Easy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Jump to Recipe

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are classic holiday cookies to bake every holiday season. They’re not too sweet and every bite is packed with gooey chocolate goodness. And guys, they’re the perfect thing for cookie swaps, parties, favors, and edible gifts. 

Making a Christmas Cookie platter is a fun tradition to do as a family during the holiday season. And including these Chocolate Crinkles is a must. Along with my colorful Christmas Light Cookies and whimsical Melted Snowman Cookies, of course. 

Plus, Chocolate Crinkles are a great holiday cookie for the kids to help make. Basically you can’t mess them up! They’re super fun to roll into balls and then in powdered sugar. And trust me when I say that kids of all ages looooove eating them as much as they love making them.

Why You’ll ♡ This

• Fun to make – add this recipe to your annual family baking tradition.
• Eye-catching – the classic crinkle cookie pattern is perfect.
• Delicious – perfectly fudgy inside with a delicately sweet sugar coating.
• Versatile – perfect for holiday parties, bazaars, cookie exchanges, edible gifts, etc.

Tools You Need

• Mixing bowl.
• Measuring cups and spoons.
• Hand mixer.
• Baking sheet.
• Cooling rack.

Ready to gather up your ingredients? Then let me show you….

How To Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1. Mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. 
2. Using an electric mixer, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until combined. One at a time, add in the eggs and mix on low to medium speed until just combined. 
3. Add the dry ingredients from the medium bowl to the large bowl and mix on a low speed until all mixed together.
4. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for an hour, up to overnight, depeding on how thick you want your cookies. The longer you chill the dough, the thicker they’ll be. 
5. Preheat oven to 350F/177C. Place the powdered sugar in a medium bowl and roll the dough out into balls about the size of a tablespoon and cover them well with the powdered sugar.
6. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and place cookies on them and bake for 10-15 minute or until they spread out and start cracking. The cookies should still be soft, so make sure you let them cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before moving them your cooling rack to finish cooling.   

Recipe Tips

• Make sure to use unsweetened cocoa powder.
• If you don’t have butter sticks, you can use margarine sticks but I don’t recommend using oil in place of butter.
• For larger cookies, increase baking time to 12-15 minutes. For smaller cookies, decrease time to about 10 minutes. 
• Remember that the exact baking time for any sized cookies will depend on your oven. So check your cookies often. 
• Be sure not to over-bake these cookies or they’ll turn out hard and crunchy and will lose their lovely crinkle texture.
• Don’t overbeat the eggs or it will alter the texture of the cookies. 

Recipe Variations

This is a classic holiday crinkle cookie recipe, but you can easily change it up to make your own version;

• Add in some extras: Mix in chocolate chips, add caramel in the center the chocolate dough balls or sprinkle cinnamon into the dough. 
• For taller and softer cookies: Increase the dough chilling time, use a chilled baking sheet and don’t let the cookies come to room temperature before cooking. Once the cookies have baked, leave them on the sheet for 5 minutes to cool before transferring them to a cooling wire rack. 
• For chewier and more fudgy cookies: Chill the dough, but use a room temperature baking sheet. Before baking the cookies, let the cookie balls sit for 10-15 minutes at room temperature.  

Storing

How To Store These Cookies?

You can store these cookies in an airtight container on the counter for about 3-4 days.

Can You Freeze These Cookies? 

Guys, if you made extra cookies that somehow didn’t get eaten as they would at my house, you can store these baked cookies in the freezer. Follow these handy tips to freeze the cookies properly.

• Let cookies cool down then transfer into these very handy Ziploc freezer bags.
• Squeeze out all the extra air and seal the bags.
• Label the bags and then lay them flat in the freezer.
• Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• To defrost frozen cookie balls, place on wire rack and let sit at room temperature until thawed. Don’t place on plate or in a container or they’ll get soggy. Once thawed, pop them in the oven for 5-6 minutes at 275F/135C for nice hot cookies. 

FAQs

Why Is The Cookie Dough Sticky?

Keep in mind folks, it is completely normal for the Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Dough to feel sticky. Don’t try to alter the ingredient measurements or you could end up with even sticker cookies or dry cookies.

The dough is meant to be sticky. As you’re rolling it out, just pause and wash your hands every few cookies and keep rolling. 

It may be helpful to flour your hands or spray them with a nonstick spray while rolling your dough balls.

And if you’re really needing help with dealing with the sticky dough, chilling it for longer periods of time – up to 3 hours – may help make it more manageable to handle and roll. 

How Do You Arrange A Christmas Cookie Tray?

Fill a large tray or platter with an assortment of Christmas cookies. I love to include a variety of colorful cookies with different flavors and textures for maximum appeal. For a super festive cookie tray, I suggest pairing these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies with my Melted Snowman Cookies, Easy Christmas Lights Cookies, and some Crockpot Christmas Candy. #christmascookietray

Use For Edible Gifting

These crinkle cookies are super awesome edible gifts. Whip up a couple of batches of these delicious chocolate cookies, decant them into mason jars, add a ribbon on the jar and a label then hand out to all your foodie family and friends. 

More Christmas Recipes

• Crockpot Christmas Candy.
• Grinch Cookies.
• Grinch Punch.
• Christmas Tree Cupcakes.
• Melted Snowman Cookies.
• Christmas Lights Cookies.
• Instant Pot Apple Cider.

Weight Watchers Points 

There are 5 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving.

Thank you for reading my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

Get The Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Recipe: