Black Forest Crinkle Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2024)

Published by Melissa on December 11, 2016 | Updated June 10, 2022 | 58 Comments

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These Black Forest Crinkle Cookies are a soft, rich delicious chocolate cookie loaded with chocolate chips and tart driedcherries. It’s rolled in powdered sugar so there is a beautiful contrast between the crackled white outside and dark chocolatey inside.

My family is crazy about cherries and chocolate, and they’re crazy about this chocolate cookie loaded with cherries and chocolate.I originally shared this recipe about 6 years ago, but when I made them to take to a family Christmas party, I decided it was time to update the photos and share them again.

Santa’s Milk Drive

What goes better with cookies than milk? Here’s a chance to make a difference in your local community. Contribute to Santa’s Milk Drive by donating a gallon of milk (the most under donated store-bought item across the nation). After entering their zip code, that gallon of milk will be delivered to their own local food bank, keeping the charity where it’s needed most: in your own communities.

AND if your local, you canvisitSmiths’ Marketplace, at 3215 Valley Street (3300 South off Wasatch BLVD and I-215 by REI), Salt Lake City, Saturday 12/10/2016 from 12 pm to 4 pm to donate in person, get samples or be accosted by 7th graders in moo shirts.

Now back to the cookies!

I saw this recipe onSweet Peas Kitchen and thought it sounded amazing. Christina found the original recipe inTaste of Home Fall Baking 2010. Black Forest is such a great name for a cookie. The name immediatelyconjuresup memories of rich, delicious chocolate cake filled with cherries. And this cookie definitely lives up to it’s delicious name.

The original recipe calls for espresso powder, but I don’t like coffee. I don’t drink it and I don’t like coffee flavored candy or baked goods. I’ve tried using espresso powder in the past (it’s used to accentuate the chocolate flavor)but I didn’t like it because all I could smell when it was baking was the coffee.Nielsen-Massey sent me a selection of their extracts, including their high quality chocolate extract, so I decided to use the chocolate extract to boost the chocolate flavor instead of espresso powder.

I made the recipe twice because the first time my cookies came out too flat.The second time I left out the hot water and the consistency was better. I doubled the recipe because the original recipe made so few cookies it seemed more like half a batch of cookies.

The second time around I used a tip Martha Stewart uses in her chocolate crinkle cookies. She rolls them first in granulated sugar and then rolls them in powdered sugar so that they come out very white. I also added more cherries and chocolate chips. My adapted recipe is below.

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4.25 from 4 votes

Black Forest Crinkle Cookies

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Total Time22 minutes mins

Course: Cookies

Keyword: 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies, Chocolate, cookie, recipe

Servings: 2 dozen

Author: Barbara Schieving

Ingredients

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup sugar
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter
⅔ cup cocoa powder not Dutch process
2 eggs
1 teaspoon chocolate extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup dried tart cherries 1.5 ounces
½ granulated sugar
½ to 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
Melt butter in a second small bowl in a microwave or a small saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa to melted butter, whisking until smooth. Stir in the eggs, chocolate and vanilla extracts, fully blending in each one before adding the next.
Stir chocolate mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Fold chocolate chips and cherries into the dough until evenly distributed.
Shape into generous 2 inch balls using a cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon measure. Roll balls in granulated sugar, then roll balls in powdered sugar (use lots of powdered sugar).
Place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until cookies are cracked, yet still soft, do not overbake. (The look a bit uncooked even when they're done.) Let cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

Here are my 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies all boxed up and ready to give away.

Thanks for baking/following along with me. I wish I could send one of these boxes out to all of my amazing readers. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

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About Melissa & Barbara

As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

Lee
December 07, 2023 at 3:52 pm

Could I use cut up glazed cherries in place of the dried ones?
See Also
Larabars Recipe (10 Flavors!) - The Big Man's World ®
Reply
Sarah Schulner
December 19, 2022 at 6:00 pm

can i make these without the dried cherries?
Reply
- Melissa Griffiths
  December 30, 2022 at 1:11 pm
  
  Yep and you can always sub something else like dried cranberries if you’d like.
  Reply
LInda T MacGregor
December 14, 2021 at 8:02 am

I made this recipe this past weekend and my batter was really dry. I don’t know if I did something wrong.
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 14, 2021 at 8:42 am
  
  Hi Linda – often how you measure your flour makes a big difference. Here’s a post about it https://www.barbarabakes.com/how-to-measure-flour/
  Reply
Lisha
December 14, 2018 at 1:51 pm

Just wondering if you can refrigerate the dough before using? I have a cookie making day on Sunday and was hoping to prep the dough a few days early but wasn’t sure if it would impact the crinkle if I do not bake them right away?
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 14, 2018 at 2:38 pm
  
  Hi Lisha – I haven’t tried it, but you should be fine to make the dough a few days ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. I don’t think it will impact the crinkle at all. Let me know how it goes. Happy holidays!
  Reply
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
December 13, 2016 at 8:45 pm

I must send this recipe to a Black Forest obsessed friend of mine. She’d love them. I also just bought some dried Bing cherries! 😀
Reply
Brenda
December 14, 2015 at 6:44 pm

Made these today and turned out terrific. I found that the dough was sticky when rolling so I found it easier to roll 12 cookies, each time placing in the granular sugar, then once all sitting in the granular sugar coat and then move over to the powdered sugar. I only needed to cook for 12 minutes. They are now in the freezer ready for next week.
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  December 15, 2015 at 9:42 pm
  
  Hi Brenda. Thanks for sharing your tip. Glad you enjoyed the cookies.
  Reply
Lindsay
April 26, 2013 at 6:47 am

I am thinking of making these for an event in the future. Does anyone know if these freeze well?? They sound delicious!
Reply
- Barbara Schieving
  April 29, 2013 at 4:15 pm
  
  Hi Lindsay – I’m sorry I don’t have any experience freezing these. My guess is they would freeze just fine.
  Reply
cindy harris
December 28, 2010 at 3:30 pm

Black Forest is my favorite flavor combo. They look delish!
Reply
Anne
December 23, 2010 at 11:08 pm

Oh my goodness! I can practically inhale these – because I love a combo crunchy-soft cookie. Can’t wait to try them! What a great assortment you have here.
Reply
- Jane
  December 15, 2022 at 9:49 am
  
  The above recipe doesn’t have enough liquid. I added three tablespoons of hot water. Two wasn’t enough, but three was slightly too much. Little harder to work with.
  Taste was exceptional!
  Reply
  - Melissa Griffiths
    January 17, 2023 at 3:09 pm
    
    I assume you just measured you flour a little more heavily than I did, glad you could get them to work out.
    Reply

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Black Forest Crinkle Cookie Recipe | Barbara Bakes (2024)

FAQs

Why are my crinkle cookies not crinkling? ›

Why are my crinkle cookies not crinkling? If the dough is too wet, then it will dissolve the sugar and the crinkle will get lost. In order for a defined crinkle to form, the surface of the dough needs to be dry. If your cookies are not crinkling then there is too much free water in the dough.

Find Out More ›

Why didn't my crinkle cookies crack? ›

Why didn't my chocolate crinkle cookies crack? The most common reason for cookies that don't crack is either that the oven was not hot enough or the baking powder was expired.

Learn More Now ›

Why are my crinkle cookies spreading too much? ›

Why did my cookies spread so much? One of the most common causes of cookie spread is that the fat is too warm. Make sure to chill your dough thoroughly if the recipe calls for it. If you're forming dough balls and the dough is too sticky to work with, this is a sign that your dough may be too warm.

Keep Reading ›

Why are my crinkle cookies hard? ›

Most cookies are soft and flexible, so the dough evenly expands as the cookies bake. In crinkle cookies, however, the powdered sugar dries out in the oven, creating a hard outer shell that is not flexible.

Read On ›

How do I make my cookies chewy instead of crunchy? ›

How To Make Cookies Chewy Without Cornstarch

Go heavy on brown sugar. It has more moisture than its granulated counterpart, which means the cookie comes out less crispy. ...
Choose margarine or shortening instead of butter. ...
Use baking powder instead of baking soda. ...
Rest your dough. ...
Shorten baking time.

May 14, 2023

Know More ›

How do you make cookies soft instead of crunchy? ›

Slightly underbaking cookies with brown sugar in them makes them softer as well. Just make sure to store brown sugar in an airtight environment so it doesn't dry out. Flour plays its part by contributing protein. The lower the protein, the softer your cookies will be.

Why are my crinkles not spreading? ›

This is down to the ratio of ingredients in the dough, mainly. There is a high proportion of dry ingredients (i.e. flour, cocoa powder, ground almonds) to liquid ingredients (eggs, butter). This results in a drier dough which stops the cookies from spreading when baked.

Learn More ›

Can you fix crunchy cookies? ›

How to Soften Cookies in the Microwave: Place the stale cookies on a microwave-safe plate and cover them with a damp paper towel. Microwave them in short bursts of 10-15 seconds until they become soft. Be careful not to overdo it, as the cookies can become too soft or lose their texture.

Read On ›

What makes cookie dough crack? ›

There are many reasons why your cookie dough may be crumbly. The most obvious culprit: not enough liquid to keep the dough together. Double check all liquid ingredients.

How to know if crinkles are done? ›

How do you know when chocolate crinkle cookies are done? Look for the crackly top! You want to bake the cookies until they've cracked on top and the edges look set, but the center is still soft.

View Details ›

What does cream of tartar do in baking? ›

Cream of tartar stabilizes the tiny bubbles in the egg whites, by precluding the egg proteins from sticking together. It thus speeds up the egg white whipping process and contributes to a stable, billowy, glossy meringue, perfect for cookies, topping pies, and folding into cake.

What can cause a cookie to be too crisp or too soft? ›

The ingredients you use and how you shape your cookies both play an important role in whether your cookies turn out crispy or chewy. The type of flour and sugar you use, if your cookie dough contains eggs, and whether you use melted or softened butter all factor into the crispy-chewy equation, too.