Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
These chocolate crinkle cookies are the ones with the snow-capped, crackled tops and the soft, fudgy centers — rich and brownie-like inside, with a crisp sugary shell outside. The dough is a simple cocoa-based batter that chills in the fridge, gets rolled in powdered sugar, and cracks open beautifully in the oven as the cookies puff and spread. They look like they came from a bakery, they keep well for days, and they’re one of the easiest cookies to make ahead for a Christmas cookie tray.
The secret is chilling the dough until it’s firm enough to roll, coating each ball generously in powdered sugar, and pulling the cookies out while the centers still look slightly soft — they set up fudgy as they cool.
Prep time: 20 minutes (+ 4 hours chilling) Cook time: 10-12 minutes per batch Servings: 36 cookies
What You’ll Need
- Mixing bowls
- Baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Wire cooling rack
Bake on the right equipment: see our best cookie sheets for baking cookies guide — a heavy, flat sheet is what keeps the bottoms from over-browning while the tops crack open.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (85 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Mix the cocoa base. In a large bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, granulated sugar, and vegetable oil until smooth and glossy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract. The batter will be thick and shiny.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the cocoa mixture and stir just until no dry flour remains. The dough will be soft and sticky.
- Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Chilled dough rolls cleanly and is what gives the cookies their deep cracks — warm dough spreads flat and barely crinkles.
- Preheat and shape. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop tablespoon-sized portions of dough and roll them into balls. Roll each ball generously in powdered sugar until fully coated.
- Bake. Place the coated balls 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the tops have cracked open and the edges are set but the centers still look slightly soft.
- Cool on a rack. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
Tips for the Best Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Don’t rush the chill. Four hours is the minimum — overnight is even better. Firm dough holds its shape in the oven, which is what forces the powdered-sugar coating to crack into that classic pattern.
- Coat the sugar thickly. Roll each ball in powdered sugar twice if needed so no dark dough shows through. A thin coating bakes into a faint dusting instead of the bold white contrast.
- Pull them while the centers look soft. The cookies finish setting on the hot baking sheet, so waiting for them to look fully done in the oven is how the fudgy centers turn dry.
Crackled on top, fudgy in the middle, and dusted like fresh snow — these chocolate crinkle cookies are the batch to bake all December long.
