These brownie crinkle cookies are the perfect combination of rich chocolate brownies with a fudgy center and chewy edges with a crinkle top that's typical of chocolate crinkle cookies! These chewy cookies are loaded with dark chocolate chips to satisfy a chocolate craving with crackly tops that will keep you coming back for more.
Enjoy them over the holidays as Christmas cookies, bake them for cookie exchange parties, or keep a fresh batch stored in an airtight container for the chocolate lovers in the family!
Cookie recipes are my favorite recipes to create, including my popular Oatmeal Banana Cookies and Red Velvet Cookies. Hope you give it a try!
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Ingredients
Butter and eggs - these types of ingredients should be at room temperature as this will help to incorporate them into the cookie dough mixture better. While I’ve used unsalted butter, you could use salted butter instead, but then you’ll need to omit the salt in the ingredients.
Flour - All-purpose flour is a sturdy option for soft and buttery cookies, but you could also use gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill. I prefer to sift the flour for an extra smooth cookie batter.
Cocoa powder - You can use unsweetened or sweetened cocoa powder, although I find these crinkle cookies sweet enough from the sugar and chocolate. The Dutch variety is a good choice.
Vanilla extract - I always use high-quality pure vanilla extract for maximum flavor in baked goods.
Baking powder - Check the expiry date on your baking powder as this will impact the rise of the cookies. Like the flour, I’ve also opted to sift the baking powder for an extra smooth cookie batter.
Sugar - The combination of white granulated sugar and brown sugar creates a crispy outer edge and a soft buttery center. Don’t omit the one sugar as this will affect the taste and texture of these cookies.
Salt - I’ve used regular salt as well as a sprinkling of sea salt flakes for garnish which highlights the intense chocolate flavor in these cookies.
Chocolate - Melting the butter and chocolate chips (either dark or semi-sweet chips) together over a double boiler or in the microwave will result in a smooth consistency, free of lumps and seizing. As the melted chocolate cools, it will thicken the cookie batter, resulting in a chewier cookie. It’s best not to delay the baking of the cookies.
For the full list of ingredients, please scroll down to where you'll find the recipe card.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Melt butter and chocolate chips using a double boiler method or in the microwave with small increments of time. Let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and sugars in a medium bowl on high with a handheld mixer for 4 minutes (set timer). Slowly pour in the melted chocolate mixture.
In a separate large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Whisk to combine and add to wet ingredients gradually.
The batter will be on the softer side and quite sticky. Quickly spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter onto cookie sheets keeping about 2 -3 inches apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until you see the crackly top. If you have a large oven where you can add multiple baking trays, that would be even better.
These cookies are thin but you can easily make them thicker by scooping about 2 tablespoons of batter. They will spread more too in this case and will be bigger.
These cookies have a crackly top with softer and chewy inside. Sprinkle sea salt flakes on top before serving.
Let the cookies stand in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Tips
- While you could use only white sugar when making these chocolate chip cookies, I don’t recommend substituting the sugars. Using both brown and white sugar will create a buttery and soft dough for the ultimate chewy cookies.
- Make sure that the eggs and butter are both at room temperature, as this helps them to mix much better into the brownie batter.
- You can easily double the ingredients to make an extra batch of chewy chocolate cookies and store them away in the freezer to enjoy whenever you like. Alternatively, freeze the unbaked cookie dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, in a Ziploc bag for easy storage.
- Always check the expiry date on the label of your baking powder, as old or expired ingredients can affect how these cookies rise while baking.
- Consider using a small cookie scoop to create uniform-sized cookies.
- A small amount of espresso powder or instant coffee powder can be added to the cookie dough, which will highlight the chocolate flavor in the baked cookies.
- While you can freeze this cookie dough for later baking, the cookies won’t have such a crinkly top compared to freshly made and baked brownie crinkle cookie dough.
- To ensure that you get a crackly top on these cookies, set a timer for 4 minutes and whip up the eggs and sugars on high speed.
Freezing and Storing Instructions
Cool the brownie crinkle cookies before storing them completely.
Transfer to airtight containers and keep at room temperature for 3-5 days or freeze for 2-3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
The cookies need a leavening agent like baking powder to rise and expand so that the top of the cookies gets a good crinkling effect. If this crinkling effect is not happening, it could be that your baking powder is old or your oven is not hot enough.
The crinkling topping of your cookies doesn’t mean that they dry, only that a delicious crust has formed on the top from drying faster than the inside of the cookie. As the cookies harden from baking, the surface of the cookies begins to crack apart while you’re left with an irresistible soft and chewy center.
If you think your cookies are drying out, lower the oven temperature to 325F so that the cookies have extra time to spread and form a crackly top without drying out.
While you don’t want very flat cookies, if your cookies are overly pillowy, it could be a result of having chilled the cookie dough before baking. This recipe doesn’t call for chilling the cookie dough before baking the cookies, and while you can make the cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it, this will reduce the crinkling effect.
The crinkle cookie dough is a mixture of ingredients much like a typical chocolate fudgy brownie which makes it more of a sticky dough than other types of cookie dough. If your cookie dough is too sticky to roll into balls, pop it into the fridge so that it hardens somewhat before attempting to roll the dough balls for baking.
Thank you so much for reading about brownie crinkle cookies. Please feel free to comment with any questions you may have! I love reading your feedback.
Rita
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📖Recipe
Brownie Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz dark chocolate chips or semi sweet, chunks
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup flour, sifted
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Sea salt flakes for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Melt butter and chocolate chips using a double boiler method or in the microwave with small increments of time. Let cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, beat the eggs and sugars in a medium bowl on high with a handheld mixer for 4 minutes (set timer). Slowly pour in the melted chocolate mixture.
- In a separate large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Whisk to combine and add to wet ingredients gradually.
- The batter will be on the softer side and quite sticky. Quickly spoon about 1 tablespoons of batter onto cookie sheets keeping about 2 -3 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until you see the crackly top. If you have a large oven where you can add multiple baking trays, that would be even better.
- These cookies are thin but you can easily make them thicker by scooping about 2 tablespoons of batter. They will spread more too in this case and will be bigger.
- These cookies have a crackly top with softer and chewy inside. Sprinkle sea salt flakes on top before serving.
- Let the cookies stand in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Notes
While you can freeze this cookie dough for later baking, the cookies won’t have such a crinkly top compared to freshly made and baked brownie crinkle cookie dough.
To ensure that you get a crackly top on these cookies, set a timer for 4 minutes and whip up the eggs and sugars on high speed.
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