Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Making sure my girls are settled in their sleep. I set myself a glass of drink right at my table. I seat comfortably in front of my computer. Edited and uploaded the photos for my post and all ready to script up another "interesting" paragraph for my readers out there. But....blank,....zip,...nada, whatever you call it...I have nothing to offer my readers! It seems like my mind is too lazy to think or it's too clouded with other stuff. *sigh...God knows what!* I wonder if it happens to any of my fellow bloggers out there. I know some has such nice looking bakes that their pictures do all the "talking"....huh, mine? I cannot say anything close to it (nice looking?) as to what I've baked today. Behold...I present to you, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies....even the name sounds a little creepy, haha!

If you don't look carefully, it seems like a pile of brown crackly stuff with some white dust on it! Well, looks is really deceiving...this crackly, brownish, dusty looking thing is really a delicious cookie. Got this great recipe from my "Essentials of Baking" from William Sonoma. In fact my girls point it right out of the book, telling me to bake it for them! Even kids know that looks is not everything!

Ingredients For Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:
125g Semisweet dark chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped
60g unsalted butter
235g all purpose flour
45g unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs
350g granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (essence)
250g chocolate chips
60g confectioner's sugar

Method:

• Place chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler placed over simmering hot water. Heat and stirring constantly till chocolate and butter melts. Remove from heat and set aside to cool before use.
  
• In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat till mixture is double in volume, thick and pale yellow in color.
• Stir in the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. beat at low speed till everything is incorporated.
  
• Add the dry ingredients in, and mix till well combined. Lastly add the chocolate chips.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate batter for at least 3 hrs before baking.
• Preheat oven at 180°C. Line parchment paper on a baking sheet.
• Using a teaspoon, scoop out a heapful of the batter and then roll the batter between the palms of your hands to make it into a ball.
• Then drop the ball in the confectioner's sugar and roll it around to coat it evenly with the sugar.
• Then gently place the ball on the baking tray and repeat till the tray is filled with cookie balls about 3 inches apart.
• Bake for 14 minutes till the cookies crackle like the picture below. Do not over bake as it will dry out the cookie.
• Remove from oven, cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before removing it onto the cooling tray.

How to describe the taste....it has a crispy, crackled exterior and a chewy, fudgy interior. And it's chocolaty good...another chocolate craving fixed! Perfect with a tall glass of ice cold milk...mmmm!

My girls and I have at least 3 each once it came out of the oven...ai yo so heaty horr! But it's so good! Do note that you have to refrigerate the batter long enough so that it is firm enough for you to shape it into a ball before baking. Also I have greatly reduce the amount of sugar (from 500g to 350g) because I thought it'll be way too sweet if I were to use that large amount of sugar! But I did use semisweet chocolate rather then unsweetened ones as mentioned in the original recipe. Mine turned out just right for my taste buds. :)

These cookies can be kept fresh in air tight containers up to 3 days. Do try it out when you want a chocolate fix...it's delish! This can also be a fun family "project" you can do with your kids at home. Get them to roll the cookie dough balls in the confectioner's sugar for you...they''ll have so much fun! Enjoy! ;)