Chocolate Crackle Cookies Recipe

These dense, chewy, intensely chocolate cookies need no decoration; they’re rolled in powdered sugar before baking, creating a crackled effect.

Chocolate Crackle Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla

Icing sugar, for rolling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl or in the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar. Add butter and pulse or stir with a fork, pastry cutter or whisk until mixture is well combined and crumbly.

If using a food processor, dump mixture into a bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and stir by hand just until dough comes together. (It may seem dry—use your hands to combine it into a soft, sticky dough.)

Put some icing sugar into a shallow dish. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and roll in icing sugar to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until just set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

The Variations

Chocolate Peppermint Crackle Cookies Substitute peppermint extract for the vanilla. Shape, roll and bake as directed.

Chocolate Orange Crackle Cookies Add the finely grated zest of an orange along with the butter. Shape, roll and bake as directed.

Double Chocolate Espresso Brownie Cookies Add 1 tsp espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tbsp water, in place of the vanilla. Stir 1 cup chopped dark chocolate into the dough, then roll into balls and bake without rolling in icing sugar.