Hello December! Welcoming Christmas cookie season with open arms and these Mocha Midnight Crackles are those crinkly treats with a brownie-like texture that are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. They're super easy and the dough can be made ahead to just bake them off when ready!
Remember to PIN THIS to save the recipe for later!
What You'll Need
If you've been following the blog for a bit, you know I'm a huge mocha fan. Subtle hints of coffee flavor enriches dark chocolate in the finest way. Plus you're getting a double dose of chocolate with a full ten ounces of Ghirardelli Bittersweet along with cocoa powder. Let's just say all of the dough didn't quite become a cookie.
The goal of these crackled cookies is to, well, be crackled. And the cracks show up better when these shiny little balls are coated in sugar.
Not just one sugar, but two. Roll in granulated first, powdered second, and let the crackling commence. In full disclosure, however, this is optional if you prefer to skip the coating session. You won't hurt my feelings.
Keys to Successful Mocha Midnight Crackles
Do NOT overbake! Underdone is better. Trust me. Still looking raw in the center with cracked edges is perfect.
Rotate the baking sheets! I know this sounds annoying but oven temperature varies in different locations of the oven (front vs. back, high vs. low).
Let cookies rest on baking sheets for just 2 minutes! Transfer to cooling racks rather quickly to avoid prolonged carry-over baking.
Next, enjoy the taste-testing! Hope these Mocha Midnight Crackles make it on to your baking list; you won't be disappointed!
More Festive Dessert Recipes to Try!
Orange French Macarons w/ Chocolate Raspberry Buttercream
Raspberry Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars
Soft Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Before you go, stay in touch on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook, and subscribe above to join our email community for all the latest updates!
📋 Recipe
Mocha Midnight Crackles
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 2T), cubed
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
- 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate , chopped
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar , for rolling
- ½ cup powdered sugar , for rolling
Instructions
- Place the butter, brown sugar, and chocolate in that order in a medium saucepan. Over low heat, warm the ingredients until melted and smooth, stirring frequently. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, cinnamon and cloves together into a medium bowl.
- Insert paddle attachment into stand mixer. On low speed, add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract.
- Add dry ingredients in 4 additions. Mix just until combined and the dough is smooth and shiny. The sides of the bowl will be clean and the dough will form a ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Divide in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap.
- The dough will be slightly warm at this point. Let cool to room temperature before continuing or refrigerate up to 3 days. Let the dough come back to room temperature before rolling into cookies.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking liners.
- Working with a tablespoon of dough at a time, roll the dough between your palms to form a shiny ball about 1 ¼-inches in diameter.
- Roll each ball in the granulated sugar to coat then the powdered sugar. Place the balls about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies 10-12 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through.
- The cookies should be slightly firm around the edges and soft and crackled on the top. It’s better to under-bake than overbake!
- Remove baking sheets from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet 2 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with any remaining dough, and let the baking sheets cool between batches.
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days. Or, they can be frozen up to 2 months. Enjoy!
Nutrition
This page contains affiliate links. Meaning, whenever you purchase an item after clicking an Amazon link through this website, we receive a small percentage from Amazon. It doesn’t cost anything extra to you! It simply helps maintain the blog. Thanks so much!
Ben | Havocinthekitchen says
Chocolate and coffee is one of the most delicious and elegant flavour combinations. And when the chocolate-coffee cookies get to be with a brownies-like interior and awesome cracked exterior, I mean what could possibly be better? Perfection!
nicole (thespicetrain.com) says
Kim, you had me at mocha. These cookies sound and look divine!