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Growing up, Chocolate Crinkles were a favorite in our house– the rich, chocolate cookies that are smothered in powdered sugar.
Naturally, I needed to try making a grain-free version this year. If you ask me, the main requirement for Chocolate Crinkles is that they are chewy and chocolate-y, almost like a brownie. They also tend to be drenched in powdered sugar!
Sadly, I have yet to find a suitable substitute for refined powdered sugar. Coconut sugar can be ground in the Vitamix to create a “powdered sugar,” but the flavor is rather strong and it doesn’t seem to work in the same way that traditional powdered sugar does. Trust me, I’ve tried!
Luckily, these double-chocolate cookies don’t need a coating of powdered sugar to be delicious. They are rich in chocolate flavor, and have the brownie-like texture my family loves. I hope you and your family enjoy them, too!
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Double Chocolate Cookies (Grain-Free)
makes 2 dozen
Adapted from Elana’s Brownies
Ingredients:
1 cup creamy almond butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a Silpat. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix until a smooth and sticky batter is formed. Drop the batter by tablespoons onto the lined baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.
(If you’d like, you can add the chocolate chips on the top of each cookie, rather than mixing them into the batter. They look a little more decorative that way!)
Bake for 8-9 minutes at 350F, or until firm.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the pan, before removing to cool completely.
Serve warm, or at room temperature, with an ice-cold glass of homemade almond milk!
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy almond butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a Silpat. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, and mix until a smooth and sticky batter is formed.
- Drop the batter by tablespoons onto the lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. (If you'd like, you can add the chocolate chips on the top of each cookie, rather than mixing them into the batter. They look a little more decorative that way!)
- Bake for 8-9 minutes at 350F, or until firm.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the pan, before removing to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Calories per cookie: 113, Fat: 7g, Carbohydrates: 10g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 3g
Notes:
- When shopping for dark chocolate chips, look for chips with 60-70% cocoa content, to avoid too many additives. I like the 70% dark chocolate chunks from Whole Foods, but when those aren’t available, I’ll use the Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips. Sunspire also offers fair-trade and organic 65% chocolate chips that are fantastic.
- Use raw almond butter, rather than roasted, for best flavor.
- For vegans, a flax egg will probably work as a substitute for the egg, and try using maple syrup as a replacement for the honey.
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Reader Feedback: Are you a fan of Chocolate Crinkles? Any ideas on a good substitute for powdered sugar?
I added chopped walnuts to these and they were even better. Love, love love this cookie!!
These are seriously a gold mine find for me. I am following the LEAP program and can’t have wheat – these are my #1 treat and I am just so grateful to you for having LEAP friendly recipes, I have shared them in my own blog! These are super super yummy!
I am going to add these to my list of Christmas cookies this year! I was also going to recommend trying guittard chocolate. My dad works for them so I grew up eating that chocolate! It is the absolute best! I promise you will love it! They also have a new EGuittard line that has higher dark chocolate percentages. You can find it at Williams Sonoma!
Hey, I did it and it worked! (Left you a comment on the Raspberry choc chip muffin page).
Megan, just curious….could you use peppermint extract to make it holiday-ish? If so, how much do you think?
I’ve had varied experiences with peppermint extracts, so I think it depends on the brand. I’d start off with maybe a 1/4 teaspoon and taste as you go? It’s pretty strong, so you don’t want to overdo it!
Please come back and leave a comment if you have any success!
Megan, I have a question about some of your recipes (which are becoming fast growing all-time staples in our home! thank you!!!)If I do not have access to almond flour, can I usually substitute whole wheat flour straight across? We are not gluten free (like for 1 cup almond flour, could I just sub 1 cup whole wheat flour?. Thanks again for your wonderful work, you have made healthy eating so much easier for us!
Hi Leanne! Unfortunately, you can NOT sub wheat flour for almond flour 1:1. They have very different results. I have heard that you can sub for the weight, though. One cup of almond flour typically weighs 4 ounces, so you could try measuring 4 ounces of wheat flour as a substitute.
I haven’t tried this myself, so you will definitely be acting as a guinea pig! But, if you try it, please let us know how it works out for you. 🙂
Made these last night and they were SO good! I cant stop eating them! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
I just made these. These are my husband’s favorite store bought cookies.
Unfortunately I had to make some alterations:
1) I didn’t have almond butter so I used peanut butter. I probably had about 1/4 cup so I added 1 stick of butter.
2) I then added almond flour (my own) but only had 1/2 cup. So I added 2 T of whole wheat flour. (I am wheat free but my kids are not 100% yet).
3) I used 1/2 c of sugar instead of honey.
They turned out beautiful and so yummy!!! It was a success. Next time I will have enough almond flour to make them without any wheat.
thanks so much. 🙂
Ps I have sent so many people to your blog. And I feature you in my Learning Log too. http://creatingtreasures.blogspot.com/2012/12/learnig-log-of-november-2012.html
A tip I learned for the powdered “sugar” is to grind xylitol in a coffee grinder. Xylitol is my favorite sugar-free sweetener. It does not have a bitter aftertaste like stevia/truvia, and it does not have that “artificial” taste like splenda/sucralose can have. Xylitol is all-natural and not an artificial product, but has 40% less calories than sugar. It is digested in the small intestine instead of the stomach, so it causes only a miniscule rise in blood sugar levels. I order a 5lb. bag of xylitol online and add about 1/4c at a time to my coffee grinder. This results in the fluffiest clouds of powdered “sugar” you could ever want. You could do this with any granulated sweetener however, and grind it in a food processor or blender if your machine is powerful enough.
Thanks for the tip! I don’t keep Xylitol in my house because it is so poisonous for dogs (I’m imagining how powdered sugar gets EVERYWHERE!), but I’m sure it will be helpful for many dog-free families. I bet it does get nice and fluffy!
You’re absolutely right–you wouldn’t want to risk it if there are dogs in the home. I’m betting this would work with granulated stevia or Truvia as well.
Can’t wait to try these cookies!
Hi!
Xylitol is also my favorite sweetener. It is an anti-fungal, so is very good for yeast sufferers.
I have purchased it in powdered form. I never thought of making it myself. Would definitely be cheaper! Do you think the Vitamix would do the same job? Thanks for the tip!
I’m betting a vitamix would work swell! You could try it out and let us know how it turns out. 🙂
These look awesome – I’ll have to try them; chocolate crinkles are my hubby’s favorite 🙂 Oh and have you tried CCK’s sugar-free powdered sugar? I have yet to do so myself, but it looks pretty good and easy to make!
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/22/sugar-free-powdered-sugar/