Brownie Crinkle Cookies

Decadent, fudgy, and beautifully cracked tops. These Brownie Crinkle Cookies are the perfect middle ground for when you can’t decide if you want cookies or brownies. They have a rich chocolatey interior and a shiny crinkled crust. They’re best served with a cold glass of milk!

These Brownie Crinkle Cookies are just the thing to satisfy those intense chocolate cravings. They require no chill time and they taste just as good as they look (if not better)! They’re sort of like the cookie version of our Brown Butter Crinkle Top Brownies with their crinkly crust and decadent fudgy interior.

If you’re new to making brownie crinkle cookies, they’re notorious for being a bit finicky to work with. They key is to get a thick, glossy batter that’s loose enough to scoop, but will hold its shape on the baking sheet. These cookies tick all the boxes needed to get the perfect chocolate brownie cookie and they make a great addition to a holiday cookie box.

Jump to:

• Ingredient Notes
• Instructions (with photos)
• Tips and Recipe Notes
• FAQ
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredient Notes

This section contains notes and substitutions about the ingredients. For a full list with quantities, check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

• Unsalted Butter: European-style butter is best due to it’s higher fat content. This gives baked goods a richer flavor.
• Dark Chocolate: We use 70% dark chocolate. We don’t recommend milk or semi-sweet as those could make the cookies too sweet.
• Granulated + Light Brown Sugar: Don’t use dark brown sugar as that could affect the moisture content in the batter.
• Eggs: Make sure they’re room temperature. You can place them on the counter 1-2 hours before baking or put them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
• Unbleached All-Purpose Flour: Measure in grams! Too much flour could cause your cookies to dry up and lose their crackly surface.
• Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder: This has a richer chocolate flavor and color than natural cocoa powder and is less acidic.
• Espresso Powder: There’s just enough to enhance the chocolate in the cookies without them tasting like coffee.
• Baking Soda: This helps to give the cookies extra lift which aids in forming cracks.
• Salt + Flaky Salt: We use fine sea salt in the batter and flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top. Don’t skip the flaky salt!

Instructions (with photos)

We usually make these with a handheld electric mixer, but you can use a stand mixer too. Just be sure to continue scraping down the bowl since stand mixers can sometimes miss the ingredients at the very bottom.

It’s also important to have all your ingredients prepped and on hand since these brownie cookies rely on getting them in the oven quickly.

Step 1: Melt the butter and the chocolate using the microwave or a double boiler. Then set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugars on medium-high speed for 5 minutes until thick and drizzly.

Step 2: Stream in the melted chocolate mixture and mix on low speed until combined.

Step 3: Sift the dry ingredients with a fine mesh sieve and fold them into the batter using a silicone spatula, mixing until just combined. It should resemble thick, glossy brownie batter.

Step 4: Portion the cookies using a 3 tbsp cookie scoop and drop them 2 inches apart onto two lined baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 10 minutes each. Be sure to get them in the oven as soon as possible to get those shiny crinkled tops.

You’ll know they’re done when the cookies are puffed and the edges are set. The dough in between the cracks should also look slightly under baked. They’ll continue to cook a bit as they cool on the baking sheet.

Tips and Recipe Notes

• Have all your ingredients prepped before starting. Brownie crinkle cookies rely a lot on technique and timing. As the dough sits, it dries out which lessens the chance of getting those crinkly tops. So, be sure to get the first batch in the oven immediately!
• If you have a second oven, use it. It’s inevitable that the second batch will be a little less glossy, so if you’re adamant about every cookie looking absolutely perfect, bake them all at once in two separate ovens.
• We don’t recommend putting both trays in the same oven as one pan could block the other (if placed on separate racks) from getting the proper heat needed at the beginning to form cracks.

FAQ

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📖 Recipe