These Grinch crinkle cookies are fun, festive, and perfect for children to help make. They're soft, chewy and fudgy, and can be made with or without the icing sugar coating.
If you're looking for a fun, vibrant cookie recipe to see you through the holidays, these Grinch crinkle cookies are just the thing! They're soft and fudgy and they're relatively easy to make. So grab your kitchen gear and let me show you how to make them...
Ingredient Notes
Here's everything you'll need for this recipe:
- Self-raising flour: This is the base for our Grinch Christmas cookies, giving them structure and a bit of lift. I prefer using self-raising as it saves adding extra baking powder/soda.
- Butter: Rubbing butter into the flour helps to create little pockets of air as the dough melts in the oven, giving the cookies a nice fluffy texture. Make sure to cold butter so that it doesn't congeal into the flour when you're rubbing it.
- Sugar: Sugar's not just for sweetness- it helps with the texture too, making the cookies crisp around the edges. I usually use caster sugar but granulated will work too.
- Egg: This acts as a binder, helping everything stick together. If you're out of eggs or prefer not to use them, you can use a couple of tablespoons of milk to help the dough stick together instead.
- Lemon extract: I used lemon extract to flavour these cookies, to match the vibrant green Grinch colour. You can swap it out for an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract if you prefer.
- Vanilla extract: This contrasts nicely with the lemon.
- Lime green food colouring: For a true Grinchy colour, I recommend using lime green or electric green rather than regular green. Gel colour will make your cookies look more vibrant than liquid. I used Colour Splash.
- Red heart sprinkles: These add a lovely pop of colour and a bit of crunch. If you can't find heart sprinkles, you can use any red sprinkles or candies. Red M&Ms, Skittles and Harbio Hearts work well. You can either press them into the warm cookies after baking or stick them on later with icing.
Equipment Notes
- Mixing bowls: A large one to mix all of the cookie dough ingredients together and a small one for mixing the wet ingredients.
- Baking tray: I use a large one but prefer to bake the dough in two batches. I usually bake about 6 cookies at a time to prevent them from sticking together. If you're using a non-stick cookie sheet, note that you'll need to reduce the baking time by a minute or two.
- Baking paper: To prevent your Grinch cookies from sticking to the tray.
- Utensils: A wooden spoon for mixing everything together, a teaspoon to measure the flavour extracts, and a hand whisk or fork to mix the wet ingredients together.
How to make Grinch Crinkle Cookies
Step 1: Add 230g of self-raising flour to a large bowl then rub 90g of cold butter into it to create a breadcrumb-like mixture. Then stir in 150g of white sugar.
Step 2: In a small bowl or mug, mix together 1 medium egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and ½ teaspoon of gel lime green food colouring. Mix well until there are no lumps left.
Step 3: Pour the green mixture into the bowl with your 'breadcrumbs' and mix well. Then use your hands to press it into a ball of dough.
Step 4: Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes- this will help give your cookies a nice fudgy texture.
Step 5: Remove the dough from the fridge and divide it into 12 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls then gently flatten them to make ½-inch thick discs.
Step 6: Place the cookies onto your baking tray, leaving a little space in between to allow for spreading.
Step 7: Bake for 11-12 minutes until the cookies no longer look wet in the middle. Immediately after removing them from the oven, gently press on some red heart sprinkles. Doing this while the cookies are warm will help them to stick. If you have trouble with this, you can just use icing sugar to stick them on after the cookies have cooled.
Step 8: Let your Grinch cookies cool on the tray before enjoying them.
Top Tips
- The dough might feel crumbly at first but keep pressing it together and it'll eventually stick in a ball. If it's still too dry, you can add a small splash of milk to help it come together, or if it's too wet, add more flour.
- Use a scale to weigh out the dough for evenly-sized cookies.
- For extra indulgence, try dipping half of each cooled cookie in melted white chocolate before adding the sprinkles.
FAQs
Yes. I made mine without because I preferred the contrast of the green and red together. If you want that classic crinkle cookie look, roll your cookies in granulated sugar and then in icing/powdered sugar before baking. The granulated sugar will help the powdered sugar stick without melting.
Pressing the sprinkles into the cookies while they're still warm is key. The residual heat helps the sprinkles stick as the cookies cool. Alternatively, you can 'glue' them on with a little icing.
Butter provides a richer flavour and better texture but margarine will work as a substitute. Make sure it's a block margarine rather than a spread, as spreads contain more water and can affect the consistency of your dough.
Grinch crinkle cookies will last for about 5 days stored in an airtight container. I like to keep them in the fridge for the best fudgy texture.
More Christmas cookie recipes
I hope you like my Grinch crinkle cookies. If you make them at home, please leave a comment and rating below to let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Grinch Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients
- 230 g Self raising flour (1+⅞ cups)
- 90 g Cold butter, cubed (about ¾ of a stick)
- 150 g White sugar (¾ cup)
- 1 Medium Egg
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon extract
- ½ Teaspoon Lime green gel food colouring
- 6 Tablespoons Red heart sprinkles
Instructions
- Add the flour to a large bowl. Rub the butter into it to create a breadcrumb-like mixture then stir in the sugar.
- In a small bowl or mug, whisk the egg, vanilla extract, lemon extract and green food colouring together until smooth.
- Pour the green mixture into the bowl with your dry ingredients and mix well. When it's starting to come together, use your hands to press it into a ball of dough.
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F and line a large tray with baking paper.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then gently flatten them to make ½-inch thick discs.
- Place the cookies on your tray, leaving some space for spreading, and bake for 11-12 minutes. You'll know they're done when they no longer look 'wet' in the middle.
- Gently press the sprinkles into the cookies while they're still warm- this will help them stick.
- Let them cool on the tray before enjoying.
Video
Notes
- If you want to roll these cookies in icing sugar, roll them in granulated sugar first or use non-melting icing sugar/snow sugar. This will prevent the coating from disappearing in the oven!
- Chilling the dough is not essential but helps enhance the fudgy texture.
- Heart sprinkles can be substituted with any red candies such as M&M's or Skittles- even just one placed in the middle looks cute.
- Temperature for fan/convection ovens should be reduced to 160C/320F.
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