Hot Cocoa-Inspired Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Bakingcookiesis one of my favorite activities to do around the holidays. Tree trimming andgift wrapping? Nah. I'll gladly leave those activities up to the others. I look forward to spending most of my weekends in November and December with copious amounts of flour, sugar, and butter. It brings me so much joy to make and share cookies (especially these crinkle cookies) with all the people in my life.

Crinkle cookies are a classicholiday cookiethat is beloved by all my family and friends. And they're not shy about putting in their “orders" for these soft, chewy, chocolatey cookies each and every year! These are orders that I'm elated to fill, because crinkle cookies are super simple to make. Plus, they look impressive without the need for any fancy decorating skills, which also makes them a hot item as part of acookie exchange.

Making the hot cocoa crinkle cookies

These particular crinkle cookies have an extra special ingredient —candy cane cocoa mix— that I put directly into the cookie dough! Mmm...cookie dough. It's a very quick and simple swap out from the usual cocoa powder that the standard recipe calls for. It's like your favorite cookie and your favorite cup of hot cocoa joined forces to create one fabulous treat. Not a fan of peppermint? Feel free to use any kind of cocoa mix for this recipe.

The cookie dough comes together quickly, but it does need to be fully chilled before being rolled into balls and baked. The dough has a slightly tacky consistency and won't form and bake properly if it hasn't had time to chill. I recommend a minimum of four hours in your refrigerator (but longer or overnight is great too). I guess you can decorate the tree and wrap presents while you wait.

You want the cookie dough balls to be completely covered with the sugar before you place them in the oven. A generous coating of snowy sugar is how they achieve their iconic “crinkly" snow-capped look. So don't be shy with the sifter.