These gluten free chocolate cardamom crinkle cookies are rich, fudgy, and tender with aromatic cardamom and orange zest shining through in every bite. Rolled in powdered sugar for their signature crackly tops, these easy chocolate cookies require a couple of hours of chilling time and are especially lovely for holiday baking.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cardamom Crinkle Cookies that are Perfectly Fudgy and Crackly!
If I can be completely honest, chocolate flavored baked goods are never my first choice. I know, I know! My palate has always been super sensitive to bitter flavors so I’m picky about anything with chocolate. That being said, I could NOT STOP eating these chocolate cardamom crinkle cookies! The chocolate flavor is rich and balanced with beautiful cardamom and orange zest in supporting flavor roles. These gluten free crinkle cookies are definitely going to be my go-to for the holiday baking season!
The cookie dough itself isn’t super sweet because each cookie gets rolled in granulated sugar AND powdered sugar for that signature crackly top. These cookies are a little messy to eat because of the powedered sugar, but honestly, you won’t really care once you take the first bite into that delightfully fudgy texture. I think these crinkles would be great as part of a holiday dessert table and they can even work in a cookie box provided that they get their own little compartent so powdered sugar doesn’t go everywhere!
JUMP STRAIGHT TO:
- Key Ingredients for the Best Flavor and Texture
- Tips for Ensuring the Powdered Sugar Doesn’t Dissolve
- Why I Strongly Suggest Weighing the Flour and Cocoa Powder
- Making the Cookies from Start to Finish
- More Gluten Free Treats (that don’t suck!) for Holiday Baking
Key Ingredients for the Best Flavor and Texture
I developed this recipe using King Arthur’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure flour (not sponsored) because it yields incredibly accurate results every time and I love the taste/texture. Any gluten free measure for measure flour blend (like the Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 baking flour) should work great here.
I personally think Dutch process cocoa powder yields the best flavor in these cookies. It has a deep and rich flavor without the acidity that often accompanies natural/unsweetened cocoa powder. Since I don’t use cocoa powder often, I like to splurge on Guittard’s Cocoa Rouge (not sponsored). Since it has a reddish color, you’ll see that reflected in the photos!
The flavor of these cookies was heavily inspired by a latte I had a couple of weeks ago with a citrus cardamom syrup. Adding a little bit of orange zest along with the cardamom helps amplify the flavor and give these cookies a beautiful warmth that is so perfect for the holidays!
Tips for Ensuring the Powdered Sugar Doesn’t Dissolve
I did A LOT of research and testing for these to ensure that the powdered sugar doesn’t dissolve or start to look greasy or weird! Here’s how to avoid it:
- Use vegetable oil or any neutral-tasting oil like avocado. DO NOT use butter. Butter typically contains 16-17% water which turns to steam in the oven. This steam is what can cause the powdered sugar coating to start to dissolve. Vegetable oil has virtually no water in it so I highly recommend it here.
- Roll the balls of cookie dough in granulated sugar first before rolling them in the powdered sugar. This two-step process definitely helped the powdered sugar stick better and led to the perfect crackly outside texture.
Why I Strongly Suggest Weighing the Flour and Cocoa Powder
I’ve been recipe testing long enough that I know which ingredients are typically over-measured when using measuring cups instead of a scale and the biggest culprits are dry ingredients like flour blends and cocoa powder.
Even though I’ve provided both volume and weight measurements for the flour and cocoa powder in the recipe card below, I STRONGLY suggest weighing out both of those for the most accurate results. These gluten free crinkle cookies can quickly go from perfectly fudgy and moist to dry and cakey if too much flour is added. And, too much flour can prevent them from spreading as much which means little or no crinkling.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cardamom Crinkle Cookies from Start to Finish
In order to extract maximum flavor from the orange zest, you’ll rub it into the granulated sugar. It will smell divine! 30-60 seconds should do it. After that, all of the other wet ingredients can be mixed in. Sine we’re using oil instead of butter, the wet ingredients will look very wet which is exactly what we want.
Gluten free flours and cocoa powder have a tendency to be clumpy. We don’t want weird clumps so before the dry ingredients are added to the wet, take the extra minute or two to sift them. Once you do that, you can mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Don’t worry about overmixing since there’s no gluten in here! The cookie dough will look almost like a super thick and stiff brownie batter. It needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours before baking the cookies so plan ahead!
Once the dough has chilled, it’s time to get rolling! I prefer to bake one tray of these crinkle cookies at a time because it seems to produce more reliable results and an even bake. Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to portion the dough, roll it in your hands (it will be slightly sticky!), then roll to coat in the granulated sugar, followed by the powdered sugar. Leave at least 2 inches between each cookie to allow ample space for spreading.
We’re baking these for just long enough to let the outside set while the inside remains soft and fudgy, about 9-12 minutes total. You’ll know they’re ready once they have spread, have the crackly tops, and when you gently prod the outer edge with your finger, you get some resistance. These need to cool fully because they will continue to bake/set once they come out of the oven!
More Gluten Free Treats (that don’t suck!) for Holiday Baking
Ginger molasses cookies are my favorite cookie, especially during the holidays! This gluten free and vegan ginger molasses cookie is perfectly crackly/chewy and great for gifting. If you want a gluten free sugar cookie recipe that easily rolls out and doesn’t require any chilling, you’ll love these vanilla spice sugar cookies sweetened with coconut sugar! These gluten free pecan pie bars made without corn syrup are great for a holiday gathering and made with just 10 ingredients.
Gluten Free Chocolate Cardamom Crinkle Cookies
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Diet: Gluten-Free, Vegetarian
Description
These gluten free chocolate cardamom crinkle cookies are rich, fudgy, and tender with aromatic cardamom and orange zest shining through in every bite. Rolled in powdered sugar for their signature crackly tops, these easy chocolate cookies require a couple of hours of chilling time and are especially lovely for holiday baking.
Ingredients
for the cookies
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, from one medium orange
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, or other neutral tasting oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups (160 grams) gluten free measure for measure flour
- ½ cup (40 grams) Dutch process cocoa
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
for coating
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Add the orange zest and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and use your fingers to rub the orange zest into the sugar for about 30-60 seconds until very fragrant. Add the brown sugar, oil, and vanilla. Mix on medium low with the paddle attachment until the sugars are evenly moistened with the oil.
- Add one egg and mix on medium low until combined, then scrape the bottom of the bowl and do the same with the second egg.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, cardamom, baking powder, and salt into a bowl to help remove any lumps. With the mixer running on low, slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet until the dough forms and there are no longer streaks of flour visible in the dough. The dough will look almost like a thick and stiff brownie batter.
- Place the dough in a bowl, then cover the dough with plastic wrap. Chill the dough for a minimum of 2 hours.
- After the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Add the granulated sugar for coating to a small bowl and the powdered sugar to a separate small bowl.
- Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop (2 tablespoons) to scoop up portions of the dough, then roll them into a ball. Coat them in the granulated sugar first, then coat them in the powdered sugar. Place the cookies at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Once you have the first tray filled, put it on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for 10-13 minutes until just set around the edges, then remove from the oven. While the first tray bakes, roll and coat the rest of the cookie dough and place it on the second baking sheet. Once the first sheet comes out of the oven, put in the second one and bake 10-13 minutes (until the edges are just set).
- Cool the baked cookies on the baking sheets for at least 15 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. I prefer to just let them cool on the baking sheets so there’s less to wash!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container and enjoy within 3-4 days for the best texture.
Notes
I highly recommend measuring out the flour and cocoa powder by weight, not volume. If you have to measure by volume, fluff up the flour or cocoa with a spoon first, then spoon it into your measuring cup. Level off the top, scraping off any excess, before adding it to the dry ingredients
Keep in mind that the cookies will puff up as they bake then deflate some once they come out of the oven.
You can chill the dough for up to two days. Make sure it is tightly covered with plastic wrap to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
I like to use a 1-ounce cookie scoop for these because it’s the perfect size. If you don’t have a 1-ounce scoop, you can use a tablespoon measure to scoop up two tablespoons of dough, then roll them together into a ball.
The easiest (and least messy!) way to coat the balls of cookie dough in the powdered sugar is with a spoon. Use the spoon to gently move the ball of dough around to help coat it generously in the powdered sugar.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Dough Chilling Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 26 minutes
- Category: Dessert
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