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chocolate crinkle cookies on a snowman plate with a snowman cup in the background and a large plate of cookies in the background

Baking with Children: Chocolate Crinkle Cookie Recipe

This recipe is adapted from Williams Sonoma's cookbook Kids Baking. I reduced some of the sugar and added one step to refrigerate the dough before shaping and baking.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate crinkle cookie
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Chill the dough 15 minutes
Total Time 47 minutes
Servings 24
Calories 115 kcal
Author Sharon Wong @NutFreeWok

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar granulated
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick at room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Take 1 stick of butter out of refrigerator to soften (at least 30 minutes).
  2. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
  3. Add confectioners' sugar to a medium sized bowl and set aside.
  4. In a different medium sized bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt with a fork or a whisk (be sure to break up any lumps of cocoa powder).
  5. Add the granulated sugar and softened butter to a large mixing bowl (if the butter is still hard, cut it into 1/2 inch cubes before adding to the mixing bowl) and use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until smooth (about 3 minutes).
  6. Crack the eggs into a bowl and check for any stray eggshells.
  7. Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides, add 1 egg, and beat for 1 minute until mixed, then add the 2nd egg and vanilla, and beat for 1 minute until mixed.
  8. Turn off the mixer, add the flour mixture and mix on low or by hand until the flour is incorporated into a dough.

  9. Refrigerate the dough for 10-15 minutes (this additional step will make it easier to roll the dough into balls and yield nice puffy cookies).

  10. Use a tablespoon sized measuring spoon to scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough and use a metal teaspoon in the other hand to scrape a rounded lump of dough directly into the bowl of powdered sugar.

  11. Use 2 fingertips to gently pat the dough into a ball as you roll the dough in powdered sugar.

  12. Place the dough balls approximately 2 inches apart from each other on the baking sheets and repeat.

  13. Bake for 10-12 minutes, the cookies will look puffy and crackled when ready.
  14. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow them to cool on a cooling rack, after a few minutes use a spatula and transfer the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.

Recipe Notes

I often bake a double batch of this recipe and left a little note in my cookbook with the following measurements (double batch):
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cup sugar (granulated)
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract