Sourdough Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
This is hands down the best sourdough chocolate crinkle cookies recipe EVER! They are rich and fudgy, with a soft, chewy center and crackly sugar-coated exterior. These easy sourdough cookies taste like brownies, but in cookie form!
Just like our sourdough lemon crinkle cookies, sourdough chocolate chip cookies, and sourdough oatmeal cookies, these Christmas cookies are perfectly sweetened and stay soft and fresh for days.
Turn your sourdough discard into a sweet holiday treat with this perfect cookie recipe. Fudgy, festive, and oh-so-delicious!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Dry Ingredients: You’ll need all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. For a richer chocolate flavor, opt for dark chocolate powder.
- Wet Ingredients: You’ll need sourdough discard, avocado oil (or any neutral-flavored oil — skip olive oil), light or dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. You can use unsalted butter in place of the oil.
- Decoration: Confectioner’s sugar is used to enhance that classic crackly effect.
How to make Sourdough chocolate crinkle cookies
Step 1
Combine the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together.
Step 2
In a large mixing bowl, combine the sourdough discard, avocado oil, light or dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract, and whisk until smooth.
Step 3
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.
Cover the dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop and roll the dough into balls using your hands.
Step 5
Roll each ball very generously in the powdered sugar. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
Step 6
Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. Let them cool slightly on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Carmyn's Tips
Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure your egg and sourdough discard are at room temperature to ensure the dough comes together smoothly for a more uniform texture.
Chill the Dough: Chilling the dough is crucial for achieving the signature crinkle effect. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight to make it easier to handle and prevent spreading.
Coat Just Before Baking: Sugar coat the cookie dough balls just before baking. If you do it too early, the powdered sugar coating will absorb into the dough, preventing the signature crackly texture. By rolling the dough balls in sugar right before baking, you'll ensure the sugar stays on the surface, creating that beautiful crinkle effect as the cookies bake.
Generous Coating: Roll the dough balls generously in powdered sugar, making sure they’re fully coated. This helps create the dramatic, crackly appearance as the cookies bake
How to Store
Baked Cookies
Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days. Add a small piece of white bread to the container for extra freshness and chewiness.
You can also freeze any leftover baked cookies for up to 3 months. Once the cookies have cooled completely, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and place them in a freezer bag.
Unbaked Cookie Dough
Unbaked cookie dough can be kept tightly covered in the fridge for up to 7 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
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Sourdough Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- ¼ cup (50 g) sourdough discard
- ¼ cup (45 g) avocado oil (any neutral-flavored oil, NOT olive oil)
- ½ cup (100 g) light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Rolling
- ¼ cup powdered sugar (you may need more)
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour, ½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and whisk together.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ¼ cup (50 g) sourdough discard, ¼ cup (45 g) avocado oil, ½ cup (100 g) light or dark brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir together until fully combined.
- Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days. Don't skip chilling the dough - it's mandatory for the next set of steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set to the side.
- Add ¼ cup powdered sugar to a large plate and set to the side.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop and roll the dough into balls using your hands (about 1.5-2 tablespoons of dough or about 33-35 grams each). Roll each ball very generously in the powdered sugar. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. The cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool. Let them cool slightly on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
I made these with some adjustments and they turned out well ! I started making them and realized I only had about 10g of cocoa powder so I added 2 packets of hot chocolate and just did 60g of each sugar, my baby has an egg allergy so I used 1/4 c apple sauce to replace the egg. They taste very good, mine did spread a bit even after refrigerating. Excited to try them with egg next time, but they hit the spot for a chocolate cookie and the recipe seems forgiving given all of the substitutions I made. Yum !
Best crinkle cookies ever - so fudgy and delicious.
can you freeze this in dough portions ?
Yes, you can freeze unbaked cookie dough for up to 3 months.
My only complaint about this recipe is that it makes such a small batch!! These cookies were absolutely delicious and so easy to make. I already know I’m going to make these a lot.
Can Dutch-process cocoa powder be used for this recipe? Thank you!
Yes you can.
hi there
I was curious as to whether we could use butter instead of oil?
I'm so excited to try this recipe!
Hi Aisha, yes that should work! I would just melt it first and let it cool slightly.
These cookies have COMPLETELY CHANGED THE GAME UP for me!! I made a half batch just to see about them but my word… now I wish I had SO MUCH MORE! lol. They were hoovered down in my house! And thank goodness, I typically have EVERY INGREDIENT in my home at all times &, MORE THEN ENOUGH starter or, surplus starter needing used up at any given second in time. I did use a few diff things like, I swapped a diff oil cause it’s all I had, I added about half the called for white sugar- over to some brown sugar as well cause I know I already love what it adds to me usual recipe! I added a few hefty heaping handfuls of semi sweet chips, so made them DOUBLE chocolate! I also baked mine without chilling when I first made my batter yesterday, and ALL WAS PERFECTLY FINE, just kinda “autolyse” your batter, mix well, and be light handed when you scoop and roll it in the powder sugar. The other half I made tonight, and made a few with Nutella backed centers since my son absolutely loved them with Nutella on top- AS IF THEYRE NOT DECADENT ENOUGH AS IS, lol. And holy smokes… we’re in literal LOVE!!
Wow are these ever good! Fudgy and decadent, they’re just beautiful cookies. The sourdough adds to the chocolate flavour to make it richer and tastier. Definitely making these again! Thanks for a stellar recipe!