Name: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 39 min
Total time: 54 min
Yield: 36
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups flour; 3/4 cup cocoa powder; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 cup butter, softened; 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 3 eggs; 2 tsp vanilla extract; powdered sugar and granulated sugar for rolling

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Crisp cookie exterior with a fudgy chocolate interior, these chocolate crinkle cookies are a fun and easy treat. They are perfect for the holidays and celebrations!

close up of the top of a powder sugar coated chocolate crinkle cookie leaned against a stack of cookies.

Chocolate crinkle cookies have a real presence to them. The crackled powdered sugar exterior gives way to a dark chocolaty interior.

It gives them a certain drama without a lot of effort. They are a quick way to satisfy your sweet tooth!

If you know me at all you know I don’t have a sweet tooth, I have a whole mouth full of them! I have always been drawn to cakes, cookies, and of course FROSTING!

As much as I like to sample sweets, I also like to bake and give. Food is definitely my love language. It is how I show I care and a great stress reliever for me.

balls of chocolate cookie dough rolled in powdered sugar and placed on parchment paper line cookie sheet ready to bake int.o crinkle cookies

Cookies are a great bake and give item. They travel well, store well and they are delicious too.

These crinkle cookies are no exception to that rule. They are perfect for Christmas cookie trays and the office breakroom alike.

I made my very first batch of crinkle cookies a couple of years ago now. Little Dude was preschool aged, but he already loved to help in the kitchen.

He has always had a way of taking over when we make cookies. So I just parroted off the ingredients and let him do his thing.

Now that he can read, he really only needs me for assistance gathering ingredients. I still run the oven as well!

chocolate crinkle cookies with cracked powdered sugar surfaces cooling on wire rack.

We always enjoy making these cookies together. The dough is super easy to mix up and it’s fun to roll the balls of dough in sugar.

First we put the balls of dough in granulated sugar and then powdered sugar. The dough was a little sticky to start, but once it had some sugar on it the process went smoothly.

Little Dude licked the beater while I got busy baking the cookies off.

He was so surprised to see the crackle when I took them out! Crinkle cookies are so fun that way.

They decorate themselves, no need to drag sprinkles and frosting. Plus they have that nice crunchy exterior with a soft chocolaty inside. They are fun to eat and fun to serve.

For fun flavor twists, you can easily change up the extracts you use in these cookies. Use a teaspoon of orange extract for fun chocolate orange cookies.

Peppermint chocolate crinkles would be delicious as well. Start with about a half teaspoon of peppermint extract and taste the dough to see if you want more.

stack of chocolate crinkle cookies tied up with bakers twine.

Tips and Tricks for Great Cookies

To keep your cookies soft, place a piece of white bread in the container with them. The cookies will absorb some of the moisture from the bread and it will take them longer to get hard.
These cookies can be frozen in an airtight container for up to three months. Just bring them to room temperature and serve when you are ready.
Alternatively, you can freeze balls of dough to bake later. Roll them into balls and coat them in sugar. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze for several hours, then transfer them to a freezer bag. When you are ready, you can pull the balls of dough from the freezer and bake them on a cookie sheet. They may take an extra minute to bake, but otherwise the baking instructions remain the same.

We are big fans of all kinds of cookies at our house. Monster cookies have always been a favorite along with chocolate chip cookies, sour cream cookies, kolacky, and most recently chewy maple cinnamon cookies. But now I am curious, what are your favorite kinds of cookies?

Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

Yield: 36 Cookies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Crisp cookie exterior with a fudgy chocolate interior, these chocolate crinkle cookies are a fun and easy treat. They are perfect for the holidays and celebrations!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 39 minutes

Total Time 54 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar and granulated sugar for rolling

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In your mixer (or a large mixing bowl) beat butter until smooth. Add oil, sugar and brown sugar and cream until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs one at a time and then stir in the vanilla.
Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Roll a Tablespoon of dough at a time into a ball. Then roll in granulated sugar and powdered sugar.*
Place cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets and bake for 12-13 minutes or until crackled.
Cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store extras in an airtight container.

Notes

*If you find the dough hard to work with, you can put it in the refrigerator for a 20 minutes or so to firm it up a bit.
This recipe is adapted from The Easy Homemade Cookie Cookbook