An Italian American tradition in my hometown in West Virginia is to have, at wedding receptions, tables loaded with dozens of homemade ethnic and other types of cookies. These cookies, and of course, the wedding cake, are my favorite part of the wedding.
Recently, I volunteered to make cookies for the wedding reception cookie table for a cousin who is getting married this summer. I needed a rich, delicious, gooey chocolate cookie to compliment and complete my cookie ensemble that included
Italian wedding,
biscotti, gallettes, pecan tassies,
Mexican wedding, peanut blossoms, Hungarian nut roll, chocolate chip, pressed cookies, date pinwheel, and
pistachio cranberry. I lucked out and found that perfect chocolate cookie in a recent edition of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.
This chocolate crinkle cookie is both beautiful and delicious, with a soft, luscious, chocolaty center and has the perfect amount of sweetness. This recipe uses unsweetened chocolate (100% cacao) and cocoa. Many other recipes that I’ve read used semi-sweet chocolate, and the extra sugar found in semi-sweet chocolate makes those chocolate crinkle cookies too sweet for me to eat. That’s why this cookie is the perfect chocolate crinkle cookie. And if you follow the recipe exactly, you too will make the perfect chocolate crinkle cookie.
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated, published November 2014
Makes approximately 48 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (1-1/2 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups packed (10-1/2 ounces) brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiardelli 100% cacao)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (3-1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (2 ounces) confectioners' sugar
Instructions
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in bowl.
Step 3: Whisk brown sugar; eggs; espresso powder, and vanilla together in large bowl.
Step 4: Combine chocolate and butter in bowl and microwave at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 2 to 3 minutes.
Step 5: Whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined.
Step 6: Fold in flour mixture until no dry streaks remain. Let dough sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes to firm up so that you can roll it. I let mine sit for up to 2 hours and it firmed up enough to roll into soft balls.
Step 7: Place granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar in separate shallow dishes. Working with 1 tablespoons dough at a time, roll into balls. Drop dough balls directly into granulated sugar and roll to coat. Transfer dough balls to confectioners’ sugar and roll to coat evenly. The granulated sugar prevents the confectioners' sugar from being absorbed in to the cookie while it bakes. Evenly space dough balls on prepared sheets.
Step 8: Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 10 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cool completely on sheet before serving.
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