Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

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Chocolatey, fudgy, amazing Chocolate Crinkle Cookies!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are thick, puffy and soft with a deep, rich chocolaty flavor, and they’re so darn pretty too!

With a wonderful texture similar to a great brownie, these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are fudgy with a lightly crisp exterior. Personally I love the powdered sugar coating, especially when you realize it’s all over the front of your shirt, haha.

These pretty cookies are so much fun to make … and eat!

This is a recipe worth sharing!

This recipe was first published in a holiday e-book we put together a few years ago, but I never shared it on the blog. For our long-time dedicated readers, here it is again! It’s a recipe worth repeating for sure. If you’re a fan of chocolate and cookies, you’ll want to give these a try and maybe share with someone you love. Don’t wait for the holidays – these are good year round!

I find the cracks absolutely fascinating with each cookie displaying a unique design.

The less you handle the cookie dough, the bigger the cracks will be. The cracks are like little windows into the fudgy interior, giving you just a glimpse of what’s to come! When baking, the cracks should still appear a little wet when removing from the oven. These cookies aren’t as good when super dried out. Don’t over-bake!

To achieve the beautiful cracks, the cookie dough is rolled in granulated sugar then powdered sugar before baking. This ensures you’ll achieve perfect cracks every, single time you make them.

Even non-chocolate loving folks adore these chocolate crinkle cookies!

My husband always requests cookies as his go to dessert; maybe it’s a guy thing? When I mentioned making these chocolate crinkle cookies again, I got a grunt but no sense of excitement like I was feeling about indulging in a few of these amazing cookies.

You know how it goes, they automatically think they won’t like something, then won’t keep out of them once they try just one! He certainly won’t let me share the cookies. Mine, mine, mine. Well, he had to fight me for these and I had the upper hand since I work at home 🙂 That’s not always a good thing especially when I have a couple dozen amazing cookies lurking in the kitchen … calling me … by name no less!

Have you ever hoarded cookies because you didn’t want to share?

I touched each and every cookie – so doesn’t that mean I get first dibs? These are so delicious – a must try any time of the year but perfect for the holidays.

I have a cousin who recently told me a story about Christmas cookies his wife had made. He loved them so much he didn’t want her to share. She insisted that half were going to family members so he took each and every cookie and licked the back. He told her she could make another batch if she wanted but those cookies were not leaving the house. He was a bit ashamed, he said, but happy he got to eat the entire batch – haha. Just an idea, in case you feel the same 🙂

These are no less than chocolate-cookie-perfection and great served any time of the year.

If you really want to ramp up your chocolate game, stir 1 cup of mini-chocolate chips into the cookie dough. You can never really have too much chocolate, says me!

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Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 12 minutes mins

Total Time: 32 minutes mins

Yield: 24 Cookies

Course: Dessert

Author: Tricia

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5 from 5 votes

Thick, puffy and soft with a deep, rich chocolaty flavor. Chocolate-cookie-perfection.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate rough chopped (best quality)
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 3 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup granulated sugar (for rolling)
• ¾ cup powdered sugar (for rolling)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a small microwave safe mixing bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Microwave on 50% power for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat with 15 second intervals at 50% power until almost all the chocolate is melted with a few small chunks remaining. Set aside and stir occasionally until all chocolate is melted.
• In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl whisk together the brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, eggs, espresso powder and vanilla until smooth. Add the melted chocolate mixture and continue to whisk until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour and cocoa mixture just until no dry ingredients remain visible. Set the cookie dough aside to rest for 10 minutes.
• While the dough is resting, place the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar in a shallow bowl and the powdered sugar in a separate shallow bowl.
• Using a small ice cream scoop, drop 2 tablespoons of cookie dough directly into the bowl with the granulated sugar. Gently roll the dough into a ball while coating with the sugar but don't use too much pressure or over-handle the dough. Transfer the dough ball to the powdered sugar and roll to coat. Place the cookies on the parchment lined baking sheets at least 2-inches apart. Work quickly to roll all the dough into balls. When the first sheet is filled, put it in the oven to bake. You should have approximately 24 cookies, 12 on each parchment.
• Bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and cracks have formed. The cookies will still be soft and look a little raw in-between the cracks. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

• If you're not a fan of coffee and/or espresso, I recommend reducing the espresso powder to 1 or 2 teaspoons instead of the 3 listed above. You really can't taste the espresso, so don't leave it out all together. It really enhances the chocolate flavor.
• Add 1 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips if desired
• Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 154kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 114mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 88IU | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 2mg

Kitchen Essentials: we enjoy making cookies on our rimless baking sheet. I love to be able to slide the entire sheet of parchment, cookies included, directly onto the cooling rack. Click on the photo for more information:

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Chocolate lovers will also enjoy our soft and delicious Classic Whoopie Pies, and these Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Walnut Cookies too. For a gluten-free option, check out our delicious Chocolate-Walnut Cookies. Don’t miss these brilliant Double Dark Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies from The View from Great Island – they look phenomenal! I’m crushing on these big, thick, gorgeous copycat Levain Bakery Chocolate Cookies from Love From The Oven. Another delicious option are these Double Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies from Crazy for Crust. So many cookies, it’s so hard to choose what to make next!