There’s something magical about chocolate crinkle cookies. Little balls of dark chocolate dough are cloaked in a generous coating of confectioners’ sugar and lined up in neat rows on a baking sheet. Then, once in the oven, they are transformed, spreading and cracking as they please. This recipe is a play on the traditional chocolate crinkle cookie. The generous infusion of crystallized ginger gives the crinkle cookie a spicy wallop that enhances and intensifies the chocolate experience.–Jennifer Lindner McGlinn
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.)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
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.
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.
You are most welcome, Katherine. I’m glad we were able to help turn your husband into a holiday cookie lover, like us! Wishing you a very happy 2019.
Hi, Katherine. These have become the favorites of my family and friends. You can check my comment above for some tips I’ve figured out over the years I’ve made these. So glad you found this fantastic recipe!
Thanks for that, Steve.
Thank you Steve!
If you asked me if I had a favorite cookie recipe, I would not hesitate before saying that this is it. If you asked me if I had a favorite recipe of all types and all time … well, it would have to be Julia’s Beef Wellington recipe, because I used to make that with my grandmother each Christmas. This comes a close second, as I have been making it with my mother each year since 2010 (double recipe since 2011).
The comments above will tell you how great it is, though don’t be tempted to cut back on the ginger, powdered or crystallized.
Here are some tips from my years of making these insanely great cookies:
1. Layer for the winter. If you only take one piece of advice from me, double-confectioners-sugar coat them. Roll ’em once, then just before popping them in the oven, drop ’em back in the powdered sugar. If you want these to be Instagram-worthy with gorgeous snowy peaks of sugar, they should look like snowballs before they go in the oven.
2. Keep it cool. The recipe calls for two+ hours in the fridge after mixing the dough. If you want to cook them in less than three hours, make some room in the freezer. Also, keep putting that dough back in the fridge/freezer, just taking out the amount you need to use for each cookie sheet.
3. Stay warm. I’d recommend letting the oven get back to 350 before you put in the next cookie sheet. It always takes longer than I expect.
4. Choose the right sheets. I’ve tried using “cookie-specific” sheets that have a layer of air between two metal layers and no rim. I was not as happy with the results. I’ve had better results with standard medium to heavyweight rimmed half-sheets lined with parchment paper. (You’ll be fine with a silicone pan liner, too.)
5. Double down. You so want to make a double … or triple … or quadruple recipe of this. Not just because they are so good. Not just because they make the best holiday (or any day) gifts, but also because you can …
6. Freeze! Yes, these keep really well in the freezer. Moreover, they are amazing straight from the freezer.
7. Break your fast. You have them in the freezer. You’ve read those articles about how eating dark chocolate first thing in the morning will make you a better version of yourself. And perhaps you’ve listened to a podcast that assures you that the first step to hacking your life is consuming ginger in the AM (turmeric, too, though please don’t add that to this recipe). Eat one or two while cooking your eggs, making your perfect smoothie bowl, or mixing that homemade granola with some Greek yoghurt. I promise it won’t spoil your appetite!
If you have any questions about this recipe (and to see pictures of my cat, the food I make, and the places I bike), click my link!
Steve, my jaw hit the floor. This is amazing. Thank you for all this great information. I’m speechless. Utterly at a loss for words! (And for those who know me, that’s a hard thing to achieve.)
You are quite welcome, David! We need to see a picture / video of you at a loss for words!
Bonus tip:
Don’t Tread Gingerly. In addition to using the full complement of ginger, make sure to use the freshest, most potent powdered and crystallized ginger. While using the best spices is key in any recipe, it’s even more important when baking, as you can’t taste and add more as you go like you can with most savory recipes.
Ha! Steve, I love your facility with words. You’d think you were a writer… 😉
An excellent crinkle cookie. I got raves from everyone who tasted them for me. A very different cookie and very well received. This will become a standard in our Christmas cookie collection.
Theodore, how wonderful everyone liked them. I want to wish and yours a very merry Christmas!