Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

What Are Crinkle Cookies?

As mentioned, crinkles are best described as a cross between a cookie and a brownie. They have a wonderfully soft and chewy bite. The only difference between crinkle cookies and brownie cookies is that they are rolled in powdered sugar before baking. Then the dark cracks on top stand out, contrasting with the white sugar. They make a statement.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Chocolate: The recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate. You can use chocolate chips or chop chocolate right off a big block. The cookies are sweetened with granulated sugar and not the chocolate.
• Eggs: It may sound like a lot to use 4 eggs in a cookie recipe, but remember these have more of a brownie consistency, so they are very fudgy and moist.
• Vanilla extract gives the cookies a subtle hint of vanilla.
• Flour: Just use all-purpose flour like you would for most cookie recipes.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder that is Dutch processed has some of the acidity removed and has a darker color and richer chocolate flavor. This type of cocoa powder is best used in recipes with baking powder as the leavening agent.
• Baking powder is mixed in with the rest of the dry ingredients.
• Kosher salt and sea salt flakes may sound like a lot of salt, but you need them to cut through the sugar and the chocolate and enhance the overall flavor of the cookies. 
• Vegetable oil: Use something neutral like canola oil, so it doesn’t affect the taste.
• Sugar: You will need granulated sugar to mix into the cookie dough. Then you use confectioners’ sugar (also known as powdered sugar) to roll the dough balls in. Just make sure to sift it, so you don’t have any clumps when you’re doing the rolling.

How To Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

1. Melt the chocolate. You can do this in the microwave instead of a double boiler. Just put the chocolate in a bowl and microwave it in 30-second blasts. After each time, stir the chocolate to distribute the heat. That will make it melt faster.

2. Combine the eggs and vanilla extract in a small bowl. You don’t need to whisk them together because later you will end up adding the eggs one at a time.

3. Stir together the dry ingredients including the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and both salts in a big bowl.

4. Mix the oil and granulated sugar together in a large bowl using an electric mixer.

5. Mix in the melted chocolate.

6. Beat in the eggs one at a time. The mixture should look dark and glossy.

7. Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until fully combined. You can use the mixer for about 30 seconds to do this. The dough will be shaggy. Then take your hands and press it together. Chill the dough for 3 hours.

When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

8. Scoop out the dough, shape it into balls and roll them in the powdered sugar. Place them on the sheet pan about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes, rotating just over halfway through baking. Shape and bake the cookies in batches, so then you can keep the dough in the fridge when you aren’t using it. Let the cookies sit on the pan for a couple minutes. Then move them to a wire rack to cool.

Storage & Freezing

The cookies will stay good at room temperature in an airtight container up to 4 days. If you want to keep them longer, store them in the freezer.

You can either store baked cookies or the dough. Before you put them in a freezer bag, let the cookies cool completely. Thaw them at room temperature.

Or portion out dough balls and place them on a sheet pan lined with wax paper in the freezer. Once they are solid, you can store them together in a single container. Before you are planning to bake the frozen balls, let them sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Then roll them in confectioners’ sugar and bake them.

Recipe Tips

Keep the dough chilled as you are working with it. The dough is soft and a little tacky. When you are scooping it out, rolling it and baking, put the dough bowl back in the fridge to stay cool. Baking cold dough will prevent the cookies from spreading too much.

Be generous with the powdered sugar. To get that white snowy look, you need to really coat the balls in sugar. Or when you pull them out of the oven they won’t be the nearly opaque white that you want. When they are on the pan, give them an extra powdered sugar sprinkle on top.

Serving

The cookies are tasty eaten warm or when they have fully cooled. Stay traditional and include them in your spread of Christmas cookies, or don’t feel like you have to save these for the holidays. They are fantastic chocolate cookies.