Hot Chocolate Crinkle Cookies | Vegan + Gluten Free

These vegan and gluten-free Hot Chocolate Crinkle Cookies will blow your mind. Not only are these cookies chewy, rich, and deeply chocolatey, but they’re also made with simple and minimal ingredients, and almost zero prep work. The fact that these cookies spread perfectly and contain no flour and no egg will have you shocked but so satisfied!

These chocolate crinkle cookies are so cacao-filled that they taste like biting into a cup of hot chocolate (thus the name, of course) and they don’t include any flour or any kind of flour replacement. When you boil it down, these cookies are mostly almond butter, sugar, oil and flax egg, making them super easy to combine and easy to bake.

The rest of the blog post details how to make them, but you can also skip to the recipe using the “Jump to Recipe” button below the title!

Ingredients for these vegan and gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookies

The ingredients are listed by grams and cups, but I always recommend going by weight if you can. Here is everything you need for this chocolate crinkle cookie recipe:

• 8 grams ground flax seeds (1 tablespoon)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 180 grams almond butter (3/4 cup)
• 112 grams coconut sugar (3/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil like sunflower, avocado or canola
• 25 grams cacao powder (1/3 cup)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar, for the crinkle top

What makes these chocolate crinkle cookies crinkle?

Coating any cookie in sugar will lead to a crinkled top. This is because the sugar dries out the exterior of the dough, while the interior retains its moisture, causing the cookie to expand and then crack.

Crinkle cookies are known for their cracked tops due to their powdered sugar coating, but these tops can also be achieved with granulated sugar (think Snickerdoodles) or cocoa powder.

The only case of cracked top cookies without a sugar coating is for cookies that don’t contain egg or flax egg, and this is due to structural differences. You can get a cracked top chocolate chip cookie by using my trademark cookie recipe here!

How to make this vegan and gluten-free chocolate crinkle cookie recipe

These crinkle cookies are so easy to make. This is the perfect recipe to have on hand when you want a quick and easy dessert for yourself or your company! Here’s the step-by-step:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• First, whisk together the flax meal and water to create a flax egg. Set this to the side to let it thicken.
• In a large bowl, add together the almond butter, coconut sugar, neutral oil, cacao powder, baking powder, vanilla extract and salt. Add in the flax egg when it has thickened. Mix very well to make sure that all the ingredients are equally combined.
• Roll the cookie dough into 8 equal-sized balls and generously toss each one in the powdered sugar. You want them to be heavily coated so that the sugar doesn’t disappear into the dough!
• Place the cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and press down the tops slightly, this will help them spread evenly. Add more powdered sugar on top before baking.
• Bake at 350°F for 14-16 minutes, or until they have spread and cracked.
• Let cool on baking sheet and serve whenever!

Looking for other holiday cookie recipes?

Here’s the whole round-up for 2021!

And that’s everything for these Hot Chocolate Crinkle Cookies!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories, and I’m so excited to see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you!