Chocolate Cayenne Crinkles
It’s Christmas cookie time! Every year I make at least one type of Christmas cookie. It’s a fun tradition and they make an easy, super inexpensive gift (who doesn’t like cookies?!). This year I made these awesome Chocolate Cayenne Crinkles that have all the spicy cocoa flavor of my favorite Aztec Cocoa in a light, chewy cookie.
I saw these Flourless Chocolate Cookies on Cooking Classy and immediately wanted to make them. There are only a few simple ingredients and they looked a lot like the delicate and delicious shell of a macaron. I love how the exterior of a macaron is shiny and thin, but the inside is kind of dense and chewy. That’s exactly how this entire cookie is. YUM!
I wanted to put my own spin on the Flourless Chocolate Cookie, so I decided to add some cayenne pepper. Cayenne and cocoa is an age old duo and one that I can’t get enough of. You can leave the cayenne out and do a plain chocolate cookie, if you desire, or try replacing some of the vanilla extract with peppermint extract for a sort of mint hot cocoa effect. You could even top them with crushed candy canes. Fun, right?
YAY, Christmas cookies!
Chocolate Cayenne Crinkles
Chocolate Cayenne Crinkles
Ingredients
- 3 cups powdered sugar ($0.54)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder ($0.48)
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.04)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.05)
- 2 large egg whites ($0.42)
- 1 large whole egg ($0.21)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.28)
- 1 cup chocolate chips ($0.91)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, salt, and cayenne pepper until evenly combined.
- Add the egg whites, whole egg, and vanilla extract to the powdered sugar mixture. Carefully stir the mixture until all of the powdered sugar has dissolved into the eggs and a very thick batter forms. It may seem like there is not enough moisture to stir in all the powdered sugar, but keep stirring and it will eventually melt in. The mixture will be very thick and stiff, so use a strong spoon. Add the chocolate chips and stir until incorporated.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the batter, one heaping tablespoon at a time, onto the baking sheets. Be sure to leave a couple inches between each cookie because they will spread. (I suggest ten cookies per sheet.)
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 14 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and cracked over the surface. Allow the cookies to cool before removing from the parchment.
Notes
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a LARGE bowl, combine 3 cups powdered sugar, 3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. If you’re scared of the spiciness, start with 1/4 tsp cayenne. Make sure the dry ingredients are very well mixed. Hint: use a bowl with steep sides, or you’ll get powdered sugar everywhere.
Add two large egg whites, one whole egg, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Begin to carefully stir these into the powdered sugar mixture. You can use a whisk at first, but it will soon get too thick and you’ll need to switch to a spoon.
As you stir the eggs and vanilla into the powdered sugar it will seem like there’s not enough moisture to make it work (I went back and checked the recipe THREE times to make sure…), but just keep stirring and eventually all of the powdered sugar will melt into it. The batter becomes very thick and stiff.
Stir in one cup of chocolate chips. I happened to have some leftover mini-chocolate chips, so I used those.
Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop the batter onto the sheets in heaping tablespoons, about ten per sheet. Leave a couple inches between each cookie for them to spread while baking.
Bake one sheet at a time for 14 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed up and cracked along the top (they deflate upon cooling). Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the parchment.
Enjoy the warm chocolatey goodness and the sassy kick of cayenne!
Hi Beth,
You may no longer be checking the comments on this (amazing) recipe, but just in case: I’m planning to make these for a group that includes someone who’s vegan. Do you or other commenters have any tips for replacing the eggs in this recipe? I’ve never used vegan egg replacers and am especially wondering about yolk vs whites. Thank you!! And thanks for this recipe – have made it many times and always to rave reviews!
Hi Rebecca! We’re always checking reader input! As for a vegan egg substitute there are a lot of options, I would suggest the flax seed route. To substitute, blend 1 tablespoon of flax or chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water until the mixture is thick and creamy for each egg. This is a great post on other swaps you can make with what you have on hand in your pantry.
So I used regular large eggs (not x-large) and the batter was so thin that it was pretty much liquid. I tried it anyways and the way it baked was hilariously terrible and like one giant pancake cookies. I even refrigerated the dough and 20 minutes to see if it would stiffen up but it never did. Any reason you could think that the batter was that thin? I mean, should I just cut down on the eggs?
Yeah, something isn’t right there. The batter should be so thick that it’s hard to stir. I would double check all your measurements and the measuring cups you used. It can be really easy to accidentally mis-measure something.
I’ve made these cookies twice now. The first time all I changed was adding cinnamon for a Mexican flare. The second time I divided the batch in quarters. One was just plain chocolate, no cayenne, no cinnamon. One I added crushed candy canes, One I added instant coffee and the final batch, which I haven’t seen anyone post, I substituted peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips. OMG!!! SO GOOD!!! As for the baking cocoa, if you have an Aldi’s near you, it’s pretty cheap there. A couple of bucks as I recall. :) Thanks for all of your great recipes, I use several each week. :)
Delicious! Beth LOVES Aldi!
I have family in Maryland where Old Bay gets added to everything… even chocolate. So, naturally, I subbed your cayenne for Old Bay and these turned out NEXT LEVEL. Did everything else the exact same except used 3/4tsp Old Bay and 60% cacao Ghiradelli chips. Can’t wait to experiment with these like some other commenters, especially with peppermint this time of year. Great recipe!
So interesting!! I really need to start experimenting with Old Bay Seasoning. I have to admit that I’ve never used it. 🙈
This is slowly becoming my favorite cookie recipe! I love how versatile it is. I definitely recommend following another comment’s advice to up the cayenne to 3/4 tsp and add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Peppermint extract is wonderful too, but my favorite add-ins have been espresso powder and cardamom. I also prefer using dark chocolate cocoa powder and chips for a really deep and rich chocolate flavor. No matter the flavor, these cookies get rave reviews wherever I take them! Thanks for another winner!
Thank you Lauren for sharing these cookies and your ideas for variation with me!!
Victoria
I make these every year for Christmas since I’ve found this post. They are AMAZING! I keep everything exactly how you wrote it out.
Can they be frozen?
Hmm, probably, although I’ve never tried it. They’re a little bit like merengues in texture and I know you can freeze merengue.
Any idea what volume of egg whites I can use if I already have a big cup of egg whites separated after using the yolks for another recipe?
I Googled it and it looks like most people say one large egg white = 2 Tbsp, so you’d want to use 1/4 cup egg white plus the whole egg for this. I haven’t tried this, though, so I can’t verify. ;)
Perfect way to use the egg whites left from two batches of “pumpkin spice snickerdoodles.” :) You say you don’t enjoy cooking desserts much but the recipes you do post must be pretty fool-proof because both came out looking exactly like the pictures! (I also LOVED the lemon berry cobbler.) I made them plain (no cayenne) this time but I can’t wait to try them with peppermint–my favorite! Thank you!
hi I tried this great recipe. The cookies came out tasting great but they came out very thin. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Did you use “large” sized eggs? It sounds like the moisture ratio may have been off, which can happen if extra-large eggs were used.
My first tray came out quite thin, too. When scooping out the dough for the second tray, it seemed to have thicken a bit since I mixed it, and the cookies came out a better thickness. Perhaps let your dough rest 5-10 minutes?
When letting the cookies cool did you leave the parchment paper on the cookie sheets or did you slide the parchment paper off the sheets (while cookies are still on parchment paper)?
You can do it either way, but they will cool faster if you slide the parchment off the baking sheet. Just be careful not to bend them because they’re pliable when still warm.
Oh my. How did I miss this post????