I celebrate any milestone with chocolate, so here’s a suitably chocolatey treat for my 300th blog post:
It started with a cookie exchange – not mine, but my friend E’s. She texted my sister and me to ask for ideas, and my sister, the baker in the family, suggested chocolate crinkle cookies. The cookies were a delicious success (I sampled some over the holidays!) and inspired me to make a batch.
I used 85% bittersweet chocolate, and these definitely end up intense as a result. Even I couldn’t eat more than, oh, four at a time without thinking I might be at risk of a chocolate overdose.
It’s a bit of a process to make these – since you need to make the dough, chill it, and then shape and roll the balls – but definitely worth it to see what comes out of the oven.
Mmm, just looking at these pictures is making me hungry… please excuse me while I go find some chocolate!
Dark chocolate crackle cookies
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, preferably 85%
~1 cup powdered sugar
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two cookie sheets with Silpat liners or parchment.
Melt chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave, and set aside to cool.
In small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
In KitchenAid mixer, using paddle attachment, beat butter and brown sugar until light and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add melted chocolate and mix. Add dry ingredients and milk, alternating, with mixer on low speed, until just combined.
Chill dough in refrigerator for an hour or so. Using a small ice cream scoop, spoon, or your hands (whatever is easiest), scoop and shape dough into 1 inch balls.
Place powdered sugar on a plate and roll each ball until fully covered. Place about an inch apart on baking sheets (should be about two dozen per sheet).
Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Your choice whether to call them crinkle or crackle!