Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Chocolate Crinkles

I'm a chocoholic.

I know that I don't have sole claim to that title, and I'm pretty sure that an entire population would precede me if there were a roster of chocoholics created based on the intensity of their chocoholic-ness (or is it chocoholicity? well I'm sure you get the point.) This lack of a significant position in a probably non-existent list doesn't however deter me from enjoying chocolate in one form or another since as far back as I can recall. 


I remember spending a serious amount of lunch money buying individually-wrapped chocolate crinkles from a nice old lady who kept a snack cart back in high school... and the joy (and chagrin) I felt when I discovered probably the same cookies sold in bigger packs for a much cheaper price at a street food bazaar. Well, it was business I guess, hehe. 

Anyway, my love for those icing sugar-covered, densely chewy mounds of baked chocolate bliss led me to my search for the best Chocolate Crinkle recipe - so I could just whip up a batch whenever I had the urge for them. Below is the yummiest recipe for the purely cocoa powder-based version. I've been using this recipe for a while now, but  my choice was validated when I baked these with my 7 year old nephew (he took care of rolling the chilled balls of dough on the icing sugar) and he actually liked them so much that he ended up stashing a small bag of crinkles inside the pantry so he'd have some left in case we, the adults, devoured everything. Very smart kid. :)

Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup to 1 cup confectioners' sugar - as needed for coating the dough

Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough with plastic wrap, then chill for at least 4 hours (You CANNOT skip this part. Believe me, I tried - it wasn't pretty.) 
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough out into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets (Fun recipe to do with kids - they can do this part. :D)
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.  Enjoy!