Earthquake Cookies | Our Favorite Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
This easy and delicious recipe for chocolate crinkle cookies yields a crisp exterior and chewy, brownie-like interior.
By Amy Traverso|Dec 03 2021|
Rolling the cookies in both granulated and powdered sugar before baking gives them their signature crackled look.
Photo Credit: Amy TraversoI’ve baked and tasted a lot of cookies over the years, but I have three hands-down holiday favorites: My Aunt Madeline’s Pecan Puffs, classic Molasses Clove Cookies, and these Earthquake Cookies, which were created by chef Maura Kilpatrick of Cambridge’s Sofra and Oleana restaurants. You may have made or tasted other chocolate crinkle cookies, but true to their name, these beauties will rock your world.
I had long wanted to get my hands on the recipe, and was thrilled when Maura has released it to the world in her book Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery & Cafe (Ten Speed Press, 2016), which she wrote with her business partner, Ana Sortun. Earthquakes for everyone!
What makes these chocolate crinkle cookies good? Maura packs intensely rich chocolate flavor into each one. And the texture is the perfect mix of crisp exterior and chewy, brownie-like interior. The only downside: the batter needs to chill overnight. So plan ahead and get baking! They’ll be your new holiday favorite.
Maura Kilpatrick’s Earthquake Cookies
(aka Our Favorite Chocolate Crinkle Cookies)
Total time: 1 hour, plus at least 8 hours chilling time
Hands-on time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fleur de sel or kosher salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 8 ounces extra-bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup whole milk
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
Method
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
Combine the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until light and very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl. Lower the speed and add the eggs one at a time, scraping between additions. Still on low speed, add the chocolate. Mix until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla extract to the mix. Staying on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture in three additions, scraping the bowl between additions.
Transfer the dough, which will resemble very wet batter, to a bowl; cover and refrigerate at least overnight, and up to 1 week.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the powdered sugar and the granulated sugar in separate bowls.
Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop or portion scoop and shape the cookies into a ball. Roll each ball in the granulated sugar first and then in the powdered sugar, coating completely.
Place the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet ½-inch apart. Bake until puffed and cracked and just set around the edges, 14 to 16 minutes. The centers will still be soft and appear under-baked. Cool completely on the baking sheet. Serve right away or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Yields 2 dozen cookies.
I don’t have a paddle attachment for my mixer. Will these still turn out alright? Need I make a into ny modifications? Also, shape cookiecookie….into a ball?
Hi Kate. You can use a standard hand-held mixer, and yes, shape the cookies into a ball. We’ve updated the recipe to clarify. Thanks, and happy baking!
You say to use chilled butter but to cream it with the sugar? Is there a reason for doing that? Seems easier to slightly soften it…
Delicious!
Growing up I had a Great aunt who made these cookies for EVERY family gathering, to the point we all called them “Auntie Millie” cookies. A couple of us used “fight” over them! Years later I found them to be called chocolate pixies and would occasionally see them made by other people which would make feel nostalgic. Great memories! For point of reference, I was born in 1960, so that tells you how long I’ve loved these cookies.
Theses are the most amazing cookies. I bought one at her Bakery, Sofia, and had to learn to make them. The only challenge in making them is actually scooping them out. They just don’t scoop. I even bought new scoops to see if that was the issue. This time I ended up scooping out the batter onto wax paper and rolling it into a log. That way I could pinch off each cookie and proceed with the rolling. If absolute precision is required, you could check the weight on a scale, but I’m getting pretty good at gauging the weight by hand.
I agree. Scooping is hard with arthritic fingers. So I pinch what I thought made the right size and weighed each one for uniformity. 1oz. Makes perfect size.
1 stick 8oz or 1/2 stick 4 oz?
Hi there. One stick of butter is 4 oz. You will need one stick. Thanks!
Can the recipe be modified to use gluten-free flour?
Hi there! We haven’t tried this recipe with gluten-free flour, but imagine that substituting an All-Purpose gluten-free flour blend would work fine. Happy baking!
We make these every year around Christmas time. Used the two sugars for the first time last year which worked great and was far less messy than using only confectioner’s sugar. Big hit with all of the grandkids!
I would be interested in learning why these are called Earthquake cookies?
Because they resemble the broken pavement after an earthquake
Why did mine spread instead of puff up?
Perhaps you didn’t chill the dough long enough, it’s a critical step.
Can you use milk chocolate instead.
Dough really stuck to palms despite being very chilled. Finally found a heat use for extra COVID gloves—made shaping balls much easier and faster! Also pressed each ever so slightly with bottom of small plastic bowl to stop them from rolling off parchment on cookie sheet.
I saw that Stanley A.L. asked if you can use milk chocolate and didn’t see an answer. My grandchildren don’t care for dark chocolate. I wonder if Stanley tried milk chocolate and the outcome.
These cookies sound delicious. Can is substitute oat milk or soy milk for the whole milk? Thanks!
I’ve tried a similar recipe, which was delicious, now will try this one. The other recipe uses 3 eggs and no milk. I used GF flour (one to one.) The cookies were fine, maybe a little more crumbly, but I had no comparison. The other recipe is made with a whisk instead of an electric blender (just have strong arms.) Best to make dough in approximate size of ping pong balls, putting each onto a plate. Then do the rolling in sugar of all the balls. I tried extra coarse confectioners sugar – it was even more delicious and had a nice crunch. (Available on Amazon from The Spice Lab – expensive, but worth it for improved texture.)
These are the best chocolate crinkle cookies! Very delicious and turned out perfect and chewy. Everyone loved them. Be sure to coat them in the confectioners’ sugar JUST before you bake them or else the sugar may dissolve (especially if it’s humid) and you’ll get no crinkles.
What if I don’t have time to chill them overnight? Can I freeze them for a couple of hours instead?
These are delicious! But… mine are sooo flat! Did not puff at all. The dough was in the freezer for 3 days prior to baking. Any thoughts?