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. Want to learn more about Whisky? Here’s our Whisky Guide.
Chocolate Crack Cookies
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 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.
This was originally published in 2013 and was updated in 2019.

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.
took your recommendation to heart went out and bought Buffalo Trace bourbon, made your cookies last night and they turned out to be very delicious treat, pre-Christmas baking, my son (22years old) sends big thanks, looking for some more free time over the holidays so I can pay special attention to your book sitting on a pile of “new” cookbooks in my collection, thank you for the inspiration and wish you lots of great ideas and happy holidays……………Sonja
How many cookies does this make?? Looks delicious. I want to make them for my work’s luncheon.
About 24-30 cookies.
I made these the first time about a week ago – this time I added chopped pecans and instead of rolling them in powdered sugar, I did a mix of raw sugar and cocoa powder.
My husband liked them the first time around, he said adding the pecans and using cocoa powder made it even better this go around!
Can i use whiskey instead of bourbon?
Of course. Any alcohol you like. Especially since bourbon is a type of whiskey.
could I make the dough ahead of time and freeze?
Yep. We do all the time and it works great. Just allow them to thaw for 30 minutes or so before. They keep their ball shape more when colder.
Looks absolutely delicious! I reckon I could eat about 100 of those chocolate cookies.
Gorgeous cookies..and lovely pics..I could easily gobble some from the plate..hihihi..
they look yummy!
Will definitely make this. Can’t pass a good chocolate cookie 🙂
Maker’s Mark on this home front will be making these cookies ASAP!
These look delicious. Every year we try to have a big post holiday blues Southern Blues party at my cousin’s house and these will be perfect! Can’t go wrong with chocolate and bourbon. BTW – have you ever been to the Thirsty Crow in Silverlake? I am not much of a bourbon drinker but they have some amazing cocktails. I had one where one of the ingredients was “magic” which we figured out was a whole nutmeg in the bottom of the glass and it was divine.
We haven’t been to Thirsty Crow yet. Thanks for the great recommendation. We’ll have to check it out soon!
These sound perfect for an after-game-day treat – instead of a “sippy-cup” for the road! I want you to know that I ordered two cookbooks, one for me and one for my sister…we both love it! Not only is it beautiful, but the recipes are the kinds of things we want to eat! I’ve had your book for about two weeks now and have already made 6 dishes…loved the Roasted Corn Tabouli – even in November it was great! I made your Hearty Celery Root Soup for my book club lunch this week and everyone asked for the recipe – no surprise there, it was fabulous and I’d never had celery root before! I plan to cook my way through your book – it will keep me fat and happy through the holidays for sure! xo, Nan
So glad you are loving the recipes! Love that we are keeping you happy!
So tasty looking but they didn’t turn out at all for me! 🙁 The balls stayed balls and we crumbly and dry. I’m sure I over cooker them a bit but shouldn’t they have flattened a little bit? I feel like there is a wet ingredient missing. When the batter left the fridge it was more like fudge. What sis I do wrong?
They don’t flatten much, and the dough is fudge like. You might try chilling them a bit less, and like most cookies, if they are overcooked they will be dry.
Bourbon + chocolate is fantastic! Love the idea of adding a little bourbon to my cookies!
I can’t wait to make these!
My current favorite bourbon is Tuthilltown Spirits’ Baby Bourbon, made in their distillery here in upstate New York.
Haven’t tried Tuthilltown yet. I’ll have to keep an eye out!
Yes! Buffalo Trace is a favorite of ours as well. Not to toot my own horn (since it isn’t my original recipe anyway) but I believe you two once pinned the Vermontucky Cocktail from my blog with Buffalo Trace in the background 🙂
Blantons is my favorite fancy bottle. Four Roses is pretty hip around these parts but I find it a bit sweet for sipping (Pendleton, same). We’re pretty partial to Old Overholt when it comes to rye — or — any day! But for the price point, for every-day, just-got-home-from-work-pour-me-a-bourbon, I am a Jim Beam girl at heart. White label, standard. Just hard to beat!
These cookies look like an espresso version my grandmother used to make…. espresso snowballs, I believe they were called. Love your twist! Cheers!
Your photos of the Vermontucky cocktail were great, and the it sounds so delicious. I haven’t really explored the ryes too much yet, so it looks like I need to grab a bottle of Old Overholt and sample a bit. Thanks for sharing your favorites.