Fudgy and rich vegan chocolate crinkle cookies are so pretty and a serious crowd pleaser! A classic holiday cookie, and for good reason.
It’s the season for cookies! Christmas is a month away, and I hope this is a time of cookie baking, hot chocolate sipping, snuggling with a kitten on the couch (wait, is that just my life?), fuzzy socks and quality time with friends and family.
These Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are sure to get you in the spirit of Christmas! Its almost like they’re trying to be a brownie that’s rolled in powdered sugar. They are super fudgy inside with a wonderful powdered sugar outside, and they get the most beautiful cracks after baking. It’s quite magical!
My oldest son says these are his favorite cookies. Then again, whenever I make Vegan Snickerdoodles, he claims those are his favorite cookie ever, so I don’t know…. But I’ve never come across a person that didn’t LOVE these vegan chocolate crinkle cookies!
How do you make vegan chocolate crinkle cookies?
These fancy looking cookies are surprisingly easy to make. If you’ve been with me awhile, you might know that I like to make my dessert recipes as easy and delicious as possible. If I can, I use 1 bowl, which is what I did here.
First, you make the cookie dough (all in 1 bowl). A sifter is helpful because cocoa powder can be quite chunky, and you want it to be very fine. Same with the flour. If you don’t have a sifter, you can use a fine mesh strainer.
Then, shape in balls, roll in powdered sugar (GENEROUSLY) and bake! That’s it.
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What kind of cocoa powder?
Natural cocoa powder works here, as well as dark cocoa powder, dutch processed or even cacao powder. Use you what have. Dark cocoa powder makes them extra dark in contrast with the powdered sugar.
For more vegan cookie recipes, check these out:
Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil OR melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1/3 cup non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and canola oil. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined and smooth. Add the ground flax seeds, non-dairy milk and vanilla, and mix well to combine.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt using either a sifter or fine mesh strainer. Stir until combined with the wet ingredients and a soft dough is formed.
- Place the powdered sugar in a small mixing bowl. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of dough at a time, and shape into a ball. Roll the ball in the powdered sugar very generously, covering all sides. The more powdered sugar, the prettier the cookies will be.
- Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart so they have room to spread.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes until set. They will appear slightly undercooked and soft, but will firm up as they cool.
- Cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Store any extra cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- May use canola oil, melted coconut oil or melted vegan butter.
- Use any kind of non-dairy milk you like, such as soy, almond, cashew, or coconut milk.
- If the dough is hard to work with, stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, then try again. You can also wet your hands a little bit so the dough sticks less.
Made these with my granddaughter and they were not only fun and easy to prepare with a four year old but they were DELICIOUS. I will add them to our Christmas cookie must makes!!!
How fun for your and your granddaughter! Thanks for sharing your wonderful and fun review! I’m thrilled they will be part of your Christmas cookie tradition!
Made these cookies for the first time for our Mother’s Day picnic and the family loved them! They were really easy. Put them in the freezer for about 15 minutes before rolling and they came together perfectly. I used cacoa powder and vegan butter. These will be a regular at our house.
Thanks Nora!
(P.S. Also made the snickerdoodles for the picnic — snickerdoodles are my wife’s favorites cookies so those have been a family favorite for a while.)
I’m thrilled you love the cookies! Thank you!
I made these for my daughter when she came to visit as she is vegan. She LOVED them! The only thing she didn’t enjoy was sharing with the entire family as they also LOVED them!!!♥️♥️♥️
Thank you for sharing, Meta! I’m glad the crinkle cookies were a hit!
I don’t remember if I’ve already left a review for these, but these are amazing and so easy to put together! I add a few drops of peppermint oil to make them extra festive 🙂
Thank you for taking time to share you review, Isabella! Your cookies sound delicious!
So easy to make and do delicious. I accidentally made these a little “healthier “ because I inadvertently added chia seeds thinking I was putting in Flax seeds! That makes them health food, right?!
Hi Mara. LOL, did they have a delicate crunch?! Thank you for sharing your review and comments!
These cookies are amazing! I’ve made them a few times and everyone loved them. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!
I was wondering if these would be ok to prepare ahead… roll them up and freeze? Then maybe take them out an hour or so before then roll in sugar and bake?
That would be just fine yes. I’m so glad everyone loves them!
I love these cookies! maybe too much
I don’t have ground flax seeds. I was wondering what they would be like without the fklax seeds. Has anyone made them that way? Is there something I could substitute?
The flaxseeds could probably be replaced with 1 Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, though I haven’t tested it.
These cookies are so delicious and easy to make! I even made them with the kids I nanny and it was such a fun and yummy experience! Just pulled up the recipe to make them again and had to leave a review!
Hi Dani. Thank you for sharing your fun baking experience! I’m glad you love the cookies! Thank you for your fun review!
Nora, these are incredible! I’ve yet to be let down with any recipe from you. I was having a sweet tooth moment and was thrilled I was able to throw these together and eat in under an hour, my non vegan roommate loved them too! Perfect amount of sweet!
Hi Molly. I’m so glad you and your roommate loved the crinkle cookies! Thank you for sharing!
Made for Christmas 2020. Best Crinkle cookie recipe. I’ve mDe several of your Xmas cookie recipes and every one was perfection. Thank you for great cookie recipes that produce delicious vegan cookies.
Hi Karla. I’m glad the cookies have all turned out perfect for you! Thank you for sharing, and for using my cookie recipes!
Absolutely amazing, easy to make and sooo delicious ?
Thank you, Andrea! I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies!
I have never left a review on a recipe before – I have never felt compelled to do so. These cookies are an exception. Holy moly. They are SO GOOD. Stop what you’re doing and make these! Easy, fun, a beautiful crunch on the outside, moist on the inside, a texture not unlike meringue when I made them. So amazing and balanced. I made them for my family during a tough time. These cookies made it slightly better.
Hi John. I appreciate you for taking the time to share a review on my cookies. I’m so glad you and our family love them! There has been a LOT of baking going on in our house as well! Your comments are wonderful and encouraging! Thank you!
These are seriously addictive. They were easy enough for my 6 year old to make with just a little help and we could not stop eating them! His siblings even said they were the best cookies they’ve ever had. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for the great recipes and please make a dessert cookbook!
Hi Tamara. I’m so glad you and your children loved the crinkle cookies! Thank you for using my recipes and for sharing your comments!
Made these for Christmas Eve and they’re so yummy! Love how simple the recipe is as well. Made them exactly, minus using gluten free flour. (bob’s red mill gluten free 1 to 1). Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too!
NORA THESE ARE AMAZING!!!!! Thank you so much for this recipie my whole family isn’t vegan like me but they simply COULDN’T GET ENOUGH OF THEM!!! Perfection in a cookie thank you thank you!!! Merry Christmas 🙂
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for having vegan options for traditional holiday cookies.
Easy recipe! I just made them and I put lots of powered sugar but it clumped on top of the cookie . It did not spread to the crinkle parts. What did I do wrong?
Hmm I’m not really sure that’s never happened to me! The cookie didn’t spread at all, or just the powdered sugar got stuck on top?
The cookie was perfect! The powdered sugar did not spread for the nice crinkle effect. Yes, it clumped on top.
As another person commented, mine didn’t spread (at all). I even took a cup and slightly flattened the top for the final few and it made no difference. I used canola oil. I’ve made other cookies on your blog and not had this happen. Could you advise what I possible could do in the future to correct this? Thanks! I’m sure they’ll taste great. I did add a tsp of peppermint extract as well.
Make sure you are measuring everything accurately, as a little too much flour/cocoa could make them not spread. I would spoon flour into the measuring cup, then level it with a knife, not packing it in or anything. Hope that helps!
Hi Nora, what can I use instead of flour to make it gluten free?
Use a gluten free flour mix for gluten free, it works well. Thanks!
Can I use vegetable oil instead?
It should work just fine, yes.
So yummy
Really simple and delicious! Could make the cookies smaller – they are quite large if you make only 18!
Nora, good evening! Unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention to the fact that here you can leave comments. I’ve been a fan of your recipes for a long time! and I love this cookie !!!! but unfortunately sometimes it does not rise for me. today it turned out flat again …. I think because of the baking powder or because I did not sift the dry ingredients … I forgot .. but the cookies are delicious in any form! Thank you!?
Thank you so much! I’m glad you are enjoying the recipes here! So with these cookies, they really shouldn’t rise as much as flatten but remain rather thick. As you can see in the photos, you will start with dough balls, coated in powdered sugar, and when you bake them they should flatten somewhat and become a cookie shape. If they are flat, it is likely you are not measuring quite correctly, and not adding enough flour or cocoa powder, but it’s hard to say for sure without being there. For best results, make sure you aren’t missing anything and accurately measure all of the ingredients. Hope that helps, and I’m glad you enjoyed them anyhow! 🙂
As always, Nora is has the best recipes! DELICIOUS. Lightly crunchy outside with fudgy inside. So easy. Thank you!
You’re welcome!