These high altitude chocolate crinkle cookies are rich and fudgy, like a soft, chewy brownie coated in powdered sugar. This is the easiest and best chocolate crinkle cookies recipe for high altitude, that doesn’t even require a mixer!
You might also love these high altitude recipes for chocolate brownie cookies, maple walnut oatmeal cookies, and the best chocolate chip cookies.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. The dough comes together quickly and easily with just a bowl, whisk and spatula. You will need to chill the dough for a couple hours, though, to ensure the cookies don’t spread too much.
Soft and Chewy. If you love old fashioned cookies for the holidays, these soft and chewy chocolate crinkle cookies are a wonderful recipe to add to your Christmas cookie baking list. The dough balls are coated in powdered sugar, and as the cookies bake and expand, they crack and crinkle, revealing the dark chocolate cookies under a blanket of snowy powdered sugar.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Flour. All purpose flour gives the cookies structure and strength.
- Cocoa Powder. Use a good quality unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder for a rich, chocolate flavor and dark color.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent, so the cookies puff up as they bake.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness.
- Butter. Adds moisture and a rich flavor.
- Eggs. The eggs add moisture, structure and strength.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Sugar. You’ll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar for the cookie dough, to add sweetness. And powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar for coating the dough balls before baking.
Instructions
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, then whisk until evenly distributed.
- Separately, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and use a spatula to stir everything together into a soft dough.
- Cover the bowl, and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours. (If you don’t chill the dough, it will be too soft and sticky for scooping into balls, and the cookies will flatten and spread too much in the oven.)
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a medium cookie scoop with a release lever to portion the chilled dough into 17 portions. The dough will be sticky. Roll each portion into a smooth ball between your hands, then coat in the powdered sugar.
- Place the cookies 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 10-11 minutes, until the cookies have puffed and spread slightly, the edges are set, and the cookies are cracked on top.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store leftover cookies?
Store the leftover cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Does the powdered sugar melt on the cookies?
Surprisingly, no, the powdered sugar does not melt as the cookies are stored.
Why didn’t my cookies crack?
If your crinkle cookies aren’t cracking, it’s likely due to too much flour, preventing the dough from spreading enough. Be sure you are using the “spoon and sweep” method to measure your flour, by lightly spooning it into the measuring cup, then leveling off the top. Also, if you don’t use enough baking powder, or your baking powder is expired, your cookies won’t have enough leavening action to puff and spread. On the flip side, too much sugar in the dough will cause excessive spreading and flat cookies.
Why are my cookies cakey instead of fudgy?
If the cookies are over-baked, they will be more dry and cakey instead of fudgy. Since it can be difficult to judge when a chocolate cookie is done, you may want to try baking 1 or 2 test cookies first, to determine the perfect bake time for your oven and the texture that you’re aiming for. Keep the rest of the dough balls refrigerated until ready to bake.
Can these cookies be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze leftover cookies. Be sure they are completely cooled, since you don’t want any moisture from steam trapped in the container, which will melt the powdered sugar. Freeze cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
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High Altitude Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Medium Cookie Scoop with Release Lever (approximately 1 1/2 tbsp capacity)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, then whisk until evenly distributed.
- Separately, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and use a spatula to stir everything together into a soft dough.
- Cover the bowl, and refrigerate the dough for 2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a medium cookie scoop with a release lever to portion the chilled dough into 17 portions. The dough will be sticky. Roll each portion into a smooth ball between your hands, then coat in the powdered sugar.
- Place the cookies 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Bake for about 10-11 minutes, until the cookies have puffed and spread slightly, the edges are set, and the cookies are cracked on top. Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store the leftover cookies in a single layer in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Excellent flavor but mine turned out with the texture of a dry cake, not a soft chewy brownie at all. Not the first recipe I’ve tried but the first that didn’t turn out amazing. What did I do wrong? Unsalted butter melted in a warm oven, it was clarified when I mixed in the sugars. Too melted?
I don’t think it was the butter being too melted. These cookies are easy to over-bake, which will make them dry and cakey instead of fudgy. Try 1-2 minutes less in the oven for a fudgier texture.
I never leave comments on recipes but these are the very best chocolate crinkle cookies I have ever had. Ours turned out crunchy on the outside and fudgy in the middle. And the flavor!!! To die for!!! Thank you. Note: we are at 5500 feet
Somewhere I had heard that chocolate crinkle cookies were kinda hard to make. Well, not these! Great recipe, great results. Almost fudgy, beautiful enough to gift. Thanks, Curly Girl!
I accidentally used baking soda and not baking powder so I started over saving my oopsie dry goods. Is there a way to mediate the results.
Also I do think it would be helpful if you could put a dash or a space or a label indicating/separating dry ingredients, wet ingredients and powder sugar on it’s own…
I’m not sure that you’ll be able to do anything with that dough, although you could still try baking the cookies and see what happens. Baking soda is about twice as strong as baking powder, though, so they may spread too much.
Just tried these chocolate crinkle cookies and they are amazing. They were so beautiful and delicious that I’m including them in my Thanksgiving goodie plates for my neighborhood. I made 100 of them and they all turned out perfect! I doubled the recipe and it turned out great. Thank you! I will definitely try more of your recipes.
I love these cookies.
I added more protein by substituting 1/4 cup flour with 1/4 cup Whey Protein. Still fantastic taste.
I used a pinch more salt for personal preference. Perfect mix of cake and brownie, 10/10 cookie!