Chocolate Brownie Crinkles

Like every recipe, including the very simplest,  chocolate crinkles have gone through a number of permutations, including espresso powder which gives the chocolate flavor a boost while adding the merest aromatic hint of itself. The original chocolate crinkle cookie used baking chocolate and not chocolate chips or chopped chocolate being melted.  Cocoa powder makes the cookies chewy on the inside while melted chocolate makes cookies come out fudge-like.

Deeply chocolate, crisp and powdered on the outside, and soft and chewy in the center.  If you can imagine what a brownie would taste like in cookie form, this is it.  Rolling richly flavored cocoa cookies with white powdered sugar before baking creates a dramatic crackled look that give these sweets—a perfect cross between a brownie and cookie—a fancy appearance with virtually no effort.

I also baked these cookies using the espresso powder and they were fantastic.  I have only one complaint, they were addictive! I couldn’t walk by the cookie jar without hearing a cookie call my name J I noticed some have trouble with the dough being too sticky. Refrigerate the dough for minimal 3 hours or up to overnight or you can freeze the dough for 45 minutes.  Before forming into balls, get your hands wet so they won’t stick to them.  You might have to pop them back in the freezer if it’s a hot day.  Don’t try to handle them when they’re warm because you will just be wasting your time. For those who are having trouble with the top cracking, here’s a tip: place your cookie sheet on the second to-the-top rack and only bake one cookie sheet at a time.  The hot heat at the top of the oven enables the cookie to crack.

Trust me, these cookies are a delight to make.  They are simple, chewy, and delicious. Rich cookies that remind me of tiny brownies, that’s why I would like to call it chocolate brownie crinkles. I always make the dough a day before I plan to bake these. I found that the more chilled the dough is, the easier it is to roll into balls, and since I coated them heavily in the powdered sugar, they were beautiful after baking.  I was rewarded with a beautiful crackly-top.  The sugar doesn’t absorb into the cookie at all. Perfection! A delightful new addition to my Eid baking.

Chocolate Brownie Crinkles (adapted from Laura Vitale)

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

·         1 cup all-purpose flour

·         2 eggs

·         2/3 cup of light brown sugar

·         ½ cup cocoa powder

·         ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

·         1 teaspoon baking powder

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         ½ cup confectioner sugar

Directions:

1.       In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and instant espresso powder.  Set aside.

2.       In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and eggs.  Mix until creamy and smooth.

3.       Add the dry ingredients and mix them long enough to combine.

4.       Place the dough in a bowl, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours or up to overnight.

5.       Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C), line a couple of baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

6.       Place confectioner sugar in a shallow bowl.  Working with 2 spoons (or a small ice cream scoop) at a time, roll into balls and coat them in the confectioner sugar, place them a couple of inches on your prepared baking sheets.

7.       Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set, but the centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone) for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking and allow them to cool completely before serving.  The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         1 cup tepung terigu serbaguna

·         2 butir telur

·         2/3 cup light brown sugar

·         ½ cup bubuk kakao

·         ¼ cup unsalted butter, lelehkan pada suhu ruang

·         1 sdt baking powder

·         ¼ sdt garam

·         ½ sdt bubuk espresso instan

·         1 sdt ekstrak  vanila

·         ½ cup gula halus

Cara:

1.       Dalam mangkuk, ayak dan aduk bersama tepung terigu, bubuk kakao, garam, baking powder, dan bubuk espresso.  Sisihkan.

2.       Kocok mentega dan gula dengan menggunakan mikser listrik, tambahkan vanilla dan telur. Kocok sampai creamy dan lembut.

3.       Tambahkan bahan kering dan aduk cukup lama sampai bercampur.

4.       Letakkan adonan dalam mangkuk, tutup dengan plastic wrap dan dinginkan dalam kulkas selama minimum 3 jam atau sampai semalam.

5.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 325 derajat F (160 derajat C), siapkan loyang yang telah dialasi dengan kertas roti.

6.       Letakkan gula halus dalam mangkuk.  Ambil 2 sendok (atau gunakan ice cream scoop yang kecil) adonan, bulatkan dan gulingkan dalam gula halus sampai semua permukaan tertutup gula halus.  Letakkan di atas loyang, beri jarak. Lakukan sampai adonan habis.

7.       Panggang satu loyang bergantian selama 10-12 menit sampai kue mengembang dan permukaannya retak serta  pinggirannya matang, tetapi bagian tengahnya masih lembek (kue kelihatan belum matang di bagian retakan), putar posisi loyang selama pemanggangan.  Biarkan benar-benar dingin sebelum disajikan.  Kue dapat di simpan pada suhu ruang di dalam wadah kedap udara selama 5 hari.