I’ve often wondered how chocolate crinkles are made, so I searched online and found this recipe from www.joyofbaking.com. It seems fairly easy to do so I gave it a go. I tweaked it a bit by adding a bit of coffee to intensify the chocolate flavor.
Chocolate Crinkles
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter
8 ounces (225 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped ( I used Ricoa’s baking chocolate)
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee powder
Topping:
1 cup (110 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
Melt chocolate in a glass bowl on a double boiler. Once melted set aside and allow to cool slightly. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy. Mix in vanilla extract and instant coffee, then stir in the melted chocolate mixture.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls (3-4 hours or overnight).
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
Place the confectioners sugar in a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands, roll a small amount of chilled dough to form a 1 inch (2.54 cm) diameter ball. Place the ball of dough into the confectioners sugar and roll the ball in the sugar until it is completely coated and no chocolate shows through. Gently lift the sugar-covered ball, tapping off excess sugar, and place on prepared baking sheet. Continue forming cookies, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on baking sheets. (If you find the dough getting too soft for rolling into balls, return to the refrigerator and let chill until firm.)
Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centers are still soft. (For moist chewy cookies do not over bake. Over baking these cookies will cause them to be dry.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.
These cookies are best eaten the day they are baked.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
TIP: If you can’t find unsweetened baking chocolate, you can substitute 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 tablespoon of oil for 1 ounce (1 block) of unsweetened chocolate.
