Just like chocolate crinkle cookies, but with the added flavor of real raspberries, these chocolate raspberry crinkles are soft-baked and chewy, deeply rich and fudgy, and coated in a raspberry-confectioners’ sugar topping that melts in your mouth. You need raspberry preserves and freeze-dried raspberries for these cookies.
Chocolate crinkle cookies are honestly one of my very favorite cookies to make around the holidays, and I love coming up with new ways to make them. A couple years ago I developed these flavorful lemon crinkle cookies; and last year, I fell in love with these Nutella crinkle cookies, which have the added texture of chopped hazelnuts and a soft Nutella filling. Yum!
For today’s crinkle cookie recipe, I wanted to give the original chocolate version a fruity twist. My entire team and I absolutely LOVE how these turned out. I think I might have a new favorite crinkle cookie recipe!
Recipe Snapshot
- Texture: Rich, soft, and very chewy… and they stay that way for days!
- Flavor: The always-amazing combination of dark chocolate and sweet-tart juicy raspberries that we love in a chocolate raspberry cake, but in a powdered sugar-coated cookie. Expect real raspberry flavor inside and out—no artificial raspberry flavoring here.
- Ease: These chocolate raspberry crinkles are a beginner baking recipe.
- Time: About 3 and 1/2 to 4 hours, but that includes the hands-off 3 hours of dough chilling time.
Ingredients You Need for Chocolate Raspberry Crinkles:
- Butter: Remember that room-temperature butter is not as warm as you think. Let it sit out for only 1 hour before starting. It will feel cool to the touch.
- Oil: To my regular crinkle cookies recipe, I added more flour, to make up for the addition of raspberry jam. Because of the addition of flour, they needed more fat. So, I added a touch of oil to keep the centers moist and fudge-like.
- Sugars: Brown sugar adds softness, and white sugar helps the cookies spread in the oven. I usually use a combination of the two in cookie recipes.
- Egg: To bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla Extract: Yes, even the chocolatiest of cookies benefit from a flavor boost of vanilla! If you crave even more raspberry flavor, try replacing the vanilla with raspberry liqueur, such as Chambord.
- Flour: The base of the cookies.
- Cocoa Powder: Make sure you use natural cocoa powder here, not Dutch-processed. If you’re interested in learning why, read this post on Dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder.
- Baking Soda: This leavener helps the cookies puff up when baking, then fall and crackle as they cool.
- Salt: The always-important flavor balancer. Regular table salt is all you need.
- Raspberry Preserves/Jam: I use the Bonne Maman brand of raspberry preserves, but you can use any raspberry preserves or jam that you can find. Preserves generally have larger chunks of fruit, while the fruit in jams is more finely mashed; but in the case of soft, delicate raspberries that break down easily, there probably isn’t a noticeable difference between preserves and jam.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: For rolling the cookie dough balls in before baking, to give them that snowy crinkle-topped exterior that gives crinkle cookies their name.
- Freeze-Dried Raspberries: Blitz into a fine powder, like we do for these raspberry sugar cookies, and mix with the confectioners’ sugar for coating the cookies. This gives these cookies real raspberry flavor inside and out!
What Are Freeze-Dried Raspberries?
We love using freeze-dried berries in frostings. Have you tried this strawberry buttercream before? When you grind freeze-dried berries into a powder, you can easily use it in frosting; or, in the case of this chocolate raspberry crinkle cookie recipe, mix it with confectioners’ sugar to coat the cookies. Freeze-dried berry powder or “dust” is perfect because it’s not wet and, therefore, doesn’t mess with the consistency of frosting. Real berry flavor without compromising texture.
Where to buy freeze-dried raspberries: I find them in my regular grocery store in the dried fruit aisle, and Trader Joe’s and Target usually have them, too. You can also purchase them online and here is a brand we’ve used before. (They are much cheaper in stores if you can find them!)
Can I do this with regular dried fruit? No, do not use chewy/gummy dried fruit. You need freeze-dried raspberries, which are raspberries with all of the moisture removed—that way they can grind into a powder.
The dough comes together easily with a stand or hand mixer.
Success Tips for Chocolate Raspberry Crinkle Cookies
Chill the dough. This is a must for this thick, sticky dough. Chilled cookie dough is not only easier to handle and roll into balls, it also bakes thicker cookies. 3 hours is the minimum, but it can also hang out in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, so you can start these cookies one day and finish them another.
Shaping the cookies: If the dough has chilled for longer than 3 hours, let it sit out at room temperature for 30 minutes to make it easier to scoop. Scoop the dough (about 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons/35g in size—a medium cookie scoop is just right for this) and roll it into a ball.
Raspberry-sugar coating: In a food processor or blender, grind the freeze-dried raspberries into a powder. Raspberries have teeny-tiny seeds, and you can either leave the seeds in if you don’t mind them, or sift the powder through a fine-mesh sieve, and discard the seeds. That’s what I did for the pictured cookies. Mix the raspberry powder with confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl, and roll each cookie dough ball generously in the coating.
Coating disappearing into the chocolate raspberry crinkle cookies? Try this: Try not to let excess confectioners’ sugar fall off as you place the cookies on the baking sheets. If the coating melts too much, you can use a sieve to sift a little more confectioners’ sugar on top once the cookies have cooled. It’s also helpful to bake these cookies on dry days. Any humidity in the air will soak into the confectioners’ sugar, slightly melting it. Sometimes you can’t avoid humidity, but if you’re wondering why the sugar melts more on one day than the last time you made these, it could be the weather. Again, go heavy on that roll in the raspberry powder-confectioners’ sugar coating. We want the coating to melt in our mouths, not in the oven!
If you have extra raspberry powder, sprinkle a little on top of the warm cookies as they’re cooling. Nature’s perfect pink sprinkles!
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
And here’s my video tutorial & guide for how to freeze cookie dough.
Chocolate Raspberry Crinkle Cookies
Prep Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
Yield: 24-26 cookies
Category: Cookies
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American
Description
Just like chocolate crinkle cookies, but with the added flavor of real raspberries, these chocolate raspberry crinkle cookies are soft-baked and chewy, deeply rich and fudgy, and coated in a raspberry-confectioners’ sugar topping that melts in your mouth.
Instructions
- Make the cookie dough: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 2–3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together until combined. Pour into the wet ingredients, and add the raspberry preserves. Beat everything on low speed until combined. The cookie dough will be thick and very sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Make the topping: In a dry food processor or blender, grind the freeze-dried raspberries into a fine powder. Sift through a fine-mesh sieve to separate out the seeds. Discard the seeds and place the raspberry powder into a small bowl. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix together.
- Scoop and roll dough into balls, about 1.5 Tablespoons (35g) of dough each. A medium cookie scoop is helpful here. Roll each ball very generously in the raspberry-sugar topping. Place 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 12–14 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. If they still look pretty puffy, don’t worry, the cookies deflate a bit as they cool.
- Cool cookies for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. If you have extra raspberry powder, sprinkle or sift a pinch on top of the warm cookies.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Unbaked filled and shaped cookie dough balls (that are not coated in sugars) freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw for 30 minutes, and then proceed with step 7. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for more information and a video tutorial. Baked and cooled cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Food Processor or Blender | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack | Fine Mesh Sieve
- Raspberry Preserves/Jam: I use the Bonne Maman brand of raspberry preserves, but you can use any raspberry preserves or jam that you can find. Preserves generally have larger chunks of fruit, while the fruit in jams is more finely mashed; but in the case of soft, delicate raspberries that break down easily, there probably isn’t a noticeable difference between preserves and jam.
- Where to Buy Freeze-Dried Raspberries: I find them in my regular grocery store in the dried fruit aisle, and Trader Joe’s and Target usually have them, too. You can also purchase them online and here is a brand we’ve used before. (They are much cheaper in stores if you can find them!) Do not use chewy/gummy dried fruit. You need freeze-dried raspberries, which are raspberries with all of the moisture removed—that way they can grind into a powder.
- Can I Use Strawberry Jam/Preserves and Freeze-Dried Strawberries Instead? Yes, absolutely!
- Topping Melting Into Cookies: Be sure to coat the dough balls heavily in the topping. If it melts too much, use a sieve to sift a little more raspberry-confectioners’ sugar on top once the cookies have cooled.
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