Just Add More Chocolate.

Have you ever experienced this terrible dilemma, one that forces to you to stop everything to sit down to weigh all the pros and cons of your options: brownies or cookies?  That was my conundrum.  Then I had a light bulb go off.  I replaced that before further brainstorming, because no one likes a gloomy kitchen.  Then neurons began firing together in an orderly fashion across synapses, and I started looking for chewy chocolate cookie recipes, thinking maybe a chocolate lover really can have it all.  Maybe you can have both brownies and cookies at the same time.  And you can, if you don't overcook these chocolate crinkle cookies. The first time I made them, the first batch came out too crunchy.  But the next batches have turned out very well.

What I did wrong the first time:

1)  Baked the cookies too long.  They should almost feel underdone when taken out of the oven to harden to a more brownie-like consistency.

2) Didn't add enough powdered sugar to really get "crinkles."

3) Used all the dough at once.  This dough can get sticky and difficult to work with if it warms up too much, so it does work best if chilled overnight or used in two batches.

What I changed:

Added a bag of chocolate chips.  I found the taste without extra chocolate too bland, but then again, I love chocolate.  If you like a more subtle chocolate taste, skip this addition.

First, I stirred the cocoa powder and sugar together, then added the vegetable oil. The addition of the oil won't make the mixture very wet.

Then I added the eggs one at a time, mixing each in lightly before adding the next. Adding eggs one at a time allows the fats in the oil to emulsify with the eggs.  The result is a smoother, easier-to-mix dough. After adding the eggs, I stirred in the vanilla.

After that, I mixed the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, and salt), and added them to the chocolate mixture.  I added half first, mixed, then added the other half, so that it would be easier to combine.

The dough should be very stiff at this point.  Finally, I poured in a 12 ounce bag of semisweet chocolate chips and folded them in before covering the dough and putting it in the fridge to chill.

After six hours*, I lined baking trays with parchment and preheated the oven to 350°F, poured the confectioner's sugar into a small bowl, and got out a scoop.  I took the dough out of the fridge and working quickly, formed the dough into balls and rolled them in the confectioner's sugar to thoroughly coat them, placing them on the parchment-lined sheets. I got two trays done before the dough warmed up enough that it started to stick to my hands, so I popped the rest of the dough back in the fridge to bake later.

I like to make small but thick round cookies, but you could flatten the balls out to form more traditional large crinkle cookies like the kind you might find in a bakery. You wouldn't get as many on the tray and would have to watch the cooking time, because flatter cookies bake faster.  I use the convection setting on our oven, so I take the cookies out after a short seven minutes.  They will still feel soft, but after sitting on the pan for another minute or two, you can easily lift them with a spatula, and they'll harden into something part cookie, part brownie, and all delicious.

DEEMS THIS RECIPE:
Easier than pie.

*Six hours was an arbitrary amount of time.  I decided I wanted to bake them after running errands and making dinner, which happened to be about six hours.  Just remember to let the dough to chill for at least four.

N.B.: I'll be experimenting with another camera and the settings on my phone camera over the next few weeks.  Please bear with me, as the quality of pictures may fluctuate until I determine the best setup!