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Homemade chocolate crinkle cookies are quick to make with no chill time. A rich and fudgy chocolate crinkle is rolled in powdered sugar for a perfect crackle cookie finish. This recipe will be a holiday or any time crowd pleaser!
Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these chocolate crinkle cookies! I am slowly adding to my collection of holiday cookie recipes, although these chocolate crinkles definitely don't just have to be christmas cookies - they are an amazing year-round crinkle cookie recipe.
This chocolate crinkle cookie recipe is super easy to make. Unlike a lot of other crinkle cookie recipes, this is a no-chill cookie recipe, and comes together in the time that it takes to preheat the oven. It also happens to be a dairy free cookie recipe if that is important to you!
I love making chocolate recipes, and I love making cookie recipes, so this chocolate crinkle recipe is truly the best of both worlds - I hope that you enjoy! I also have a red velvet crinkle cookie recipe if you were after something different, or a lemon crinkle cookie if you're after a non chocolate version!
What are Chocolate Crinkle Cookies?
This chocolate crinkle cookie recipe is based off of my dairy free chocolate cookie recipe. It is rich and fudgy, and comes together super quickly as there is no need to soften butter - it just all whisks together!
The part that makes this a 'crinkle' cookie is the generous coating of powdered sugar that the cookie dough ball gets before going into the oven. As it bakes and spreads on the baking sheet, cracks develop and are exposed, giving the perfect crackle cookie.
Ingredients in crinkle cookies
The ingredient list for these homemade chocolate crinkle cookies is pretty simple - they are a cocoa and oil based recipe, which gives them an amazing fudgy texture.
- Neutral oil. This is anything neutral tasting - use extra light olive oil, or something like canola, grapeseed, vegetable oil or rice bran oil.
- Brown sugar. You can use either dark brown or light brown - the brown sugar gives texture and taste to the crinkle cookies.
- Granulated sugar. Helps with chew and texture.
- Egg. Just one, to bind everything together! I haven't tried making these egg free sorry!
- Vanilla and salt. Both are important here - make sure you properly salt your baking, as it makes a huge difference. I use vanilla bean paste but vanilla extract works well too.
- Cocoa powder. I use dutch process cocoa powder, which gives an amazing richness to the chocolate crackle cookie, especially as it doesn't contain melted chocolate. Dutch process cocoa powder has been alkalised, so won't react with the baking soda in the recipe. I haven't tried this recipe with regular unsweetened cocoa powder but it *should* be ok.
- Flour. I use all-purpose (plain flour) to make these chocolate crinkle cookies!
- Baking soda. Just a little to help the cookies have spread and a nice thickness.
- Granulated sugar and powdered sugar. This is a wee trick for the optimum powdered sugar coating - more on this in a sec!
Crinkle Cookie recipe testing notes - butter vs oil recipe
I had a few issues with testing this recipe - my first tests I used a dough based on my chocolate sprinkle sugar cookies, which is a butter based dough. When I rolled the dough in the powdered sugar, it would dissolve in the oven, giving a super gummy, pasty texture on the outside of the cookies, which wasn't super pleasant.
After a lot of internet digging around other recipes and several google rabbit holes, I found almost all of the recipes for chocolate crinkle cookies online use oil, and that there must be a good reason for this.
I switched up my recipe to an oil based one (which I love), and sure enough, the chocolate crinkle cookies came out of the oven looking like a true dream. My theory is that with the butter based recipe, water is released as the cookie bakes, which dissolves the powdered sugar on the outside. Because the oil is straight fat and no water is released, the oil based recipe doesn't dissolve the sugar on the outside. That's my theory anyway!
Brown Butter Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
I posted the image below on Instagram and a couple of people asked if the cookies can be made with brown butter. I had been planning on testing this and was curious to see so I gave it a go and it worked really well.
The reason that it works is because when you brown butter, you are cooking off the water in the recipe (and at the same time browning the milk solids). For this particular recipe because I was replacing oil with brown butter, so a straight fat for fat swap, I was able to just use 75g brown butter (not melted) in the place of the oil. When I am calculating how much butter I need to use to make brown butter, I usually take the quantity of brown butter that I need and multiply it by 1.3 and add a tiny bit. This usually gives me enough to account for the cooking off of the water during the browning process.
Using brown butter in the recipe takes a tiny bit longer as you have to wait for it to cool, but they are So Delicious. They are chewy and chocolatey and the brown butter just does what brown butter does best and provides an amazing depth of flavour. Here's how to do it:
- Place 110g butter (salted or unsalted is fine, and it can be cold from the fridge) into a pan. I prefer something light coloured so I can see what is happening.
- Cook until the butter has melted, and then continue to cook, swirling the pan often and stirring with a whisk, until the butter foams and turns golden brown and nutty - this should take 3-4 minutes.
- Remove the brown butter from the stove and weigh out 75g into your mixing bowl or a heatproof bowl. Make sure to get all the brown stuff at the bottom, that's the good stuff. If you have a tiny bit leftover it's good for a lot of things - I usually put it on my toast.
- Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes, then proceed with the recipe. The cookies will spread a little more and the cracks are more pronounced, but aside from that, everything is the same!
Why are chocolate crinkle cookies baked at a lower temperature?
You will notice that I bake these cookies at a lower temperature. Oven temperature is one of the things that I play around with when baking cookies (along with a bunch of other things such as the ratio of brown to white sugar, chill time etc). These cookies benefitted from a lower oven temperature because it gives the dough time to properly spread and become the most perfect chocolate crackle.
This is why it is super important to make sure that your oven temperature is accurate! A different temperature can make a huge change in the outcome of your cookies.
You can read all about the things that I tweak when recipe developing to create the perfect cookie in my post: How to make perfect chocolate chip cookies (lots of the notes apply to non chocolate chip cookie recipes too!
Rolling in sugar and powdered sugar
The secret to a well coated crinkle cookie - the double sugar roll! I roll my cookies in granulated sugar first before powdered sugar - this helps it to stick, and means still get a lovely sugary coating without the powdered sugar being toooo overpowering.
Because this is a soft no chill dough, I also find that scooping the dough directly into the granulated sugar means that it is much easier to handle and shape so that it doesn't stick to your hands too much.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
I haven't tried it. I think because these cookies are so easy to make ahead of time, you can just throw the dough together as the oven preheats (it literally takes 5 minutes to make). The dough is really soft so won't hold its shape in the fridge. I haven't tried chilling the dough as a whole, but if you can, make them from fresh.
Can I freeze crinkle cookies?
Honestly, I wouldn't. The dough for these gets a bit weird in the freezer, and if you froze the baked cookies the powdered sugar on the outside might soak up any freezer smells. I haven't tested it but I think these cookies are one of the recipes which would be best baked from fresh.
For notes on recipes and cookies which are best for freezing check out my post: How to freeze cookie dough
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page
Can chocolate crinkle cookies be made ahead of time?
These are best made when you want them - if you move them around too much the powdered sugar tends to get a bit messy. They are so quick, that you might as well just bake them when needed!
How do you store chocolate crinkle cookies?
Store crinkle cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to five days.
Can I add chocolate chips?
Go for it! I haven't tried it but I am sure it would be delicious!
What is light or dark brown sugar?
In the US you can get both light or dark brown, which is why I specified! If you're in a place that only has one kind, 'regular' brown sugar is fine.
For more holiday cookie recipes, check out:
- 30 Minute Thin and Crispy Gingersnap Cookies
- Red Velvet Sugar Cookies
- Rice Bubble Slice
- 30 Minute Shortbread Cookies
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
20 minute Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star5 from 70 reviews
- Author: Erin Clarkson
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Homemade chocolate crinkle cookies are quick to make with no chill time. A rich and fudgy chocolate crinkle is rolled in powdered sugar for a perfect crackle cookie finish. This recipe will be a holiday or any time crowd pleaser!
Ingredients
Scale
- 75g Neutral oil
- 100g light or dark brown sugar
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (50g without the shell), at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 30g dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
- 130g all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- Powdered sugar and granulated sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°f / 165°c. Line 1-2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, using a handheld electric mixer or a whisk (or you can use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), combine the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla. Mix on high speed for about a minute, until the mixture is well combined. Sift together the salt, cocoa powder, flour, and baking soda and fold in by hand using a rubber spatula.
- The dough will seem a little oily and may take a little work to come together - this is ok!
- Place a little granulated sugar in a small bowl and sifted powdered sugar in a second small bowl.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop 2 tbsp balls of dough (about 40g each) and place them into the bowl of granulated sugar (work with one at a time). Roll the ball of dough in the granulated sugar to coat, shape gently into a ball, then place into the bowl of powdered sugar and coat generously (I do this by shaking the bowl and turning the dough ball).
- Transfer the powdered sugar coated dough ball to the prepared baking pan. It may flatten off a little as it is quite a soft dough, but do not flatten any further.
- Repeat with the remaining balls of dough until you have filled the tray - I usually do two trays each with six cookies. Leave the remaining dough un-scooped until you are ready to bake.
- Bake the cookies for 12 to 13 minutes, until they are puffed up and set around the edges. remove from the oven and if desired, 'scoot' them into an extra round shape using a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie. Repeat the baking process with the remainder of the cookies.
- Leave to cool on the pans for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days
Notes
'Neutral oil' means neutral tasting - so something like extra light olive oil, rice bran oil, grapeseed, canola, etc will work!
Key Ingredients
- Chocolate
« 30 Minute Thin and Crispy Gingersnap Cookies
Soft Sugar Cookie Bars »
Reader Interactions
Meg
Easy, delicious and so satisfying to watch the crinkles develop as they bake. Appreciate the 1x 2x etc for recipe quantities too, as I needed to make a big batch to donate via Good Bitches Baking charity. Took me longer than 20 minutes but only because I’d run out of cocoa and had to dash to the shop.
Thank you!
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Cali
These were so easy to make and delicious! I’ve had issues with making chocolate crinkles before, they just never turned out right. But these were so easy to make and came out great. After reading some of the other reviews, I decided to make a double batch for an office potluck and got about 2 dozen cookies with some variations in size. I also added maybe 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract and it was the perfect amount for a double batch in my opinion-not too strong but the flavor came through. I would say making these fresh is definitely the way to go- fresh has the best texture compared to 1 or 2 days old.
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Vanesa
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I've made it two times already with my little ones, they love them!! I just had to reduced in 10g the amoun of oil because the first time were a they didn't hold the ball shape. I think it has to do with the humidity here or the flour I get in my country (I live in Argentina). But your cookies are amaizing!!!
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Andrea
I made these as Christmas gifts. Loved the use of oil over butter! My husband, whose favorite cookie is a chocolate crinkle, said they weren’t chocolatey enough. I don’t agree—I think they’re perfect. Maybe I’ll try adding mini chocolate chips next time.
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Katrina Hughes
Damn girl!!
As soon as the mixture came together I knew this was going to be a killer cookie. You have certainly perfected the recipe!
I came up with a barrier in that the battery in my scales was dead, however I googled the conversions and found a mint wee calculator that turns the weight of any standard ingredient into mls. The cookie came out just like the picture... so fudgy and delicious, thank you for sharing your craft, I will certainly have this one on repeat!Reply
Cameron Tiefenthaler
These are great! I’ve struggled to find a good chocolate crinkle cookie, and these work quite well! I omitted rolling them in granulated sugar as I don’t care for the grittiness in the final product. Rolling them twice in powdered sugar before baking seems to lead to a perfect crinkle. I also added abt 1/2 tsp of espresso powder for extra depth. Cookies are soft, chewy, and delightful! Also took me a smidge more than 20 minutes to complete.
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Andrea
Made these for little cookie boxes I gave out to my coworkers. They are SO EASY. I appreciate that it doesn’t require butter because sometimes we need cookies faster than butter softens. I was nervous because the dough was very soft when rolling but followed the recipe exactly and it worked like a charm. For anyone wondering, they hold up fine for a few days but they definitely look the prettiest on the first day. Will make again.
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Lucy
I made these the other day - so yummy!
Do you think I could fridge the dough overnight? Plan to make a triple batch and thought I’d get ahead
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Erin Clarkson
I haven't tried it sorry! Let me know if you do though and how it turns out!
Rachel W
Such an easy recipe to follow, and so so yum! Even uses basic ingredients so we didn't have to buy anything special. My three year old helped to make them, and is asking for another bake day tomorrow. We will probably have to have to do that, because these aren’t going to last long!
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Rachel W
Such an easy recipe to follow, my three year old helped! So so yum, looks like we will have another bake day tomorrow as these aren’t going to last very long!
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Mara
These are our favorite - perfectly chewy, like a brownie but as a cookie. And these are so much simpler than the ones I used to make.
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Jenny Olszowy
Just made the revised Brown Butter variation today. They turned out beautifully and taste amazing! The recipe was quick and easy as promised.
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Jenny
Made yesterday and forgot to add my photo.
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Natalie Vergara
These cookies are so good and easy! Came together super quickly and were a breeze to make with the weight measurements. Made a double batch and it came out to 27 cookies with my medium cookie scoop. I added a 1/2 tsp espresso powder. Great addition to my cookie boxes this year!
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Noemi
These are so so good!! Very addictive. I had to make a double batch the week after I made the first because I couldn’t stop craving them. This is your sign to go make them right now!! (my colleges at work appreciated them as well 😉 )
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Charlotte Rattenbury
This have become a Christmas staple in our household. My kids have named them snowball cookies and every year we make them and leave them out for Santa. Santa a.k.a husband loves them and so do the rest of us. Super easy recipe to follow also.
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Mike
Absolutely delicous and SO easy if you need a quick cookie, or even if you want any type of cookie, they’re fab! Try adding peppermint extract instead of vanilla, it’s a winner.
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Maria
Absolutely best chocolate crinkle cookies I’ve ever made. The recipe comes together so quickly and my kitchen is clean by the time the first batch is ready to pull out of the oven. The trick to use oil and roll in caster sugar first definitely helped to keep the powdered sugar looking pretty without starting to turn brown. I baked some and put three baked cookies in the freezer and days later they still looked the same with their clean crinkles!
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Melissa
I made a triple batch of these for my husband to take to work on Christmas night. I used brown butter and really think that added a dimension of flavor. Hubby said they were a hit at work! Don't skimp on the powdered sugar!
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Reilly
Made these crinkle cookies for a cookie competition at work and won first prize! They have perfect crisp edges and a soft inside. Such a delicious recipe that I’ve shared with so many friends already!
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Emily
Love these cookies! They come together super easy and are super delicious! I've made them with oil and with browned butter and oh my the browned butter ones are next level!! Definitely recommend going this route. So great! Thanks, Erin!
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Dascher
This is my go to cookie recipe! Easy to make, perfect chocolate flavor, and they look like they took hours. I used to shy away from crinkle cookies because the rolling process was a mess, but not with these! 10/10.
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Meredith Bubner
Hi Erin I didn’t make this recipe because ‘Doctor says no” to the cooking chocolate for me. But I did read your recommendation to use oil rather than butter when making crinkle cookies. My first effort some years ago, using butter, looked dismal. After reading your blog, I searched for a recipe using oil. What a transformation! Brilliant result. Fab appearance and much better texture. Thanks as always.
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Sophie
I made these today as trial as thought they would be something different for my students. I teach cooking at an intermediate in New Zealand. They were really straight forward but feel like they will be something the kids haven’t ever made before! Can’t wait to make them with my classes tomorrow!
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Rachel
This is a great recipe - my husband and son love your crinkle cookies! One question: sometimes when I make these, the powdered sugar layer comes out of the oven a bit wet and never dries. Any ideas as to why this may be happening? I follow the recipe exactly and always coat first with granulated and then powdered sugar. This happened with my last batch - will post a photo below. Any ideas?
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Erin Clarkson
Hmmm this is usually from the liquid in the recipe reacting with the sugar - it could be the brand of sugar that you use, or maybe it's super humid inside your oven?
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Olivia
This is a fantastic recipe! Super easy and absolutely delicious. I hadn’t come across these cookies before, and it was such a lovely surprise to find out they were my wife’s favourite childhood cookies. They are firmly in the baking rotation now!
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Becs
I made these with my kids and wowed they did not disappoint- lovely and straightforward to make and resulting in a beautiful crinkle look and fabulous taste! "We could sell these in a Cafe Mum" was the kid-review! Would definitely make them again
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Caryl
Hands down my favorite cookie recipe ❤️. Thank you for sharing this! Practical, quick and easy to make.
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