Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are thick, soft, and fudgy with plenty of chocolate chips. The powdered sugar coating makes them impossible to stop eating!
Author’s Notes
The Cookies My Kids Beg For
As much as I love Thanksgiving (and I really do), Christmas baking has my whole heart. All December long, I’m in the kitchen with my kiddos baking cookies, and it’s honestly one of my favorite parts of the whole season.
I’m so excited for the cookie lineup coming your way over the next couple of weeks. So many fun treats are on deck and I can’t wait to share them with you!
And today we’re kicking things off with one of my forever favorites: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. They’re soft, chewy, fudgy, and basically melt in your mouth. Wow. These are incredible!
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Ingredients
| Ingredient Group | Helpful Tip |
|---|---|
| Butter and Brown Sugar | Cold butter plus a long cream time gives the cookies that thick, fudgy texture. Cream the two together until it looks like peanut butter. |
| Eggs and Vanilla | These bring moisture and help the cookies stay soft and chewy. |
| Cocoa Powder, Salt, Baking Soda Cornstarch, Flours | Use Dutch cocoa for a deep and rich flavor (regular cocoa will dry these out!). Cake flour keeps the crumb soft. |
| Chocolate Chips Mini and Regular | I love milk chocolate in these chocolate crinkle cookies, but any type works (dark, semi-sweet, white). |
| Powdered Sugar | Roll each dough ball generously so you get the pretty crinkle pattern as they bake. |
How To Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Cream butter and sugar: Beat cold butter and brown sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add wet ingredients: Mix in eggs and vanilla until just combined.
- Add dry ingredients: Stir in the dry mix until the dough comes together, then fold in the chocolate.
- Chill the dough: Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to scoop.
- Scoop and coat: Roll the dough into balls and coat each one in powdered sugar.
- Bake: Place on a lined sheet pan and bake until set on the edges and soft in the center.
How To Make The Best Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Chill the dough: Firms it up, makes scooping easier, and boosts the flavor.
- Use measuring spoons to scoop: Keeps cookies the same size for even baking.
- Bake on parchment or liners: Helps the cookies bake evenly and keeps the bottoms perfectly soft.
- Do not overmix: Stop mixing as soon as the dry ingredients are combined to keep the cookies soft and fudgy.
- Underbake slightly: Pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look soft for the best fudgy texture.
Storage
- Store: Keep cooked chocolate crinkle cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing Tip: Freeze the dough balls, then bake straight from the freezer. Roll in powdered sugar first and add 2–3 extra minutes of bake time.
More Cookie Recipes To Try:
Cookies
Thumbprint Cookie Recipe
Desserts
Lemon Cookies
Desserts
Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Desserts
Cinnamon Roll Cookie Recipe
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with a soft, fudgy center and lots of melty chocolate chips. The powdered sugar coating takes them over the top.
Equipment
- Sheet pan (15" x 10") lined
Ingredients
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes
- 1-1/2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder see note 1
- 1 cup cake flour see note 2
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 cups chocolate chips see note 3
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Cut cold butter into cubes. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar for 3–4 minutes until the consistency is similar to peanut butter.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add the cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder and mix until just combined. Mix in the cake flour and all-purpose flour until no streaks remain. Avoid overmixing. Fold in the chocolate chips, then tightly cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes up to an hour.
- If the dough chilled longer than an hour, let it soften slightly at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll the dough into 2-tablespoon sized balls (40 grams each). Place powdered sugar in a bowl and roll each dough ball generously to coat.
- Space the cookies 2 inches apart on a lined sheet pan. Bake for 8-12 minutes, leaning toward the shorter bake time for fudgier cookies. Once out of the oven, gently press any uneven edges inward with a spatula. Let the cookies rest on the pan for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack.
Final step! Please let us know how it was by leaving a review.
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Use Dutch-process cocoa for the best flavor and texture. Regular cocoa makes the cookies drier and less flavorful. Spoon and level the cocoa to avoid adding too much.
Note 2: Cake flour is essential for a soft, tender texture. Don’t substitute or use DIY cake flour here.
Note 3: I love milk chocolate, but semi-sweet, white, or dark chocolate also work great.
Note 4: If cookies haven’t spread by 7 to 8 minutes, briefly remove the pan and tap it on the counter 2 to 3 times. Return the pan to finish baking.
Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Warm leftovers in the microwave. Dough balls can be frozen and baked straight from frozen with a few extra minutes added.
Nutrition
Serving: 45cookies | Calories: 79kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.8g | Protein: 1.1g | Fat: 3.8g | Cholesterol: 11.3mg | Sodium: 7.6mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 7.7g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
YUM – I love chocolate cookies! Delicious we’ll be making these again soon.
Oh, these were fantastic! I just loved the dusting of powdered sugar!
These are my go-to chocolate crinkle cookies! They are so easy to make and they are HEAVENLY!