Close-up of chocolate crinkle cookies on black cooling rack.

Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Chocolate crinkle cookies are seriously one of the best classic treats during the holidays. They’re fudgy and chocolatey on the inside with a delicious powdery sugary texture on the outside. Years ago, my older sister started her awesome tradition of baking about fifteen different kinds of cookies around Christmas. We would all greedily hoard them, bringing ziplock bags to freeze our favorite ones to eat throughout the winter season. However, now that I am gluten-intolerant and especially because both my children have severe food allergies, we can’t indulge in these family activities anymore. The obvious solution is to make them myself with safe ingredients and create our own family holiday traditions. 😊

This recipe took me five attempts, but no one was complaining about how many “failed” cookies they got to eat. I’m so happy to say this recipe is ready to share with you and just in time for the holidays! 🎄😍

The Cookie Batter

First, lightly grease a cookie sheet. I find it best not to use a silicone mat. Bake the cookies directly on the cookie sheet to help make that exterior slightly crunchy. I love this Nordic Ware cookie sheet I recently purchased. (I have another one on my Christmas wishlist!) I think parchment paper could be okay, but I didn’t test with that method.

Next, measure out your sugars into two shallow bowls. I used cereal bowls here because I was only making small batches during testing. Then in a heat safe measuring cup, combine your allergy-free dark or bittersweet chocolate (I always use Enjoy Life) palm shortening and coconut oil (see notes for substitutions). Melt in the microwave for about 1 minute and stir to combine. Set aside.

In a large bowl, make your flax egg. Wait a few minutes for it to gel. Then add the brown sugar and granulated sugar plus vanilla extract. Whisk until combined. Add the melted chocolate mixture and whisk again.

Next, place all the dry ingredients into a separate, medium sized bowl. Be sure to sift the cocoa and flours to prevent small dry lumps in the batter. Now add the dry ingredient mixture to the chocolate mixture, but fold with a spatula instead of whisking.

Chilling Before Baking

Now, you MUST chill the dough before baking. When I was impatient and only chilled the dough for 15 minutes, they were super flat and unappealing after baking (left photo). I mean, they still tasted great, but they looked a little sad. The photo in the middle was chilling the batter, scooping and rolling, then baking. They still spread a bit too much for me to call them crinkle cookies. The photo on the far right, however, is the magic! That’s what will happen if you chill the dough properly.

How to Chill and Roll

I found rolling out the cookies first was the easiest method. In earlier attempts at this recipe, I chilled the dough first and it was too hard to scoop. So immediately after making the dough, use a cookie scoop (I recommend Oxo’s medium-sized cookie scoop) and scoop out leveled amounts of cookie dough onto the baking sheet. Use your hands to roll each ball to make it round and smooth. Roll this into the granulated sugar first, and then into the powdered sugar.

Place them back evenly onto the cookie sheet and refrigerate the whole sheet for at least 1 hour. When you’re ready to bake, do not take it out of the refrigerator until the oven is completely preheated. You want them at their coldest possible temperature when placed in the oven.

Bake and Eat!

My oven tends to run hot, so I found 325ºF is perfect for me when I’m making these. You may have to increase your temperature to 350ºF. During baking, be sure to rotate the sheet pans halfway through and switch rack levels to ensure even baking.

Up close of chocolate crinkle cookie with a bite missing. Cookies cooling on rack in the background is blurry, but visible.

These cookies are truly amazing! When you bite into them, the exterior is slightly crunchy from the baked sugars, but then you hit the soft and rich chocolate center. It is heavenly and dangerously addictive! The holidays are the perfect time to make these, but honestly they can be enjoyed anytime during the year. Cheers everyone!

Gluten-Free Vegan Holiday Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Recipe by yayitsfreefromthisCourse: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium
Servings

12

servings
Prep time

1

hour 

30

minutes
Cooking time

16

minutes

Ingredients

  • 240g gluten-free flour blend (see Notes)

  • 1 tsp xanthan gum (omit if your blend contains this already)

  • 1 oz (1/4c) almond flour (see Notes)

  • 39g (1/2c ) unsweetened cocoa

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp espresso powder, optional

  • 5 1/2 oz (3/4c) organic granulated sugar

  • 4 1/2 oz (3/4c) dark brown sugar

  • 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp flaxseed meal + 6Tbsp water)

  • 1/4c applesauce

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 4 oz unsweetened dark/bittersweet chocolate

  • 1 oz palm shortening

  • 1 oz coconut oil

  • 1/4c organic granulated sugar, for rolling

  • 1/4c powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325ºF when ready to bake.
  • Grease two baking sheets lightly with oil.
  • Place your rolling sugars into two separate shallow bowls.
  • Make the flax egg in a large bowl by combining the flaxseed meal with water.
  • In a separate medium bowl, sift together the gluten-free flour and cocoa. Then add the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder, if using. Set aside.
  • In a small bowl, combine chocolate, shortening and coconut oil. Melt by microwaving on high for 1 minute. Stir and microwave another 30 seconds to melt fully if necessary. Stir again and set aside.
  • To the flax eggs, add both the sugars and vanilla extract. Whisk together.
  • Add the melted chocolate mixture and whisk again to combine.
  • Finally, add dry mixture and fold together using a spatula.
  • Measure out the cookies with a medium sized cookie scoop. Roll with hands to make smooth balls.
  • Roll and cover each with granulated sugar first, and then the powdered sugar.
  • Place back evenly onto the cookie sheets.
  • Refrigerate the whole sheets with the raw cookies on them for at least an hour before baking. Preheat the oven completely before removing from the refrigerator.
  • Bake for 14-16 minutes without silicone mats. Rotate sheets and switching level racks about halfway through.

Notes

  • My original recipe called for only coconut oil, but since the flavor was too overwhelming for a couple of my kid tasters, I went with combining with shortening. I do feel a bit of coconut oil is needed to help bring out the chocolate flavor more.
  • If you can’t have coconut, just use all two ounces of palm shortening. This version was still gobbled up by my tasters. You can also try two ounces of dairy-free butter instead, or 1/4 cup of neutral oil, such as avocado.
  • I use my own blend of all-purpose gluten-free flour blend of white rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. It has no xanthan gum in it.
  • For the almond flour, I use Barney’s because it is an almond-only brand, so it’s safe from peanuts and other tree nuts.
  • If almonds are an issue, however, substitute with sunflower meal. You can make your own by grinding whole sunflower seeds, or purchase sunflower meal. You can also skip the meal and use all gluten-free flour. Add 35 grams to the 240 grams.