I cannot be stopped when it comes to chocolate crinkle cookies, and these gooey ones are my favorite chocolate cookie ever. A chocolate crinkle cookie is a fudgy, brownie-like cookie rolled in powdered sugar that crackles as it bakes, leaving that signature snowy, cracked top over a soft, almost underbaked middle. The dough comes together in one bowl with cocoa, oil, and eggs (no mixer needed), then chills before you roll and bake. The inside stays gooey, the edges go just slightly crisp, and the powdered sugar leaves you dusted with happiness. If you love a fudgy chocolate bite, my Crinkle Top Brownie Bites are the obvious next bake, my 26 Best Cookie Recipes has the full lineup, and these earn a permanent spot on my 17 Easy Christmas Cookie Recipes list every December.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies at a Glance
- 🕒 Total Time: About 1 hour (15 min prep + 30 min chill + 12 min bake)
- 👪 Servings: About 24 cookies
- 🍝 Cuisine Type: American / Dessert
- 🧂 Flavor Profile: Deep cocoa, fudgy and brownie-like, with a soft gooey center, a crackly powdered-sugar top, and a hint of vanilla
- 📖 Dietary Info: Vegetarian; contains gluten and eggs; naturally dairy-free and nut-free (oil-based, no butter)
- 📦 Storage Notes: Airtight at room temp 4-5 days; chill the dough up to 3 days; freeze baked cookies up to 3 months, or freeze rolled dough balls and bake from frozen (re-roll in powdered sugar first)
- ⭐Why You'll Love It: One-bowl, no-mixer chocolate cookies with a fudgy center and that showstopping crackled top. They look fancy but come together fast, and the forgiving dough is perfect for baking with kids. The kind of cookie that disappears off the plate.
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Why I Love this Recipe
The recipe couldn't be easier, you can make them right this second and then snack on them for the next few days. I promise you won't be disappointed! The inside is gooey and soft, the outside is just slightly crispy and coated with a layer of powered sugar that will leave you dusted with happiness.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups white sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs at room temp
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup powdered sugar for dusting
Substitutions & Swaps
🍫 Cocoa Powder
- Natural unsweetened cocoa (called for) - Classic crinkle flavor; its acidity reacts with the baking powder for good lift
- Dutch-process cocoa - Darker, smoother, less acidic; deepens the color dramatically
- Add 1 teaspoon espresso powder - Doesn't taste like coffee, just makes the chocolate read deeper
🫙 Oil & Fat
- Vegetable or canola oil (called for) - Keeps the centers fudgy and the crumb tender
- Melted coconut oil - 1:1 swap, adds a faint coconut note
- Melted and cooled butter - Richer and more buttery; bakes a touch more cakey
🍥 Sugar Coating
- Powdered sugar (called for) - The roll that gives you the signature crackle
- Granulated first, then powdered - Double coat for deeper, more defined cracks
➕ Flavor Add-Ins
- Mini chocolate chips - Fold in ½ cup for extra gooey pockets
- Peppermint extract - ¼ teaspoon for a holiday peppermint-chocolate version
- Orange zest - 1 tablespoon for a chocolate-orange twist
- Flaky sea salt - A pinch on top before baking to cut the sweetness
🍫🍥✨ Tips & Tricks for the Best Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Fudgy centers, crackly tops, and that snowy powdered-sugar finish every time
- Chill the dough until firm. At least 30 minutes, ideally a couple of hours. Warm dough spreads thin and the cracks never form.
- Roll generously in powdered sugar, twice. A thin dusting bakes away. A heavy coat, granulated then powdered, is what gives you the deep white cracks.
- Scoop equal-size balls. A cookie scoop keeps them uniform so they bake evenly and crackle the same way.
- Don't overbake. Pull them at 10 to 12 minutes when the centers still look slightly underdone. They set as they cool, and that's how you keep them gooey.
- Use natural cocoa with the baking powder. Its slight acidity helps the lift that creates the crackle.
- Line with parchment, not just grease. The powdered sugar can scorch on a bare hot pan.
- Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Even heat means even cracks; crowded racks bake them lopsided.
- Rest them on the pan 5 minutes. They're delicate straight out of the oven and firm up enough to move without tearing.
- Freeze the rolled dough balls. Re-roll in powdered sugar right before baking from frozen and add a minute or two.
FAQs
What are chocolate crinkle cookies?
Chocolate crinkle cookies are fudgy, brownie-like chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar before baking. As they bake and spread, the dough cracks through the sugar coating to create their signature crackled, snowy top. The inside stays soft and gooey while the edges turn just slightly crisp.
Why do my crinkle cookies not crack?
The most common reasons are warm dough and too little powdered sugar. Chill the dough until firm so it holds its shape, then roll the balls heavily in powdered sugar right before baking. A good rise from fresh baking powder also helps the tops split.
Why do I need to chill crinkle cookie dough?
Chilling firms up the oil and sugar so the cookies bake up thick instead of spreading into flat pancakes. Cold dough also holds the powdered sugar in place so it cracks cleanly. Give it at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days in the fridge.
How do you store chocolate crinkle cookies?
Keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 to 5 days. To freeze, store baked cookies for up to 3 months, or freeze the rolled dough balls and bake straight from frozen with an extra minute or two. Re-roll frozen dough in powdered sugar before baking.
Can I make chocolate crinkle cookies without a mixer?
Yes, that is the beauty of this recipe. Because the dough is oil-based rather than creamed butter, it comes together in one bowl with a whisk and a spatula. Just mix the wet ingredients, fold in the dry, and chill.
Gooey Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups white sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs at room temp
- 3 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a stand mixer, combine the cocoa powder, white sugar and vegetable oil. Mix for 2 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until evenly combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and incorporate all the ingredients. Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Measure out small ball of dough, I used about 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie. Roll the dough into balls with lightly oiled hands. Coat each ball in powdered sugar before placing onto prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Unbelievable recipe. So easy to follow and really does produce the most gooey cookies! Mum thought I bought them from the shop
This is the one cookie recipe my husband requests I bake every Christmas and I take no issue with it. They taste like brownies. So gooey and delicious!
I made these last Christmas for the first time and they were a huge hit! They will now have a permanent spot on our Christmas Cookie baking list!
How many calories
Hi, what will happen to the gooeyness if I replace one cup of sugar with brown sugar? isn't brown sugar supposed to help make the cookies fudgier or more gooey?
you'll still be good!
Thanks! What about if I use just the egg yolks for most of the eggs? I'm trying to achieve a gooey, fudge-like centern instead of a firmer, sort of cake/bread/biscuit like texture in my chocolate crinkles, but haven't quite been able to do so in large batches.
I haven't tested it that way - let us know what you discover!
Just made the cookies. I replaced half of the sugar with brown sugar and used 3 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks. It was amazing! Really soft and fudgy center, but with a slight crisp outside. it was just a bit hard to roll the dough into balls after taking it out from the fridge (i kept it in overnight) and letting it thaw a bit, as it became too soft and sticky too fast. but I rolled it in regular sugar first, then in powdered sugar, and it baked very well. my friends loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
Delectable! Follow the recipe and you cannot go wrong.
Can I freeze the portioned out balls of dough and then bake from frozen? (Instead of baking then freezing) Thank you!
no you'll want to let them thaw before baking a bit!
Do you think subbing out the vanilla for mint would work? Same proportions?
totally and I'd go 1/2 on the mint extract
I used coconut oil and it's a great alternative to canola oil and adds another flavor to the chocolate. Super yummy!!!! I probably baked too many - I can freeze the cookies (after they've cooled on the rack) and will it keep for a week? Can I just room-temp thaw them after freezing?
yes you can totally freeze them - they last for months! And just let them thaw 🙂
These are perfect! Love that they are so easy and I had everything in my pantry to make them. Made GF with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 baking flour and the texture was perfect.
Can I make these now and freeze for Christmas?? I made them all winter last year and they were such a hit I’m being asked for them again. Just not sure if I can freeze them?
absolutely! they freeze wonderfully
i LOVE these cookoes... everyone at work loves when i make them. ive been getting requests since Thanksgiving to make them... has anyone tried adding peppermint extract instead of vanilla to make them more like a peppermint patty?
I love these cookies & have made them a few times now. My cookies always turn out much flatter than your recipe photos. Could it be from baking powder that is too old?
Sorry, just read previous comments and replies, I’ll follow your advice and replace my baking powder!
If you are diabetic, the flour and powdered sugar on the outside are not your friends. Maybe there is an almond flour option, but just replacing the sugar is not going to get you where you want to be. Sorry. Stevia will not act the way you want it to in baking. As discussion earlier indicated, there is a lot of chemistry in baking. No free ride or easy answers, sorry.
I am a diabetic, can I use less sugar or Stevia?
Deb
Longview WA
I haven't tested it with Stevia but if you do, let me know how it turns out!! xx
Hey Debbie, I realize your comment is 2 years old but maybe you’ll see this. There’s a product called Swerve that swaps pretty well with sugar. I think it’s slightly sweeter so you’d have to play with proportions. It even comes in powdered sugar. Hope that helps!
Swerve makes both a granulated sugar substitute for regular sugar 1:1. They also have a confectioner's sugar substitute again 1:1. I make these cookies the normal way and just allow myself to have 2 at different times. Fabulous recipe.
I found these very sweet, 2 c of sugar seems like way too much!