These absolutely delicious gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookies have a crackly outside and fudgy brownie-like inside. The texture is unmatched thanks to oat flour! They're super easy to make and the dough can be made in advance.
I want you to also have the very best holiday cookie platter to share with your friends and family, so I've baked these gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookies no fewer than 10 times in the last two weeks. In the name of research and chocolate. Worth it.
These classic holiday cookie, chocolate crinkle cookies are characterized by a soft fudgy chocolate cookie with a generous powdered sugar coating that crackles as the cookies bake. This gluten-free version is extra chewy and brownie-like, making them my ideal holiday cookie!
- They're super easy to make and the dough can be made in advance
- The texture is unmatched with a chewy and gooey brownie-like filling and a crisp shell
- They keep for a long time without tasting stale (read: perfect for gifting!)
- The crackly powdered sugar topping makes them look so festive
- You can even take them up a holiday notch with a bit of peppermint extract
- They've got the nostalgia factor that will bring a smile to everyone's face
Using Oat Flour for the best texture
For these gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookies, I started with an adaptation on my chewy gluten-free chocolate cookies, simplifying the flours to use a blend of gluten-free oat flour and tapioca flour. The result is a chewy and gooey brownie-like center, similar to my gluten-free brownie cookies, except these have the festive, crisp powdered sugar shell.
Dairy-Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies: Butter v. Oil
You can use either unsalted butter or oil in chocolate crinkle cookies. Classic chocolate crinkle cookies call for vegetable oil rather than butter. That's the first iteration of this recipe I tested, and while they're delicious, I felt like there was something missing. If you can't have dairy, substituting the butter for vegetable oil, plant butter, or melted coconut oil all work great as a perfectly suitable substitute in this recipe!
The butter version is richer, with a more pronounced chocolate flavor and a more gooey brownie-like center, and is my preferred cookie.
What kind of cocoa powder to use?
For these chocolate crinkle cookies, I like to use high-quality dutch-process baking cocoa. This means looking for cocoa that's processed with alkali. Dutch-processed baking cocoa is darker in color, with a more neutral flavor that's less bitter, and creates a fudgier more brownie-like cookie.
These cookies come together like most drop cookies, but the dough will be very soft, so there's an added chilling step. You can reduce the amount of time it needs to chill by pre-scooping the dough with a cookie scoop before chilling.
Do you have to chill the dough?
Yes. This cookie dough is way too sticky to roll into cookie dough balls without chilling. The dough should be chilled for at least two hours.
To shorten the chill time, use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the dough into balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then chill the dough on the baking sheet for just an hour.
Once chilled, you can use your palm to roll the dough into balls then roll it in the sugar and powdered sugar before baking.
How to keep the powdered sugar from melting
Part of the appeal of chocolate crinkle cookies is that classic nostalgic crackly white powdered sugar topping.
The best way to keep the powdered sugar from melting into the gooey cookie as it cools is to first roll the dough balls in granulated sugar before generously rolling in powdered sugar. Use your hands to press the powdered sugar in a thick layer all over the cookie dough ball. I learned this genius method from Sally's Baking Addiction.
Recipe
Oat Flour Gluten-Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) organic dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (95 g) gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup (56 g) Bob's Red Mill tapioca flour
- ½ cup (54 g) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sift together the oat flour, tapioca flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix together the melted butter, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar. Mix in the eggs and vanilla until thoroughly mixed, scraping down the sides as needed.
- With the mixer on low, slowly mix in the dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Either chill the dough now for 2 hours, or use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill on the baking sheet for 1-1.5 hours, until firm, or up to a week.
- Prepare a small bowl with granulated sugar and a medium bowl with powdered sugar for rolling.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Once chilled, roll the cookie dough into round balls in the palms of your hands. Roll the dough in the granulated sugar, then generously roll in the powdered sugar, using your hands to pat the powdered sugar so it sticks well all over the cookie. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes, until the cookies crack open and the edges feel just set when gently tapped, but the centers still look underbaked. Let cool on the baking rack for 3-5 minutes before transferring with a thin spatula to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
francine -
Could I substitute cassava flour for oat flour? If so, how much do I need?
I am making these for a friend who doesn't bake, she can't do nut flour. I just switched from grains to nut flours, cassava flour, tapioca flour, and arrowroot flour. We can do dairy. It is just the flours we are having problems with. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Sarah Menanix -
I've not tested this recipe with cassava flour, but in my experience, you'll need a bit more cassava flour (about 10-20% more), so if you try replacing it with cassava, I would start with 105g cassava flour and then freeze and bake off a single tester before determining if you need more!
Kristin -
Amazing recipe! I made these yesterday for the first time and they came out beautifully. I subbed millet flour for the oat (because somehow I was out of oat flour—gasp!), and ended up using the volume weight equivalent (124 g with Arrowhead Farms brand millet flour). Chilled for 2.5 hours and they rolled and baked up beautifully. They’re for our neighborhood cookie party today and I’m really excited to share. Thanks for all your delicious gluten free recipes, Sarah!
Anna -
My cookies completely melted! I followed the recipe exactly and let it chill for the correct amount of time. But in the oven they all flatened into on big cookie. Im really dissapointed as this was for my family Christmas movie night.
Sarah Menanix -
Oh no!! I make these cookies every year and haven't ever had that experience! What brand of flours did you use and did you measure by weight?
Sarah Menanix -
Hi there! I just made these cookies again to ensure the recipe works properly and they turned out exactly as pictured here. I'd love to help you troubleshoot what went wrong! I asked my husband what were his must-have holiday cookies this year and this one topped his list. I'd love for you to have a good experience as well!
Holly. Walker -
Help! My cookie dough was very soft. I refrigerated for 4 days. I did substitute non-dairy butter (dairy allergy) but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. The dough barely held together in balls because it was so soft to roll in the sugars but I crossed my fingers and baked them anyway. They spread out like a brownie into one homogeneous mass across the cookie sheet though spaced as directed. They taste great and texture is good but shape is not recognizable and they are very flat and thin and powdered sugar topping is patterned like a snake skin. I am an experienced GF baker. I will try again adding additional oat and/or tapioca flour. I am at high altitude (6000') so maybe that had something to do with it? I'll let you know if I figure it out in case other DF bakers need to substitute because they are delicious.
Sarah Menanix -
Oh gosh - I'm so sorry to hear this! The dough definitely shouldn't be too soft to roll in the sugar- I'd love to help you deduce what may have happened. Here are a few troubleshooting questions - these are all the things I can think of that may have gone wrong. I have made these plenty of times with vegetable oil and they were great so I doubt the non-dairy butter is the issue. What kind of non-dairy butter did you use? Were your eggs "large" versus "extra large"? When you measured the flour and sugars, did you use the weight measurements or the cup measurements? What brand of tapioca flour did you use (I find brands other than Bob's Red Mill to not be as finely ground and thus don't soak up moisture as well).
That being said, I don't have experience with high-altitude baking, but I've read that this can affect how moisture bakes in recipes.