These fudgy crinkles are easy to make, intense but sweet, and have almond flour for texture. The dough can be kept for three days in the refrigerator before baking. If you like the excellent flavor combination of chocolate and mint, these cookies need to be in your recipe file!
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Fudgy and minty
These are the prettiest cookies to ever come out of my oven.
Dramatically white with dark chocolate cracks running through them. The colors and flavors remind me of my favorite peppermint brownies and these simple but stunning chocolate peppermint cookies.
It's one of my favorite Christmas cookies that I bake yearly.
The recipe is from baker extraordinaire Nancy Silverton and is inspired by a similar Girl Scout cookie that should bring nostalgic memories to many.
Had this not been a trusted baker's recipe, I would've turned the page fast after reading the ingredients. Trust me, everything in this recipe works.
I know you'll probably cringe at the sight of creme de menthe, with its unappealing emerald green color, but keep on, and you won't regret it a bit.
- Outstanding flavor: it has the perfect balance between dark chocolate and mint. If you love this combination, you have to try them!
- Amazing texture: almond flour adds texture, but you don't feel or taste it as a defined flavor.
- Keep well: the chocolate cookie dough and the baked cookies keep well, wrapped or in an airtight container for several days. So you can make them ahead.
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed in the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Chocolate: Use your favorite dark semisweet chocolate.
- Mint extract: We use peppermint for the best mint flavor.
- Creme de menthe: there are two types, with and without alcohol. Use mint liqueur that mostly evaporates during baking (my choice) or creme de menthe syrup without alcohol content, which makes sweeter cookies.
- Almond flour: You can buy it or make your own by finely grinding whole almonds.
- Powdered sugar: there is no alternative or substitution for it. Also called confectioners' sugar or icing sugar.
It's a simple process, and the dough needs to be refrigerated for several hours until firm enough to make truffles that can be rolled in sugar.
- Beat eggs and sugar for several minutes until mousse-like (called ribbon stage or pate à bombe in French).
- Add melted chocolate with mint syrup and extract. Mix with a whisk.
- Add dry ingredients (flour and ground almonds) and whisk until combined.
- The final batter is quite fluid with texture from the almonds. It needs to be refrigerated for several hours, well covered.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept in the fridge. It takes several hours to firm up, so I recommend making it the day before.
Coating steps
This is the fun part with crackle cookies.
It's a hands-on affair. The dough is shaped into truffle-like rounds and then coated with regular and powdered sugar.
Two coatings: the first (with granulated sugar) prevents the second (with powdered sugar) from being absorbed by the dough during baking, creating a dramatic contrast of colors and an extra layer of sweetness.
The crinkles or crackles might be different every time you bake these cookies.
Sometimes, they remain fiercely white; other times, the white part is less bright, less contrasting.
- Place powdered sugar cookie balls with space between them so they can grow.
- When you remove them, they should be slightly soft in the center to ensure fudgy cookies.
Kitchen Notes
- Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend tracking how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Make ahead: the cookie dough is more of a thick batter and needs hours of refrigeration to firm up enough to make truffles. This will take several hours, so I make it the day before or up to three days ahead.
- Flavor variation: Change the liqueur, and you change the flavor of the cookies. Use rum, orange liqueur, amaretto (almond), Frangelico (hazelnut), or Kahlua (coffee)
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Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted (see Notes below for how-to)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons crème de menthe, mint liqueur or syrup, see Notes below
- ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 1 cup almond meal, ground almonds
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
For coating:
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Melt 12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate with 4 tablespoons unsalted butter. See Notes below for how-to.
- Pour 6 tablespoons crème de menthe in a small bowl and add ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract. Reserve.
- Stir 1 cup almond meall, ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and ¾ teaspoon baking powder in a medium bowl.
- Beat 3 eggs and ½ cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is thick, mousse-like, pale, and forms ribbons when the beater is lifted, from 3-5 minutes.
- Mix the peppermint mix into the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Whisk the chocolate into the egg mixture until combined. Whisk in the flour mixture and combine well. The batter will be somewhat runny.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until firm enough to make truffles, at least 4 hours. I make it a day ahead.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Scoop portions of dough, roll them into balls with your hands and place them on a greased baking sheet. Your hands will get messy. Use a small cookie scoop, so the cookies are the same size. Chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
- To coat the cookies, place ½ cup sugar in a small bowl and ¾ cup powdered sugar in another bowl.
- Remove cookies from the refrigerator and roll one at a time in the bowl of granulated sugar to lightly coat. Repeat with the remaining cookie balls, coating them heavily with powdered sugar. They must be completely white.
- Place on parchment paper or Silpat-lined cookie sheets.
- Bake for about 15 minutes until they crackle, the top is dry but the center is still slightly soft. Allow them to cool completely on wire racks.
- Store leftovers in tin or cookie jars, being careful how you stack them so you don't lose the powdered sugar coating.
Notes
Microwave: melt the ingredients on high for 10 seconds, take out and mix well. Repeat until all the chocolate is melted. Be careful you don't scorch it. That's why it's important to mix it well between each heating.
Stovetop: put the bowl with chocolate and butter over a smaller pan with a few inches of water. Over medium heat, let the chocolate and butter melt, stirring occasionally. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water and that no water gets into the bowl. If the water boils too much before the chocolate is melted, turn the heat off and let the hot vapor melt the remaining chocolate.
Adapted from Desserts, by Nancy Silverton
Pat Dailey says
Question about the infusion of mint leaves and creme de menthe: is the mint strained out or added to the dough? Thank you.
Paula Montenegro says
Yes Pat, you have to strain it! I added it to the recipe. Thanks for the heads-up!
Baker Street says
Chocolate and mint is such a fantastic! Love the crinkle effect. Look absolutely gorgeous. 🙂