Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

By sketchy on December 18, 2007 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

These cookies are pretty easy to make, but it is a little messy. I made these for the cookie exchange at work. I've looked at many recipes, made a few changes, and came up with something I like. Some of the recipes lack vanilla; I think vanilla helps bring out the chocolate flavor. I prefer vanilla beans for flavor, but paste or extract will also work. I added some orange to the recipe for additional flavor.

The cookies are almost brownie like in their texture. The addition of rolling the cookies in powdered sugar gives them a fantastic look. When the cookies are baking, they fall and the sugar cracks on the surface. I made my first batch with a hand mixer - I advise against this. the final batter is incredibly thick. I almost burnt out the motor in my hand mixer - so I recommend a stand mixer for this recipe.

Having a square or rectangle baking dish may speed up the formation of the cookies. I thought of this on my second batch. I lined the dish with plastic wrap, then spooned the dough into the dish. I folded over the plastic wrap and pressed the cookie dough flat. This makes it much easier to cut and shape even cookies. I laid out a 1x1 grid across the top and used a bench scraper to cut the dough. I cook them on silpat, if you don't have that, use parchment paper.

The first batch I made cooked for 20 minutes. They taste good, but they are a little soft in the middle for my taste. My wife loved the moist texture when they were warm, but it was a little unappealing once they cooled. The addition of two minutes took care of this - they have a consistent cooked texture throughout, while staying moist.

Here's the recipe:

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 Cups Sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp orange extract
1/2 vanilla pod or 2 tsp vanilla extract/paste
Confectioners sugar for rolling.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler (or microwave) until smooth. Transfer the chocolate to a stand mixer and add the sugar. It will be very grainy. Mix the contents until the temperature has gone down a little. Mix in the eggs one at a time - I recommend breaking the eggs into a separate dish and beating them gently first. Add the vanilla and orange, scrap down the sides, then mix to combine.

Add half the flour in small portions. Scrape down the sides, and then add the baking powder and mix to combine. Slowly, add the rest of the flour. When all the flour is added, mix for 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a plastic wrapped baking dish, cover and press flat. Cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, they can sit overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Grid out the cookies and cut the dough into 1X1 squares. The dough is sticky! Coat your hands in powdered sugar and take the squares and form into balls. Roll the dough in the powdered sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet (silpat or parchment). Place the cookies two inches apart, as they cook, they will fall and spread out.

Cook for 22 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway for even cooking.