Crinkle Cookies

About a month or so ago, we had lunch at a little restaurant here in town called Blue Sky Cafe. The kids meals came with their choice of a cookie. We were on our way out when we remembered the cookies so I picked one for them. I chose a delightful looking Chocolate Crinkle cookie. It was exquisite. (Yes, I also ate it.) I told Lincoln I wanted to go back to the restaurant and ask for the recipe. To my surprise and delight, in my next issue of Cooking Light magazine, they had a recipe for Chocolate Crinkle cookies. I made them exactly according to the recipe and they were fantastic. The one from the restaurant was thicker, so next time I'm going to experiment with larger cookies and baking time, but here is the basic recipe for you. You can decide if you want to play with it or not.

Chocolate Crinkles

Lightly coat your hands with flour to make rolling the dough into balls easier. The dough freezes well. Freeze the dough after step 1, thaw in the refrigerator, then proceed with step 2.

4.5 oz all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
1 1/4 C powdered sugar, divided
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 1/4 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 C packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg whites

1) Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups. Level with a knife. Combine flour, 3/4 C powdered sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine oil and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat; cook until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Pour chocolate mixture into a large bowl; cool 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, syrup, and vanilla. Add egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stirring gently just until combined. Cover; chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

2) preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3) Roll dough into one inch balls. Dredge in remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar; place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until tops are cracked and almost set. Cool cookies on pan 2 minutes or until set; remove from pan. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Yield: 2 dozen

Happy baking!