Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are chewy and richly chocolatey. Made from only 4-ingredients in under 20 minutes, they’re devilishly delightful and easy!

Chocolate-lovers, I have great news! These rich, ultra-fudgy cookies are soft-baked to give you the ultimate chocolate cookie experience. They’re so easy to make that you’d have better luck finding an excuse *not* to make them. 

My mom always made these with Devil’s Food Cake Mix, and she knew what she was doing. I request them every year around the holidays, along with Christmas Crinkle Cookies! While you have fudgy goodness on the brain, I’m here to help. Gift some Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge to your favorite aunt for Christmas, serve a Chocolate Fudge Cake at the next birthday party, or sell the very best Fudgy Brownies at your community bake sale!

Professional Tips for the best crinkle cookies:

• Make sure the cake mix is a 16.5 ounce box. If you want intensely chocolate cookies get the 16.5 ounce box of Devil’s Food Cake mix. If you want the ingredients to be the right proportions, that 16.5 ounce box is the only size that will do!
• Generously roll your dough in powdered sugar. An appropriate amount of powdered sugar on the dough ball is so much that it is caked on the ball and there is powdered sugar all over your hands, the counter and the cookie sheet. Some of it will melt, but that’s why you put on extra! I always enjoy seeing the intricate patterns unfold on these cookies.
• Cook time is super important. The cook time will alter the texture of your chocolate crinkle cookies. Bake them less time for softer cookies and be careful not to overbake.

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What Are Chocolate Crinkle Cookies?

Chocolate crinkle cookies are fudgy chocolate cookies with a cracked surface. Cookies crinkle by the outer layer having a heavy powdered sugar coating, which cracks as the cookies spread while they bake and creates a unique pattern.

Ingredients

• Chocolate Cake Mix: It must be 16.5 oz, and I prefer this Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix for my chocolate crinkle cookies. I haven’t tried it with gluten-free cake mix, so if you do please leave a comment!
• Whole Eggs: Eggs are the emulsifier for the oil and add a little extra richness and chew.
• Canola Oil: I prefer a neutral vegetable oil like canola oil here, but you could also use grapeseed oil or melted coconut oil. I find that oil is better than butter for crinkles to get the perfect texture!
• Confectioner’s Sugar

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations & Substitutions

• Flavorings: You can add about ½ teaspoon of extract to add some nuanced flavor to your chocolate Christmas cookies! I’ve tried almond and vanilla to great results. I think using peppermint extract to make chocolate peppermint crinkles would be sublime! You could also add on some peppermint icing or chocolate fudge glaze to make it even more exciting.
• Texture: The texture of the chocolate crinkle cookies is easily customizable. The longer you bake them, the cakier they become. They are made with cake mix after all!
• Mix-Ins: Mix in chopped hazelnuts or dried fruit for more added texture. You could add chocolate chips to transform them into double chocolate crinkle cookies. Add a kiss on top like I do in my Blossom Cookies. Or, hear me out, break up and mix in candy canes like I do in my Easy Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fudge!

How to Make Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place about ½ cup powdered sugar in a bowl and set aside. 

Step 2: In a medium bowl mix together the cake mix, eggs, and oil until few lumps remain. 

Step 3: Roll dough into balls, approximately 1.5 inches across, and then roll in powdered sugar until they are generously coated. Place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. The dough is very soft and will not stay in ball form, which is fine. 

Step 4: Bake in a preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. 8 for very soft, underbaked cookies and 10 minutes for cakier, lighter cookies. 

Step 5: Let cool for 5 minutes on a baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Before You Go

Check out our other delicious, chef-developed Cookie Recipes or try these Mexican wedding cookies next!