Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are soft fudge-like cookies coated in confectioners’ sugar that crack as they bake making each one unique. This recipe uses two types of sugars for the dough to create a fudgy brownie in cookie form.
What makes these cookies so good? They are moist, chocolatey, not too sweet, and fun to eat. Before baking, the chocolate interior is hidden from the thick coating of powdered sugar. After baking, these cookies spread just a little exposing cracks of the chocolate inside.
Notice how I said a thick coating of powdered or confectioners sugar – I use the names interchangeably. It’s important to have a thickly coated ball of dough prior to baking because if the coating isn’t thick, you’ll end up with a muddy looking cookie.
The How’s and Why’s
Why use two types of sugars? Both are used to sweeten, but both have unique properties. Brown sugar brings out the chocolate flavor because of the molasses. Confectioners or powdered sugar is used for tenderness which creates a fudgy brownie-like cookie with a chewy texture.
Butter is used instead of oil for flavor. I would agree oil is better in chocolate cake and use it either alone or in addition to butter. But, in this chocolate crinkle cookie, butter is best.
There’s no need to use melted chocolate for this recipe. Cocoa powder is all you need for a rich chocolate flavor and this recipe uses a full cup.
After mixing, the dough will be sticky and must be refrigerated for at least 4 hours to harden. This may seem like an inconvenience, but it’s great if you are making them ahead because they can be refrigerated for a few days.
Roll each ball in the confectioners’ sugar. You shouldn’t see any of the chocolate and they should be completely white. If you use a scoop, you can drop the balls into the powdered sugar and roll it with one finger. Why dirty the whole hand.
The cookies should be slightly puffy and not spread too much. The less they spread, the chewier they will be.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes and no more. Better to have chewy than dry. They need to cool a little before transferring or they will fall apart. Once cooled, they will hold their shape.
These chocolate crinkle cookies are perfect for any occasion – especially during the holidays. They look like little snowballs before baking and works of art after being baked.
Warning: I recommend you don’t wear black when eating these as the sugar may sprinkle on your clothes. But, hey, who cares. Right?
Be happy, eat well…
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
This recipe uses two types of sugars for the dough to create a fudgy brownie in cookie form.
The dough needs to be refrigerated at least 4 hours to harden. The dough can be refrigerated for a couple of days.
Using a cookie scoop is recommended but not necessary.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 cup confectioners sugar (for rolling)
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars for 3 minutes on medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until evenly combined.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. If making ahead, you can keep refrigerated for a few days.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add confectioners sugar into a bowl.
- Scoop out a small ball of dough (about 1 tablespoon) and drop right into confectioners sugar. You can roll using just one finger which will form into a perfectly coated ball. Or, you could roll the dough into balls with lightly oiled hands. Coat each ball thoroughly in the confectioners sugar before placing onto lined baking sheets. The balls should be completely white.
- Bake for 10 minutes and no more. Let cool slightly before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
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