TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- What it is: A classic, fudgy chocolate crinkle cookie with an adult twist, thanks to warming ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and chunks of vibrant crystallized ginger.
- Why you’ll love it: These cookies are incredibly soft, chewy, and feature a delicious balance of dark chocolate richness and spicy-sweet ginger heat.
- How to make it: Melt butter and 3 ounces of chocolate, stir in sugars and eggs, then mix with dry ingredients, the remaining 4 1/2 ounces of chocolate, and crystallized ginger before chilling and rolling in confectioners’ sugar to bake.
When I was a kid in the ’60s, these cookies were magic to me. They appeared every December at grammar school Christmas parties, under a DEFCON-1 shield of plastic wrap on cookie plates gifted by neighbors, at holiday fairs. I marveled at their crinkles and wondered how they were made. Mama Leite was a cook, never, ever a baker.
As an adult, I finally figured out the mystery of those signature cracks (thank you, oven heat + chilled dough), but honestly, that’s just trivia. What matters is that these cookies are still everything I want in a holiday treat: rich, dark chocolate, a hit of warm ginger, and a texture that straddles the line between brownie and cookie.
The One and I make these every year, and every year we end up with a fine dusting of powdered sugar over the counters, the floor, the cats, and ourselves. It’s worth it.
The real kicker? My mother, a lifelong devotee of packaged cookies—Oreos, Chips Ahoy!, Milanos, and the entire Nabisco family tree—actually requests these. Voluntarily. That’s how good they are.
Chow,
Featured Review
These were fantastic. If you can wait, the ginger flavor develops over time, so it becomes a little more pronounced as the cookies “age,” but it is a good thing!! Regardless, these are now in my Christmas cookie tray rotation forever!!!
Mojoqe2
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If you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David
Featured Review
I was paging through my 1978 Betty Crocker recipe book and came across an old favorite, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. I had not made them in decades and was not sure if I really loved them anymore. I thought to myself, I wonder if Leite’s has a modern version of this old classic. Lo and behold, a search of the Leite’s website did! I made the Leite’s recipe and, as usual, the recipe did not disappoint. My husband, who loathes holiday cookies, declared this one a winner and a keeper for future holidays. Thank you Leite’s for the gift that keeps on giving.
Katherine Walther
Chocolate Ginger Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 7 1/2 ounces bittersweet, dark, or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
- Confectioners’ sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.
- In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the butter and 3 ounces of the chocolate. Place the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 1 1/2 inches of simmering water (being sure not to let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter have melted and the mixture is smooth.
☞ TESTER TIP: You can instead melt the mixture in the microwave, heating it at about 20-second intervals and stirring periodically until it is melted and smooth.
- Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
- Stir the granulated and brown sugars into the melted chocolate mixture. Drop in the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the remaining 4 1/2 ounces of chocolate and the crystallized ginger. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Shape the chilled dough into walnut-size balls, roll in confectioners' sugar, and arrange them about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. (If your kitchen is quite warm and the dough becomes too soft, return it to the refrigerator until chilled and fairly firm.)
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and the tops are cracked.
- Let the chocolate-ginger crinkle cookies cool on the baking sheets on wire racks for about 2 minutes. Place the cookies on the wire racks to cool completely. (You can store the crinkle cookies in an airtight container or in a resealable plastic bag for up to several days.)
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Did you know only 68% of the recipes we test make it onto the site? This recipe survived our rigorous blind testing process by multiple home cooks. It earned the Leite’s Culinaria stamp of approval—and the testers’ reviews below prove it.
This cookie recipe is very straightforward and perfect for novice bakers who want to venture beyond chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies. (Yes, it lets you melt chocolate in the microwave!) In terms of the flavor, subtlety is the name of the game. As the rich chocolate gets gooier, you’ll appreciate the added depth of the dark brown sugar and a hint of cinnamon. As the chocolate melts away in your mouth, bits of crystallized ginger shyly appear and release its fragrant warmth for you to enjoy.
Everyone who tasted these chocolate crinkle cookies was surprised by the candied ginger, then surprised again by how much they loved the combination! I liked the little added bits of chocolate pieces in the cookies and the fact that they stayed soft. Very chocolaty, thanks to the cocoa and melted chocolate.
I put this dough together and baked the cookies the next day. These were lovely little crinkle cookies with the interesting ginger twist. Maybe a bit too much ginger for my taste (mine were pretty strong), but a great combination of chocolate and ginger.
These crinkle cookies are a mouthful of flavor. They start out with the ginger, and then finish with the chocolate. These will be one to make for the holidays.
Snowy, crackly caps of white on spicy, dark chocolate decadence. It’s hard to imagine a better (or easier) recipe for baking your way into the holiday spirit. These dramatic cookies riff on the traditional crinkle cookie, keeping all the beauty and crispy-gooey goodness of the original and revving it up with the flavor of gingerbread. The double-dose of ground and crystallized ginger adds depth and an irresistible deliciousness to the chocolate; you can’t eat just one.
I’ll be making these over and over again this season, and no doubt they’ll end up in my holiday baker’s gift boxes. Still, don’t fool yourself into thinking they’re only for the winter season—you’ll want to bake these all year long.
These crinkle cookies are delicious. Very easy to make and wonderful to eat. I love the ginger and chocolate combination. I will keep this recipe and make the cookies again and again.
This cookie should be installed in the “Cookie Hall of Fame”! Chocolate and ginger are always a winning combination, and this cookie proves that. The chocolate/ginger/cinnamon cookie is studded with chopped chocolate and crystallized ginger that truly reinforces the cookie dough flavor. P.S. They are beautiful to look at.
Hot out of the oven, these crinkle cookies are a bit too gooey, but, if you’re patient enough to let them cool completely, you’ll be rewarded with a dark, fudgy treat. The ginger flavor is subtle, but adds a nice hint of heat.
This was an excellent recipe, producing the best cookies I’ve had in recent memory. I was concerned that the cookies might be overly gingery. However, following the recipe exactly, the chocolate and ginger balanced perfectly.
This play on the traditional crinkle cookie is better than the original, in my opinion. The only concern I have is about the strength of the ginger flavor. These almost need to come with a warning: “Don’t eat me if you don’t love ginger!” The cinnamon plays well with both the chocolate and ginger, and I like the pieces of chocolate and candied ginger studded throughout the dough.
An appealing variation on a holiday standard. These chocolate ginger-snappy crinkle cookies were gone in, literally, a snap—all 40 of them! They were not too sweet and, as my friend Graham said after eating his first one, “You could even eat more than one…In my book, cookies are meant to be eaten en masse!” Interestingly, the ginger is a surprise—my cookie-eating taste-testing friends easily noted the chocolate, and then consistently could not place the double ginger as the chocolate’s spicy partner.
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These were not long for this world! Hubby and I devoured them at warp speed. Perfect combo of rich chewy chocolate and warm ginger. Thanks David- another winner!
Deb, you are most welcome! I delighted to know they didn’t last long. I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season.