolutely fantastic! So YUMMY!
Tiffany says
Hi there, I want to make these but I'm a bit confused. In the description you state it takes four eggs, but in the recipe you only list three. Which is correct, please? Thank you.
Kelly Anthony says
Hi, Tiffany! So sorry for the confusion! Use three eggs!
Tim says
Munching down on these right now! Totally delish. Nice soft and chewy with just a bit of crispiness on the outside and edges. Dough took a little getting used to at first -- still soft and sticky but just kept scooping and using sugar on my hands and eventually they came out nice and evenly portioned. Little more than a tablespoon so left them in for a few more minutes. Even mixed in some peanut butter chips to half the batter. Was looking for a no-chill recipe and this one definitely came through! Glad I found your site and will definitely check in often!
Kelly Anthony says
Hey, Tim! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you found what you were looking for here 🙂 Makes my day!
Stine Mari says
I love crinkle cookies, they are so soft and chewy! I'm looking forward to trying your recipe, it looks really good.
Diana says
Love that these can be frozen! Question, if frozen, do you thaw before baking or bake straight out of the freezer? Also, if frozen after baked, how long do you recommend thawing before eating? Thinking of making these for gifts so want to make sure to have right timing!!
Kelly Anthony says
You can bake them straight out of the freezer! However, you'll probably need to add a minute or two to the cook time 🙂
Linda H says
I wish folks would only comment if they have tried the recipe and have something to say to others who are looking. Anyway, just finished baking these. Taste is very good, i cut the sugar by 30% and were still very sweet. but... think i'll go back to the chill method... this is just way too sticky and goopy - was not fun to try to get into any kind of a ball shape.
Kelly Anthony says
Hi Linda! Unfortunately, changing up the ingredients and their indicated amounts will greatly impact the consistency of the dough. You might search for low-sugar cookie recipes instead. Best of luck!
Leonore says
This one is a keeper! No more waiting time. The confectioner sugar on my palm did the trick on that sticky dough. Mine got less cracks, perhaps it's because I reduced the sugar by 25%. They look good and taste good. They are chewy and the choco chips inside are additional treats. I was able to make 36 pieces from this recipe. Will add espresso next time. Thanks for sharing!
Kelly Anthony says
Thank you, Leonore! So glad you enjoyed the cookies 🙂
Teri says
These are so good, and require so much less forethought than the chilled ones. They were not that sticky - the chilled ones warm up quickly out of the fridge and seem basically the same, so I will go with this recipe. . My hubby’s favorite cookie is crinkles, and he approved wholeheartedly.