Incredible Chocolate Crinkles

The first time I made Chocolate Crinkles it was in the 70s; the recipe called for oil, not butter and although everyone liked them, I knew one day I'd discover a way to make this cookie even more perfect.  Cookies are really one of the hardest confections to really get right--in fact, it's where knowledge of science really comes in handy. Knowing what purpose baking soda and powder does, the ratio and sugar to the other ingredients and of course how to mix the ingredients.  Thanks to an episode of America Test Kitchens on PBS, all these were explained and their diligence in testing gave me an incredible Chocolate Crinkle!

What was achieved to make these incredible was a soft, but not gooey center with a firm outer layer, but just to touch, not hard.  What I had been doing wrong was my ratio of sugar to chocolate.  Most Crinkles call for semi-sweet with cocoa, but these call for unsweetened with added cocoa; this gives the soft center instead of wet!  Also, and this is important, you are going to mix the ingredients by hand.  No stand or hand mixer needed, but I did end up using three bowls to mix the dry, wet, and melted chocolate and butter.  Another step was to let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes to firm up instead of chilling in the refrigerator.  Finally, the balls are rolled in granulated sugar, then the confectioners' sugar so the confectioners' sugar doesn't melt away and become a Jackson Pollock look-alike:-D

Incredible Chocolate Crinkles 
Makes 22 cookies
1 cup KAF  (King Arthur Flour) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. espresso powder (optional, but really brings out the flavor of the chocolate)
In a medium bowl, whisk these ingredients together and set aside.

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
4 T unsalted butter
In a small bowl, microwave, at 50% power until melted--about 1-2 minutes, at 35-40 seconds at a time.

1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
In a large bowl, stir the wet ingredients with the brown sugar until smooth.

Mix the melted chocolate/butter mixture into the wet ingredients, then, add the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.  Allow to set on the counter for 10-15 minutes for the batter to firm up. While the dough is setting, Preheat oven to 325F-degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar into two bowls.

Use a #30 scoop (I just found out that it gets this number because a gallon of ice cream would produce 30 scoops with this size.) to measure the dough.  Place the mound, first in the granulated sugar, covering it entirely with it, then, move it to the confectioners' sugar to coat completely.  Place the ball of dough on the lines cookie sheet--spacing 11 cookies on each sheet.

Bake one sheet at a time for 12 minutes--don't over bake!  The cookie is done when the sides of the cookies feel firm, but the center still looks somewhat moist.  Remove the pan from the oven and cool cookies on the baking sheet.  Repeat with the second baking sheet.

Meanwhile, the cookies are cooling and my little darlings are sleeping during this rainy Spring day...

This is an excellent recipe and doesn't something chocolate sound good right about now.  Enjoy!