Chocolate Ginger Crinkles (Chocolate Christmas Cookies)

Chocolate Ginger Crinkles are the best cookies for Christmas season! Filled with A LOT of real chocolate, with a spicy touch and an amazing fudgy interior, it will be hard to stop eating after the first bite.

I wish I could say those cookies last for over 2 days in my house, but I’ve let go of my self-control a long time ago. Those cookies are just too good for me to resist, specially around Christmas time! And I really hope they’ll be like this for you too.

Why bake these cookies

• You’re looking for a fun recipe to bake with your kids;
• These cookies taste like the most amazing brownie;
• A thick and fudgy cookie is your goal.

What is a chocolate crinkle cookie?

A chocolate crinkle, sometimes called Earthquake Cookies, is a cookie that’s named after its crinkle appearance. When they’re baking, the cookie expands and falls, making beautiful cracks, which is their most wanted characteristic.

These cookies are made with dark chocolate and a good dash of ginger for the best Christmas flavor. To get lots of cracks, the dough is rolled twice into sugar before baking.

Where did chocolate crinkles originate?

It appears that a woman named Helen Fredell, from Saint Paul, Minessota, is responsible for creating these delicious cookies. She invented crinkle cookies in the first half of the 20th century, and they were originally made from molasses with no chocolate at all on the dough.

Betty Crocker cookbook ‘Cooky Carnival’ published the original recipe, and may be responsible for spreading this cookie to the world. You can find the original crinkle molasses recipe here.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Flour. Use all-purpose flour. I’ve never tried with any other flour, but if you have, tell me in the comments!

Cocoa powder. For these cookies, it is best to use Dutch cocoa instead of natural or regular cocoa powder. Dutch cocoa makes deep-flavored and darker chocolate crinkle cookies.

Ginger powder. It gives an amazing spicy taste for these crinkles.

Baking powder. One of the rising agents of this cookie recipe.

Baking soda. The ingredient responsible for the beautiful cracks, baking soda is what will make the cookies expand and fall during baking.

Milk Powder. It brings out all the flavors of the cookie. You can skip this ingredient: substitute for the same amount of all-purpose flour.

Salt. Use fine sea salt for this recipe.

Packed brown sugar. You can choose light or dark brown sugar. Don’t substitute for white sugar.

Eggs. Use large eggs. If possible, choose organic.

Espresso powder. Enhances the chocolate taste. You can substitute for instant coffee. Use decaf for a caffeine-free version.

Chocolate. Use dark or unsweetened chocolate. Don’t substitute for milk chocolate or white chocolate, or you’ll risk getting a too sweet cookie.

Butter. Use unsalted.

Granulated sugar. Use this sugar for the first coating. You can skip it, but you’ll risk not getting perfect crinkles.

Powder sugar. Use this for the second coating. Can’t be substituted.

Is confectioners sugar the same as icing sugar?

Confectioners sugar and icing sugar are the same as powdered sugar: the only difference is in the name.

Powdered sugar is simply granulated white sugar pulverized to a powder and mixed with a small amount of cornstarch.

Is baking powder and baking soda the same?

They can appear similar, but they’re not the same.

Baking powder includes sodium bicarbonate and an acid. This ingredient only needs a liquid to become activated.

Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. It requires both an acid and a liquid to become activated. Without an acid ingredient, or with too little acid, baking soda will break down into carbon dioxide and sodium carbonate, giving your baking good a bitter taste.

Always check the expiration date of these 2 ingredients before using. They’re good for 6 months after opening. After that time, both start losing its raising power.

How to make them

1. Make the dough.

• Mix flour, milk powder, unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1 teaspoon of ginger. Use a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Mix brown sugar, eggs and espresso powder. Use a large bowl. Set aside.
• Melt chocolate and butter. Using your microwave, melt chocolate and butter in a bowl. Usually 45 seconds to 1 minute is enough. Stir after the first 30 seconds, microwave for more 15 to 30 seconds, and then stir until everything is melted. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
• Add the chocolate and butter mixture to the sugar mixture, and stir until combined.
• Add flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and mix until homogeneous. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. The dough will appear sticky, but it will set.

2. Shape your cookies. Scoop dough and roll it into balls.
   
3. Coat into the granulated sugar, lightly.
   
4. Coat into the powder sugar, until every side is heavily covered.
   
5. Place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
   
6. Bake cookies at 350°F for 10 to 11 minutes, until they are puffed and cracked. They are ready when the edges begin to set, but the center is still soft and shiny. They will look underdone in the middle, but they will continue to bake outside the oven.

Let the crinkles cool into the baking sheet for 2 minutes. After baking, let them cool for a couple of minutes in the sheet pan for the cookies to set, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. If you don’t give them one or two minutes to cool before moving, they may break and lose all their marvelous crinkles.

Tips to get the best crinkles every time

• Espresso powder won’t make your cookies taste like coffee, but will enhance its chocolate taste. Try not skipping it!

• There’s no need to press the cookie balls down. Just make sure they’re well-shaped into balls, and they will naturally bake into a cookie shape.

• Use both granulated sugar and powder sugar for coating. That’s a great tip I got from America’s Test Kitchen. Coat first with granulated sugar, then coat really well with its powdered version. Why roll chocolate crinkles first into granulated sugar? Coating the cookies in granulated sugar first helps to prevent the confectioner’s sugar from being absorbed into the dough as it bakes.

• Bake your cookies using the middle rack, always.

• Don’t go light on powder sugar. The dough balls need to be snow white when going to the oven for you to get those amazing crinkles.

• Make sure your oven is hot! If you don’t preheat you oven before baking, you’ll get raw cookies in the middle.

• Don’t overload your baking sheets. Remember, the dough spreads and you don’t want your cookies becoming one in the oven. Place them about 2 inches apart from each other.

• Chill your dough for 20 minutes. This is the best tip for always getting thick cookies. Also, keep the dough chilled while waiting between batches.

About chilling the dough

Chilling the dough is the key to always getting perfectly thick chocolate crinkles.

First time I published this recipe, I recommended only letting the dough set for 10 minutes after formed. Although that can lead you to a fairly thick and fudgy cookie, you’ll get a better result if chilling the dough for 20 minutes before shaping your crinkles.

After forming the dough, it will appear sticky and impossible to work with. It will totally change after chilling.

Just don’t chill for more than 30 minutes. If doing so, let the dough sit for 10 minutes at room temperature before baking. Chilling this dough for longer than half an hour might prevent your cookies for spreading at all.

Why are my chocolate crinkles flat?

If you’re having problems with flat cookies, check one of these possibilities:

• Have you chilled the dough, or at least let it rest for 10 minutes before rolling? If you roll and bake the crinkles as soon as you formed the dough, they will be flat.

• Did you measure correctly all the ingredients, specially the all-purpose flour? Too little flour may lead you to a flat chocolate crinkle.

• Are you preheating your oven? Oven needs to be hot enough for this recipe to work.

How do you know when crinkles are done?

Chocolate crinkles will look cracked but slightly shiny in the center when done. They’ll continue cooking as they cool, and will harden a bit more after a couple of minutes.

If you bake them for longer, until cookies don’t have a shiny top, you’ll get crinkles with a no-fudgy center.

Trying different combinations

This recipe calls for ginger, but you can still make great cookies using other spices, and even sticking with chocolate only!

Let me give you some suggestions for baking a chocolate crinkle that’s perfect for you:

• Substitute ginger for cinnamon: replace it for the same amount of cinnamon, both in dough and in the powder sugar mixture.

• Add almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts, crushed: add one of those three nuts, half a cup, to the dough.

• Pure chocolate crinkle: omit ginger from dough and coating.

• Triple chocolate: add half a cup of dark chocolate chips to the dough.

• Christmas delight: substitute ginger for 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract.

Does crinkles need to be refrigerated?

No, they should not. Your crinkle cookies are to be stored at room temperature, into a proper airtight container.

Storing and freezing

As said above, keep your chocolate crinkles at room temperature inside an airtight container. If stored right, they’re good for about 1 week (but they won’t last THAT LONG, I’m sure).

You can also freeze chocolate crinkle cookies, before or after baking.

If freezing baked cookies, wait for crinkles to cool completely first, then place them into a freezer safe bag, pushing all the air out before sealing shut. They’re good for up to 3 months. To thaw, leave them into room temperature.

Last, you can also freeze unbaked crinkle dough. I prefer freezing them uncoated and only coating into sugar before baking. Let them thaw in room temperature for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking.

More cookie recipes

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Melt-In-Your-Mouth Peanut Butter Cookies
Double Chocolate Almond Cookies
Coconut Crack Cookies