• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Start Here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop

The Bake School

menu icon
go to homepage
  • Start Here
  • Baking 101
  • Recipes
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Start Here
    • Baking 101
    • Recipes
    • Shop
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Published on: December 26, 2011 by Janice Lawandi; Updated on: January 29, 2025 11 Comments

    Chocolate Crackle Cookies

    1.7K shares
    • Facebook49
    • Reddit
    • Flipboard
    Jump to Recipe
    Collage of photographs showing the steps to make chocolate crinkle cookies from scratch.

    Learn how to make the best chocolate crinkle cookies with this easy recipe. Scoops of this chocolate brownie cookie dough are rolled in granulated and icing sugar before baking so that the surface cracks perfectly as they bake in the oven, creating decadent chocolate cookies with a cracked finish.

    A black plate with chocolate crinkle cookies on it.
    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    These crinkle cookies are super chocolaty and not too sweet, even with all that powdered sugar. The texture is amazing, fudge-y but light, and the chopped walnuts add a little bit of a soft crunch to them (just like for brownies).

    These cookies are easy to make and you can make the dough a few days ahead of time before rolling and baking them.

    Jump to:
    • What You Need to Make Chocolate Crackle Cookies
    • Substitutions and Variations
    • How to Make Perfect Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
    • Tips for Perfect Crinkle Cookies
    • Chocolate Crinkle Cookie FAQs
    • Other Crinkle Cookie Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe

    What You Need to Make Chocolate Crackle Cookies

    Ingredients to make chocolate crinkle cookies from scratch measured out and ready to be mixed.
    • butter—I bake with unsalted butter. If using salted butter, please adjust the amount of salt to avoid the cookies being too salty
    • sugars—you will need both granulated sugar and icing sugar (also called powdered sugar)
    • eggs—I bake with large eggs. Avoid using smaller or larger eggs as this may affect the texture and spread of the cookies
    • salt—I bake with Diamond Crystal Fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, please add half the amount or the cookies may be too salty
    • flour—I used bleached all-purpose flour though unbleached will work fine
    • cocoa powder—I always bake with Dutch-processed cocoa powder. For this recipe, I used Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder, which has a reddish tint
    • chocolate—use a dark chocolate that is not too sweet and with a high percent of cocoa solids (around 70 %). Do not use chocolate chips as they don't melt well and they may make the cookies too sweet
    • leavening—the leavening is crucial in this recipe and you will need baking powder. The cracking effect of these cookies comes from the surface drying as they bake before the leavening starts to act.
    • nuts—I love brownies with walnuts and so added chopped walnuts to the chocolate cookie dough. Do not skip the nuts because the cookies may spread more without them.

    Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

    Substitutions and Variations

    • Sugars—you can roll the scoops of cookie dough in granulated sugar, then icing sugar, or you can skip the granulated sugar and simply roll in powdered sugar. The crinkle cookies rolled in both granulated and icing sugar have a more consistent look and they are more stable upon storage. The surface of crackle cookies rolled in straight icing sugar may absorb or dissolve the icing sugar in places, creating an uneven and less attractive finish
    • Nuts—I love to add walnuts to brownies and so these crinkle cookies are made with chopped toasted walnuts. You can replace them with chopped almonds or pistachios. Note that if you want to omit the nuts, the cookies may spread more.
    • Cocoa powder—please use Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which has a higher pH than "natural" cocoa. If you use natural cocoa powder, this will affect the leavening, causing the baking powder to react prematurely, which may affect the spread and rise of the cookies when they bake.

    How to Make Perfect Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

    Melting chocolate, chopping walnuts, and sifting cocoa powder and dry ingredients to make chocolate crinkle cookies.

    Step 1—Start by melting the dark chocolate over a pan of simmering water (image 1) until smooth and glossy (image 2). While the chocolate melts you can chop the walnuts fairly finely (image 3) and sift the dry ingredients together (image 4) so that they are well mixed. Set all these ingredients aside for later.

    Creaming butter and sugar before adding egg and melted chocolate to make crinkle cookies.

    Step 2—In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar (image 5) and mix until light and fluffy before adding the eggs and vanilla (image 6), then add the cooled melted chocolate (image 7).

    Note: the cookie dough may seem curdled after the eggs go in (especially if you kitchen is cool (or too hot!) but once you add the melted chocolate the cookie dough will become smooth and glossy (image 8).

    Adding sifted cocoa powder and flour, milk and walnuts to make the chocolate cookie dough for crinkle cookies in a stand mixer bowl.

    Step 3—Mix the cookie dough well after incorporating the melted chocolate to ensure all the ingredients are evenly mixed (image 8). Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl too! Then alternate adding the dry ingredients (image 9) and the milk (image 10), beginning and ending with dry ingredients, then add the chopped walnuts (image 11).

    Chocolate crinkle cookie dough before and after chilling.

    Step 4—Mix the dough until evenly mixed but it will be quite soft and sticky (image 12). Transfer the chocolate cookie dough to a bowl or container to chill for at least 1 hour (or overnight) (image 13).

    Scooping chocolate brownie cookie dough and rolling it in granulated sugar and powdered sugar to make crinkle cookies.

    Step 5—Scoop all the chilled cookie dough using a ¾ ounce disher (image 14). Roll the scoops between the palms of your hand until smooth (image 15) Then coat each scoop in granulated sugar (image 16) before coating with a thick layer of icing sugar (image 17).

    Chocolate crinkle cookies coated in powdered sugar before and after baking on a sheet pan.

    Step 6— Place approximately 8 sugar-coated chocolate crinkle cookies on a half-sheet pan, spacing them out (image 18) and bake until cracked and set on the outside (image 19).

    Tips for Perfect Crinkle Cookies

    To achieve the perfect crackle finish where the icing sugar is cracked, you need to make sure to really coat the scoops of cookie dough thickly with powdered sugar. But even then, the icing sugar coating gets absorbed on the surface of the cookie, leading to an uneven and not very attractive looking effect.

    Chocolate crinkle cookies rolled in just icing sugar versus granulated and powdered sugar to show that double-coating crinkle cookies creates a more pronounced and more stable cracked coating effect.

    If you find your powdery white finish on the outside isn't looking great, next time, you can roll the balls of cookie dough in granulated sugar first before coating them in icing sugar (powdered sugar). The granulated sugar will help absorb the moisture on the surface of the cookies, drying them out and helping the cookies crack in the oven when they are baked.

    Make sure to coat the cookies generously in a lot of powdered sugar so that they are well covered in a thick layer of icing sugar.

    A ball of chocolate cookie dough to show what it looks raw next to a ball coated in powdered sugar before baking next to a baked chocolate crinkle cookie to show the cracked effect on the surface of the cookie.

    Chocolate Crinkle Cookie FAQs

    Why didn't my crackle cookies crack properly?

    If you find your cookies don't crack properly, try rolling the balls of cookie dough in granulated sugar before completely coating them in icing sugar. Granulated sugar is hygroscopic and will draw moisture out of the surface of the cookie dough, essentially creating a dry layer under the powdered sugar coating that is more prone to cracking.

    Why did my crackle cookies spread so much?

    Like with most recipes, if these cookies spread too much in the oven, it could mean that your cookie dough was too warm. Make sure you chill the dough well, especially which this recipe which yields a very soft dough. The cold dough will take longer to spread in the oven, so hopefully it will dry out and crack before it has a chance to spread much.
    Another option could be that you incorporated too much air in the cookie dough in the first steps of the creaming method. With cake batters, you really want to incorporate a lot of air when mixing the butter, sugar, and eggs, to make a lighter, more fluffy cake. With cookies, you don't want to do this. Mix the ingredients well so that they are fully incorporate but don't mix for so long that you've incorporated a ton of air.

    What type of chocolate can I use?

    This recipe calls for a semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, roughly 70% cocoa content is perfect here. You don't want to use milk chocolate which has more fat and more sugar. That will most likely cause the cookies to spread. Remember to use the best dark chocolate for baking because it is providing both flavour, structure, and texture to the recipe.
    I like to bake with Cacao Barry Ocoa 70% dark chocolate, which is a professional quality dark chocolate that you can buy in IGA grocery stores in Quebec and online from Vanilla Food Company. It comes in 1 kilo resealable bags as pistoles (which resemble giant flattened chocolate chips) which make most baking projects super easy because you don’t even have to chop it to melt it! Ocoa is not overly sweet which means you aren’t adding too much extra sugar when you bake with it. Ocoa has a deeper, bittersweet chocolate flavour that works well in baked goods.

    Other Crinkle Cookie Recipes

    If you like crinkle cookies, be sure to check out these lemon ricotta cookies and these chewy molasses cookies (not technically a crinkle cookie but they crack perfectly as they cool). These chocolate sugar cookies also have a lovely cracked finish to them and don't involve the thick powdered sugar coating.

    If you tried this recipe for the best chocolate crinkle cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

    📖 Recipe

    Chocolate crackle cookies arranged on a black plate.

    Chocolate Crackle Cookies

    AuthorAuthor : Janice Lawandi
    Chocolate crackle cookies, also called crinkle cookies, are very easy to make. They have a rich chocolate flavour, a soft and chewy brownie-like texture, and a powdered sugar exterior that cracks in the oven.
    5 from 1 vote
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe Saved Recipe
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 11 minutes mins
    Chill time 1 hour hr
    Total Time 1 hour hr 31 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 60
    Calories 77 kcal

    Equipment

    • 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
    • ¾ oz scoop
    • Sheet pan
    Need measurements in CUPSUse the button options below to switch from Metric to US measurements! It's that easy!

    Ingredients
     
     

    • 220 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content) roughly chopped
    • 160 grams bleached all-purpose flour
    • 45 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
    • 10 mL baking powder
    • 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
    • 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
    • 200 grams light brown sugar
    • 2 large egg(s) room temperature
    • 5 mL pure vanilla extract
    • 80 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat) room temperature
    • 80 grams chopped walnuts
    • 100 grams granulated sugar
    • 125 grams icing sugar you might need more depending on how thick you coat the cookies before baking

    Instructions
     

    • Melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a double-boiler. Set aside to cool slightly.
    • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside for later.
    • In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture has lightened slightly.
    • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla, and beat the mixture again. Now add the melted chocolate, mixing well.
    • With the mixer on low, add the flour, alternating with the milk. When all the ingredients are well blended, add the walnuts.
    • Cover the bowl and refrigerate the cookie dough for a couple of hours, if not overnight.
    • Form the dough into 1 inch balls, and refrigerate the dough again so that it is nice and firm.
    • When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
    • Roll the balls of cookie dough in granulated sugar, then complely coat in powdered sugar. Press the scoops in the icing sugar to generously coat them. Place them on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart (8 cookies per half sheet pan).
    • Bake the cookies for 11–13 minutes, or until the cookies have crackled on top (and not just on the sides).
    • Let cool a couple of minutes on the baking sheet before transferring the cookies to a rack.

    Notes

    • Dark chocolate—I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate. Please use a chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa that is not too sweet
    • Nuts—I love to add walnuts to brownies and so these crinkle cookies are made with chopped toasted walnuts. You can replace them with chopped almonds or pistachios. Note that if you want to omit the nuts, the cookies may spread more.
    • Cocoa powder—please use Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which has a higher pH than "natural" cocoa. If you use natural cocoa powder, this will affect the leavening, causing the baking powder to react prematurely, which may affect the spread and rise of the cookies when they bake.
    • Make sure to roll the balls of cookie dough in granulated sugar first before coating them in icing sugar (powdered sugar). The granulated sugar will help absorb the moisture on the surface of the cookies, drying them out and helping the cookies crack in the oven when they are baked.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 77kcal
    Give backIf you enjoy the free content on this website, buy me a pound of butter to say thanks!

    Rolling scoops of chocolate cookie dough in powdered sugar to make crackle cookies.
    A sheet pan with baked chocolate crinkle cookies to be transferred to a cooling rack in the background.

    More Cookie Recipes

    • A plate of amaretti cookies.
      Orange Almond Amaretti Cookies
    • A plate of lemon poppy seed sugar cookies.
      Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
    • Transferring baked banana oatmeal cookies to a plate to serve them.
      Banana Oatmeal Cookies
    • White chocolate macadamia cookies on a cooling rack.
      White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

    Baking resources

  • Baking conversion charts
  • Baking ingredients and pantry staples
  • Baking substitutions
  • Common baking conversions
  • Choosing baking pans
  • How to measure ingredients for baking
  • Mixing methods
  • Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. rara-mi says

      December 19, 2013 at 9:33 am

      i've just finished making these and they are amazing

      Reply
    « Older Comments
    5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Collage of photographs showing the steps to make chocolate crinkle cookies from scratch.
    This is a picture of Janice Lawandi
    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Hi, I'm Janice!

    I am a baking-obsessed recipe developer with a PhD in Chemistry who writes about baking and the science of baking.

    More About Me

    Join the Community

    If you enjoy the free content on this website or have questions, consider joining the Bake School Community!

    Easter Treats

    • Strawberry jam with rhubarb smeared on a piece of toast on a plate.
      Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
    • Freshly baked rhubarb crumble ready to be served.
      Rhubarb Crumble
    • Rhubarb upside down cake sliced to serve it.
      Rhubarb raspberry upside-down cake
    • Serving rhubarb muffins on plates with a side of butter.
      Rhubarb muffins with sour cream and streusel
    • Let's bake with rhubarb-best rhubarb recipes roundup
      What to bake with rhubarb
    • Bluebarb or blueberry rhubarb crumble with a marzipan oat crumble topping in a blue baking dish with a fluted edge
      Blueberry rhubarb crisp with marzipan crumble

    Citrus Baking

    • A pot of homemade marmalade ready to be canned in jars.
      Orange Marmalade Recipe
    • A pink plate filled with lemon shortbread cookies and with a yellow napkin.
      Lemon Shortbread Cookies
    • Three fruit marmalade
    • Jars of homemade lime marmalade on a cooling rack.
      Lime marmalade
    • gluten-free-lemon-cake-with-lemon-curd-and-berries
      Gluten-free lemon cake with raspberries
    • Slicing and serving a glazed orange cake
      Orange Almond Cake (Gluten-Free + Grain-Free)

    Eggless chocolate cake

    Chocolate layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles on a cake stand.
    Learn to make an eggless chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting!

    Baking conversions

    Buy the baking conversion charts NOW!

    As seen on

    Logos of online and offline publications that featured the Bake School and Janice Lawandi.

    How to poach pears

    Poached pears on an enamelware plate.
    This easy poached pears recipe is simple and you can use the poached fruit for salads, appetizers, and desserts!

    Footer

    Collage of photographs showing the steps to make chocolate crinkle cookies from scratch.

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Meet Janice Lawandi
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and conditions
    • Accessibility
    • Press

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Services
    • Portfolio

    As seen on

    Logos of online and offline publications that featured the Bake School and Janice Lawandi.
    Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    COPYRIGHT © 2025 · THE BAKE SCHOOL

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.