These chocolate crinkle cookies are easy to make and bake up with crackly tops. Plus, you can make the dough ahead of time and freeze it so you can have fresh baked crinkle cookies whenever you get a craving.
Lately, I’ve seen a lot of recipes for chocolate crinkle cookies. With the light dusting of powdered sugar, these cookies look like a great winter treat.
I finally settled on a recipe from Brownies for Dinner. Her recipe only needed cocoa powder whereas a lot of the recipes call for melting chocolate as well. Since I didn’t have a lot of time, I wanted the simplest recipe possible.
Why are they called crinkle cookies?
Crinkle cookies (or crackle cookies) get their name from their appearance. As they bake, the inside of the cookie puffs up creating cracks on the surface making them look crinkled.
Rolling the cookies in powdered sugar enhances the crinkled look. It also makes the cookies look wintry which is why they are a popular cookie to make during the holiday season.
Instead of making small chocolate crinkle cookies, I made giant ones, which means there’s just more chocolate goodness in every cookie.
One thing I love about this recipe is that it’s freezer-friendly. During the holidays I like to make the cookie dough ahead of time, freeze it, and then bake the cookies later. This recipe works really well for that.
Ingredients
- Melted unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Oil
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Powdered sugar
Recipe Steps
Combine the butter, sugar, and eggs in a bowl. Add the oil and stir to combine.
Combine the cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and flour in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir to combine.
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. This will make it easier to handle the dough.
For large crinkle cookies, scoop a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. For smaller cookies, scoop a teaspoon of dough.
Roll the cookie dough balls in the powdered sugar and place them on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes.
Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container and they will keep for up to five days at room temperature. Or, you can store them in the fridge and they will keep for up to a week.
How to Freeze Them
Crinkle cookies are great for freezing and you can freeze the dough or the baked cookies.
Freezing Dough:
Make the dough as instructed. If it’s very soft, chill it for 30 minutes and then roll it into dough balls. Don’t roll them in the powdered sugar, you should freeze them plain.
Place the balls on a baking sheet and freeze them for 30 minutes. Transfer them to a freezer container and they will keep for a month or so.
When you’re ready to bake some cookies, thaw the dough balls at room temperature. Roll them in powdered sugar and then bake them as instructed in the recipe card.
Freezing Baked Cookies:
You can also freeze the baked cookies. Cool them completely and then place them in a freezer-safe container. It’s a good idea to separate the layers with wax paper so the cookies don’t stick.
Freeze them up to a month. To thaw, just leave them out at room temperature.
Why are my cookies flat?
If your cookies are flat after baking there could be a couple of reasons.
Is your baking powder expired? If so, it won’t work to leaven the cookies while they bake.
Did you skip chilling the dough? If you don’t chill the dough, the butter will not firm up and will cause your cookies to spread more while they bake.
These giant chocolate crackle cookies are rich, chocolaty, and perfect for the holidays.
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes
- Hot Chocolate Cookies
- No Bake Chocolate Cookies
- Mudslide Cookies
- Caramel Chocolate Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
Giant Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 tbsp oil
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- powdered sugar for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs and mix well until combined. Add the oil and stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ones and stir until combined. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for an hour which will make it easier to handle.
- If you want giant cookies like mine, form the dough into 1" balls. If you want smaller cookies, use about a teaspoon of dough to form the balls. Roll each ball in the powdered sugar and place the balls on a baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. The cookies will spread a lot as they bake. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a baking rack to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
- If you want to freeze the cookie dough to bake later you can make the cookie dough balls and place them on a sheet pan. Freeze them on the sheet pan and, once frozen, transfer the balls to an airtight container.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, thaw the dough balls at room temperature. This will only take 15 to 20 minutes. Roll the dough balls in the powdered sugar and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
I just pulled the last batch of these from the oven!
Great recipe, very easy to make, and oh my goodness what a yield! I think I have something close to 100 3cm diameter cookies.
haha, yeah they are pretty big!
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