Bourbon Dark Chocolate Crack Cookies Recipe
These chocolate crack cookies are nearly impossible to mindlessly eat. Take a bite a you might just do a double take. It’s the perfect combination of chocolate and essence of bourbon al in one bite. We’ve been making this for a few years and always a show stopper at our parties.

Chocolate Crack Cookies with Whiskey or Bourbon
Want to learn more about Whisky? Here’s our simple Whisky Guide. After the first bite, they stop you and make you take a look at what it was you just sunk your teeth into. These are one of those. A deliciously, rich chocolate and bourbon rifted cookie. Chocolate crack cookies with a little swagger. This little bad boy is originally inspired by a cookie from David Lebovitz’s amazing Ready for Dessert. As with most recipes that we are fond of, we’ll tinker and tweak to suit our moods or particular cravings. Those who know us will attest to our love of whiskey. For me in particular, whiskey ranks number one amongst my favorite spirits (we are unbiased consumers of spirits, but we do still have favorites). And whiskies are having a moment, with probably the greatest range of exceptional whiskies coming from so many distillers, small & large, in history.

Bourbon and Chocolate Paired Together
“Why not extend the smokey, subtly sweet pleasure of bourbon in chocolate crack cookies?” I think to myself one day. Well, I didn’t think it in so many words, it was more like, “Bourbon… Chocolate… must have!” and soon this cookie was devised.
For all of our whiskey lovers out there, please share your favorites. It is always a pleasure to find another great whiskey, especially when the distiller is doing something unique.
Our favorite go-to bourbon for cocktails & cooking (not too shabby for sipping either) is Buffalo Trace or Bulleit. Both have great character, smooth, goes great in cocktails, nice straight up, and is an incredible price for the quality. Or for a Tennessee whiskey, it is Uncle Nearest for us all day. Amazing whiskey. Amazing story. Great people behind it. We’d love to hear your favorites. -Todd
BTW – For those of interest in whisk(e)y – we wrote up a little Guide to Types of Whisk(e)y to share a bit of what we’ve come to know.
Dark Chocolate Bourbon Crack (or Crinkle) Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (100 g) all-purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) Kosher Salt
- 8 ounces (225 g) sweetened Dark Chocolate , chopped or use dark chocolate morsels (chips)
- 3 Tablespoons (45 g) Butter
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Bourbon
- 2 large Eggs , room temp.
- 1/3 cup (67 g) Sugar (+ extra for coating cookies)
- Confectioners Sugar (for coating cookies)
Equipment
- Baking Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper optional
- Medium Cookie Scoop optional
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the 3/4 cup (100g) flour, 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Melt the 8 ounces (225g) dark chocolate and 3 Tablespoons (45g) butter with the 3 Tablespoons (45ml) bourbon. Set aside, keeping slightly warm if too much time lapses before adding to the egg & sugar in the next step. Our preferred method is to combine them in a medium bowl over a pot of simmering water (bain marie), stirring frequently until melted. You can also melt them all together in the microwave, cooking in 20-30 second bursts, stirring well in-between microwave sessions. Or gently melted in a pan on the stove on low heat, stirring continuously (caution – the chocolate can seize or get clumpy and grainy if overheated or if some water gets in the pan).
- In another bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and 1/3 cup (67g) sugar on high until the mixture forms a well-defined ribbon when the whisk attachment is lifted out, about 5 minutes.
- By hand, gently stir in the melted chocolate mixture until combined.
- Stir in the flour mixture by hand until just combined. Cover and chill in the fridge until firm (1-2 hours).
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Line a couple baking sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Pour the additional granulated sugar and confectioners sugar into two separate small bowls. Form the chocolate cookies into 1 1/2-inch balls (a medium cookie scoop works great to make even balls).
- Roll the balls first in the regular sugar, and then roll in the confectioners sugar until well coated with confectioners sugar. Place on the lined baking sheet pans, spaced about 1-inch apart.
- Bake at 325°F (160°C) for about 14-16 minutes, rotating the sheet trays after about 8 minutes. Cookies should still be slightly firm on the edges and fairly soft in the centers. Don't overbake them.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan until firm enough to handle then transfer to a cooling rack.
Nutrition Information per Serving
Enjoy More Recipes:
We have some delish recipes with bourbon if you’re a fan of this type of whiskey. If not, there’s other cookie recipes without the booze!
- Chocolate Bourbon or Rum Balls
- Bourbon maple ribs recipe
- Ginger molasses dark chocolate cookies
- Deep dish cookies aka pizookies
- This recipe was originally published back in 2013. It’s an oldie but goodie.






Bourbon! Chocolate! Were you writing this for me? My favorite is Maker’s 46. I’m almost out, so I will definitely try Buffalo Trace. I can’t wait to try these cookies.
Maker’s 46 is nice. Love that bourbon too.
What’s the texture of the cookies?
Hi Candice. They have a soft, dense texture. Not quite fudge-like.
Ahhh! These are my uncle’s favorite cookie ever! We used to make him a bunch every year for his birthday. We use a recipe from the Betty Crocker Cooky Book, never thought to add anything exciting to them. Super excited to try these this year! 🙂 And I think some mini chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate) would be another awesome addition.
Indeed! Have been making these cookies (minus the bourbon!) aka Chocolate Crinkles from mom’s 1960s Betty Crocker Cooky Book for 40 years. The bourbon will make them all grown up. What a pleasure!
You had me at bourbon! And mine is Knob Creek…Manhattan…on the rocks…2 cherries…extra ice:)
Knob Creek used to be my go-to as well. Love that you have your cocktail choice nailed and defiant.
Buffalo Trace is my favorite for baking, and it is fantastic with chocolate. My husband drinks it and I bake with it … a perfect match!
Ummm, oh my gosh I want all of these!
I always love the idea of Bourbon in dessert. Doesn’t it make everything more special? Especially more so now since it’s year end.
I don’t drink bourbon, but I sure as hell love to eat it. And you can’t go wrong when you start out with a David Leibovitz recipe. Yum!
Earlier this year I started digging into my family ancestry and turns out my great-great-great grandfather was a whiskey distiller pre-prohibition who at one point was outselling Jack Daniels! Members of my generation of the family tree are resurrecting the family business and recently started producing Belle Meade bourbon (Greenbrier Distillery). I may be partial, but it’s the best and my favorite to sip and throw into recipes! I wrote about the discovery on my blog: http://www.pbpickles.com/2013/03/bourbon-apple-bread-pudding-vanilla-bourbon-ice-cream/.
Cheers!
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the Belle Meade too.
I’m with Averie on this one… what is not to love about that combo of flavors! I bet they can become deadly addictive! Great job again!!
They’re gorgeous! Chocolate & bourbon & cookies! I’ve only made ice cream with bourbon and baked beans, and have used it in cake batter, but never in cookies. Must try! Pinned 🙂
Holy moly! These are awesome! I love the dark chocolate and bourbon together. So good!
YES!! These look freaking fantastic! And the bourbon in there is fab.
I can’t wait to start the into cookie baking season, this is a nice foretaste.
Love baking with booze especially in combination with chocolate!
Thanks for sharing!
These are always made every year by me and my mum. They are so easy and yes they are so addictive! I like to add peppermint schnapps to mine but the idea of bourbon sounds deleicious
I’m not a lover of bourbon, but when I saw this recipe, peppermint schnapps came to mind.
I do not drink bourbon, but I like the idea of adding it to cookies 🙂