Chocolate Crinkles

Since I'm on a cleanse, I might not be able to eat cookies, but I will satisfy my craving by blogging about them. Not baking has been the biggest downfall of this detox, I could spend hours in the kitchen trying different recipes, and I've been avoiding it as much as possible because what is a chef without ability to taste test their own food?

Superbowl Sunday I headed home to see my family in Bellingham...so I had an excuse to share cookies.

On a personal note, this is my super awesome mom and my parents' dog Cooper, who got to sport my Lynch jersey during the game. We had a blast even though the game didn't end perfectly (still, GO HAWKS), and it was so good to be home!

Home was full of delicious food (my parents are amazing cooks), we had bruschetta and red hot wings! Unfortunately, Fitz had to stay home, but he still repped the Hawks in his favorite box.

Chocolate crinkles have always been a family favorite. I'm one that always reaches for the cookies that pop right out of the oven, gooey and soft, and refrigerate my dough just so I can always have dough to make more cookies fresh out of the oven. My mom, on the other hand, likes cookies crunchy. Chocolate crinkles are the happy medium. They are gooey and delicious right out of the oven, but they firm up and stay yummy once they've cooled (I even like them the day after, and that says a lot). They're also great for parties and gatherings because they look pretty!

I was craving chocolate crinkles Sunday, especially knowing my cleanse started the next day (so naturally I stuffed my face the day before). I looked up recipes for about an hour, and I didn't have a few things I needed for almost every recipe...so I decided to improvise (really wanted these cookies). Combining a few recipes online that I liked and making some adjustments, here's what I came up with!

Ingredients:

For dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 bar Trader Joe's 72% cocoa chocolate bar (I think it's like 1.96 oz, or something around there), chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

For rolling:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.

2. Whisk brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Put chocolate and butter in a microwavable bowl and melt (small increments of time, stirring often). 

3. Pour chocolate mix into egg mix and whisk until combined.

4. Pour in dry mix slowly, stirring often, and mixing until you see no dry ingredients in the bowl. 

5. Chill your dough for 1 hour (not only does this make the cookies cook better, but it makes them a lot easier to handle for rolling). Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

6. Set up your station with the lined baking sheet and two bowls, one filled with granulated sugar and one with powdered sugar, both for rolling. 

7. Roll dough into a ball, coat evenly in granulated sugar, then in powdered sugar. Place about 8 cookies per baking sheet and cook 11-12 minutes, turning your baking sheet halfway through the baking time.

8. Enjoy! Your cookies should look like they are cracked. Edges will be slightly crunchy and the middle will be soft, pillowy, and Heavenly.

My favorite thing about this random stab at a recipe was that the cookies had a richer flavor because of the 72% cocoa chocolate, they smelled amazing, and they weren't nearly as sweet as if you were to use what recipes usually call for (about 4+ oz. of baking chocolate). 

Are there any cookie recipes you would like to see me try and post? Or any you'd be willing to share with me? Ta-ta for now, xoxo