Chocolate Crinkles

I had never made chocolate crinkles before (or really heard of them) until I came across them in another food blog of holiday baking. I thought they looked like a lot of fun! The first batch of crinkles I made, I used milk chocolate (I always use milk chocolate, as I am a bit of an addict), but the results were definitely not as rich and moist as I would like. I made a few more adaptations, including replacing some of the flour with cocoa powder, and these ones are great!

The Recipe: Chocolate Crinkles

makes 40, prep time 25 minutes, cook time 8 minutes, time to completion 4 hours

3 1/2 ounces (200 grams) of bittersweet chocolate (71% percent)
1/2 cup of sweet butter
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs at room temperature (place an bowl of warm water for a couple of minutes if you forget to take the eggs out of the fridge)
1/2 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 3/4 cups of flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/4 tsp finely ground sea salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup of icing sugar

Melt the chocolate and butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Add the vanilla after the chocolate and butter are melted.

In a mixing bowl add the white sugar, brown sugar and eggs. Beat the mixture, on high, with an electric mixer for about 10 minutes, until it runs off the beater in a nice thick ribbon.

Continue mixing on low while adding the melted chocolate mixture.

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sea salt and baking powder. Sift and gently fold into the previous mixture about 1/4 cup at a time. This will take some work but it is worth it!

Once the crinkle mixture is uniform, place it in the fridge.

After 3 hours remove the crinkles from the fridge and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Using your hands make balls about 1 inch in diameter and squish them slightly.

Roll the balls in the icing sugar until generously coated and no chocolate is showing.

Cook on a cookie sheet for 8 minutes. Do not over cook the crinkles as they will lose a lot of moisture and delicate texture if over cooked. Transfer to a cooling rack and enjoy! These are the best right out of the oven!

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Gingerbread Cookies

The Christmas baking season is not complete without Gingerbread and with kids and a wife, there was no escaping! I have avoided the making of a Gingerbread house to date but I am not sure I will be able hold out. Next year fore sure....

Any who...I don't like my Gingerbread to be too strong or too hard, hence I reduce the molasses a bit, and use egg yolks to give them a little extra richness. Benny was a big fan this year and helped us decorate them with a little royal icing (1 egg white, 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and 1 cup of icing sugar - whip eggs and tartar till frothy, add sugar and beat until medium peaks) and red smarties.

The Recipe: Gingerbread Cookies

makes 24 (medium sized men), prep time 25 minutes, cook time 12 minutes

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 egg yolks (reserve the white for royal icing)
1/32 cup of molasses
2 1/2 cups of flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp finely ground sea salt
1 tsp powder ginger
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whip the butter until smooth and creamy with an electric mixer.

Add the brown sugar, egg yolks, and molasses one at time. Continue mixing after each is added until mixture is smooth again.

Combine the flour, sea salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and sift into the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth, the easiest way is with your hands.

With a floured rolling pin, on a well flour surface, roll the dough until about a 1/3 of an inch thick. Cut out your shapes and transfer to a cookie sheet (as always I prefer using clay of silpat to prevent the bottoms from burning).

Cook for 12 minutes, remove and let cool before decorating!

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