COOKIE #14: CHOCOLATE CRINKLES

So by cookie #14, I’ve gone thru a 10lb bag of flour and my first 2lb 10oz tub of shortening.  Knowing that I am going to finish a giant tub of shortening today really got me thinking.  All I can picture is me sitting down with that tub, a spoon, and going at it. Yikes! And God only knows how much sugar I’ve gone thru.  According to my calculations, the 7.5 cups of nuts I’ve used equals roughly 2.1 lbs. Not to mention all the butter, dried fruits, and corn flakes.  If I were eating all these cookies alone, I would have easily gained 10lbs already. So thank you to all my friends, family, and John’s co-workers for sticking your hypothetical spoon into my tub o’ shortening.

These Chocolate Crinkles have me smiling right away.  First off, it has a cute name.  When I hear the word “crinkle” I think of Annalie’s squished up little nose as she makes faces at me. Then, I read online that this cookie is also known as the original black and white cookie. Cool. I pull up another tab online and find Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” on YouTube, and continue my cookie search. Turns out, my BH&G recipe is a bit skimpy on the chocolate. Martha Stewart uses 4oz of chocolate (this recipe uses only 2oz) and less flour. And some recipes even use 8oz (a half a pound!) of chocolate.  Right away I’m tempted to add more chocolate, but decide to stay true to the recipe.

This cookie calls for unsweetened chocolate. I use the classic Baker’s chocolate bar which includes one ingredient and one ingredient only: chocolate. “Unsweetened chocolate” does not contain any sugar or milk products.  It’s bitter, but in a good way, like the black coffee of the chocolate world.  This is the base for all other chocolates. "Bittersweet chocolate" is unsweetened chocolate to which some sugar (less than a third) has been added. "Semisweet chocolate" is chocolate with even more sugar than bittersweet chocolate, with half as much sugar as cocoa. Then, if there is greater than a 50% sugar to cocoa ratio, you get "sweet chocolate."  Wondering where dark chocolate fits into all this? Dark chocolate is chocolate with no milk (or at least much less milk than milk chocolate). So bittersweet and semisweet chocolates are also “dark chocolates.” The U.S. has no official definition for dark chocolate but European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids in a chocolate to be considered "dark." 

My little Cookie Monster "helping"

 Breaking it down by sugar content:

 unsweetened < bittersweet < semisweet < sweet.

Like a little milk in your coffee?  Then try some “milk chocolate,” which is a sweet chocolate made with milk.  Go figure. But beware of some chocolates.  The U.S. Government requires only a 10% concentration of chocolate in the mix for a product to be called “chocolate.” (The EU regulates at least 25%.) If something is made with less than 10% chocolate, it has to be labeled as “chocolate flavored,” but the “flavored” part is usually written in really small print. (I’ve seen this on chocolate chip cookies.)

I start the baking process and can’t help but love the way this cookie is headed. The batter is pretty darn tasty. As always, I make a mess rolling the balls in powdered sugar, even though I try really hard not to. I read that the trick to these cookies is to be sure that the chocolate dough balls are completely covered in the sugar, so I pay utmost attention to coat each side liberally.  After I have the first couple dozen baking, I can’t help myself…I think we’re gonna need more chocolate. So for the last two dozen, I roll in a few semisweet chocolate chips to the dough.  Why not experiment a little?





see my two new bottom teeth!!!



All of my cookies turn out beautifully.  The chocolate dough spreads just enough to pull the white powdered sugar in all different directions, leaving the proverbial “crinkles” in the cookie.  This cookie came with a colored picture in the BH&G cookbook and thankfully mine look just as good as the experts! Now for the taste test.  The cookies remind me of brownies.  A slight firmness on the outside that is so good to bite into, but super moist and chewy on the inside. The random crunch from the walnuts is a fun textural change. Yet there is a real difference between Cookie A (the original recipe) and Cookie B (the ones with the additional chocolate chips) when it comes to flavor.  Both are very sweet.  But Cookie A is lacking a bit in the chocolate flavor department. They taste more like sugar cookies with a splash of chocolate, while Cookie B is absolutely a chocolate heavy weight. The moment you bite into Cookie B, you know that this is a chocolate cookie.  

Overall, if I were to make these cookies again, I would have to add the chocolate chips or increase the amount of chocolate in the recipe. The idea of adding an entire half pound of chocolate is intriguing, so maybe I’ll do that next time. Needless to say, my hubby (the chocoholic) is a happy camper, and there'll be plenty of powdered sugar on the floor for the dog to lick up. I've got one happy household. ♥

Cookie Grade:   
 “Cookie A” – B+ = good is you love sugar cookies

 “Cookie B” – A+ = great if you love chocolate cookies

What I was jammin’ to: The Beatles radio on Spotify…didn’t have to skip a single song, even though they played Yellow Submarine twice in a row.