Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies are rich and fudgy with crinkly edges and a soft, chewy center. Dusted with powdered sugar and topped with crushed candy canes, they’re a festive treat for all your holiday baking needs!
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Pin RecipeThis crinkle cookie recipe gives regular chocolate crinkle cookies a touch of holiday cheer and flavor with the addition of crushed candy canes and peppermint extract. While crinkle cookies may not look as spectacular as other fancy cookie recipes, their rich, fudgy flavor and crackly tops make for a truly irresistible treat!
Chilling the cookie dough ahead of time will enable you to whip up a batch of the holiday crinkles with just 10 minutes of baking time! You’ll get to satisfy those brownie cravings without going through the fuss of actually making brownies!
If you love rich chocolate cookies, don’t miss these Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, Hot Chocolate Blossom Cookies, and Gooey Chocolate M&M Cookies, too!
Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies Recipe
Crinkle cookies are seriously underrated! They’re easy to make, loaded with rich flavor, and have soft, chewy centers with crispy cracked outer edges. Plus, they are easily adapted to suit specific holidays or preferences. Check out these Brownie Crinkle Cookies, Lemon Crinkle Cookies, and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies for more inspiration!
The crushed candy canes add a pop of festive color for the holiday season. And the peppermint flavor in this recipe immediately lets you know that we’re heading toward Christmas!
These Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies make pretty homemade gifts and are perfect for holiday cookie exchange parties or to add to your dessert boards.
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Ingredients for Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – These cookies are already sweet enough, but you could use sweetened cocoa powder if you prefer. Don’t use hot cocoa mix – it’s completely different!
- Sugar – White granulated sugar is best. Light brown sugar will also work.
- Vegetable oil – Or another neutral-tasting oil, such as canola or coconut oil.
- Large Eggs – Bring to room temperature.
- Vanilla extract
- Peppermint extract
- Flour – All-purpose flour or gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill.
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Powdered sugar – To roll the cookie balls into.
- Crushed candy canes – Feel free to omit these if you aren’t making holiday-inspired crinkle cookies.
Variations
- Add chocolate chips to the cookie dough for richer-tasting cookies.
- Use the cookies to make holiday sandwich cookies by filling them with peppermint ice cream.
- Omit the peppermint extract and crushed candy canes if you want regular chocolate crinkle cookies.
- Swap out the candy canes with crushed Andes pieces or your favorite holiday-themed candies.
How to Make Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies
- Make the cookie dough: Combine the cocoa and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, oil, vanilla, and peppermint extract. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir the ingredients until combined.
- Chill the dough: Cover the mixing bowl, and chill the dough for at least 4 hours.
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 350ºF, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Form the cookies: Roll the cookie dough into one-inch balls using your hands or a medium cookie scoop. Coat each ball in powdered sugar. Then, place them onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake: Place the baking sheets in the oven, and bake the cookies for 10 minutes.
- Garnish: Top the cookies with crushed candy canes.
- Cool: Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to wire racks to finish cooling.
Quick Tip
The crinkle cookie dough must be chilled, as this creates pillowy cookies and prevents them from spreading in the oven. The cookie dough can be made the day before and stored in the fridge if desired.
How to Store Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies
Store these Chocolate Mint Crinkles in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months in a freezer bag or storage container. Just keep in mind that some of the crushed candy canes may fall off during storage and bleed their color.
Serving Suggestions
Add these Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies to your holiday cookie platters or dessert charcuterie boards, take them to cookie exchange parties, or offer them to family and guests throughout the holiday season alongside a mug of warm eggnog or hot chocolate!
FAQs
Rolling the cookie balls in powdered sugar causes the cookies to crack, creating their crinkle effect!
Like all cookies, these chocolate mint crinkle cookies must be stored in an airtight container. They will stay fresh at room temperature for about a week. Or, you can transfer them to the freezer to keep them fresh for longer.
It is believed that crinkle cookies were first recorded in Betty Crocker’s “Cooky Carnival” cookbook after Crocker had been served these delicious cookies by one of her friends.
Crinkle cookie dough is meant to be quite moist. If the dough is too sticky to roll after chilling it, let it chill a little longer in the fridge. Or, roll the moist dough between wet hands. It’s important to accurately measure the flour in this crinkle cookie recipe to ensure the consistency turns out correctly!
More Christmas Cookies To Try
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Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Electric hand mixer (or stand mixer with a paddle attachment)
- 2 cookie trays
- Parchment paper
- Measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Cookie scoop
- Small bowl
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup crushed candy canes About 3-4 candy canes
Instructions
- Add the granulated sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl of a stand mixer and blend together with a paddle attachment so there are no lumps of cocoa powder.1 ¾ cups sugar, 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and peppermint extract to the bowl and beat on medium speed until the mix is shiny and evenly blended.½ cup vegetable oil, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the bowl and mix until the batter is just combined.2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours to cool and get firm.
- After the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350ºF and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Add the powdered sugar to a small bowl and mix together.½ cup powdered sugar
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the cookie dough into small balls. Roll each ball in the powdered sugar and place them on the prepared sheet trays, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. The edges of the cookies will be firm and the cookies will be puffed but the center will still be a little wet (that is okay! It will make for a chewy cookie).
- Top with crushed candy canes when you remove them from the oven.½ cup crushed candy canes
- Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for about 5 minutes then move the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
