Equal Pay For Equal Work Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
I know that over the years there has been much talk on the internets regarding the lack of accuracy in Martha Stewart’s recipes. I always figured there was some truth to it but that some portion could be attributed to personal tastes, preferences, and perceptions and it was no biggie. I rarely follow a recipe and so I’ve never had an issue with it. But a few months ago I checked out Martha Stewart’s Cookies book from the library and I loved it, so much that I returned it overdue and had to pay a fine. Last week I bought a copy for myself thinking I would use it as I always do, a reference to guide me.
Typically I choose an item to bake and then I pull 3 or 4 recipes from my bookshelf, the internets, and the library. I compare and contrast the components of each, make adjustments, and add my own something-something that screams Vanessa. I scribble it down in my notebook, bake it up, and move on. However, that’s a time consuming practice fraught with the perils of distraction wherein I lose hours browsing my way through books and the internets on subjects far from my intended topic.
As I’ve been kind of busy lately I just decided to throw caution to the wind and follow the recipe exactly. Wouldn’t you know the damn thing confounded me with two descriptions that just seemed totally inappropriate and I ended up making adjustments and noting them in the margins. Honestly, that will be the last time I ditch my method and follow a recipe blindly. Despite all that I still love Martha, mostly because she’s a kick-ass, alpha female… smart, tough, and talented. But since I reworked the recipe I decided to rename it too…my prerogative.
I love Martha’s technique for rolling the cookies in granulated sugar before rolling them in the powdered sugar. It makes the powdered sugar really cling to the cookies. I don’t understand why except that perhaps it provides more texture? Any ideas out there? The overnight stay in the refrigerator helps make the insides chewy and dense. Beating the eggs, butter, and sugar until fluffy and light gives them that high dome and lightness. This cookie has it all, deep rich chocolate flavor, a chewy middle and crispy outside surfaces, powdered sugar to get all over your face, plus they politely remind us about the wage disparity issue…all good things.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
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8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
1 cup powdered sugar for rolling
1 cup granulated sugar for rolling
Note: Once the cookie dough is mixed it will need to chill for at least a few hours… I recommend an overnight stay in Chez Refrigerator.
Put the chocolate in a glass bowl and put it in the microwave. Cook for 2 minutes on temperature level 7. Set it aside.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Using a mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together until they are well combines. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add the melted chocolate and mix to combine well. With mixer on low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk until just combined.
The dough should be pretty thick and heavy now. Leave it in the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and pop it into the refrigerator for its overnight stay or at least until really very firm (see note above).
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the dough when it is properly chilled and using either a tablespoon cookie scoop or just a normal tablespoon shovel up heaping tablespoons of dough and then roll them in your hands to create a ball (about ¾ the size of a ping pong ball). Drop it into a bowl of granulated sugar and roll it around to cover it then transfer it to a bowl of powdered sugar and roll it around again. Place it on a parchment or a silpat lined baking sheet, spacing each cookie about 1.5 inches apart. Bake for about 11-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them rest for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
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22 Responses to “Equal Pay For Equal Work Chocolate Crinkle Cookies”
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Mmm…I remember growing up my mom used to make cookies like these, but they had peppermint extract in them too. Thanks for bringing back memories :)
These look totally delicious! Perhaps I’ll make them on Saturday when I have the day to myself (yessss!). To add my two cents to your sugar question, I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that the granulated sugar gives the powder a dry surface to cling to. If you used only powdered sugar, I bet a lot of it would dissolve into the moist dough.
My mother called hers Chocolate Crackle Tops but they didn’t have the granulated sugar. They have cloves in them which I adore. B thinks the clove taste is overwhelming and I think it’s mild!! Go figure!! Maybe all those clove cigarettes I used to smoke dulled my clove receptors. Of course, the cookies predated the cigarettes, so maybe that’s why I loved the cigs so much….I’m a clove addict!
We made these cookies all the time growing up too. They were always a favorite- kinda fudgey and chewy and kinda crispy too. We never rolled them in granulated, only powdered. Now I think I need to make some of them.
I like the look of these cookies with the cracked white surface, so I will be noting down the rolling in two sugars trick. The wage comment sailed over my head I am afraid. But never mind, the cookies are fab!
Wow, these are really pretty. I especially like the idea the first commenter had about adding peppermint extract. I’m a sucker for the chocolate mint combo!
Can you tell me how many cookies this recipe makes? They look delectible and I would love to make them for my cookie exchange. Thanks!
Patti, 4 dozen.
Vanessa- these are my katie’s favorites! I will try “your” recipe as the one that I have drives me to distraction (it’s far too goey, even if I chill it overnight!).
Agree about Martha- I wrote a paper about her in my Business Ethics class last winter and she is a facinating topic!
happy Turkey day!
cheezmaker
That looks delicious. I have to try that out. :D
I have to agree with you about Martha Stewart. I have that cookie book and LOVE it. However, having tried several recipes from it, my cookies never ended up looking like hers. Mind you, they tasted good and some, I have to do some adjustment.
these look great…and so snowy!
Wow I have just put the dough at Hotel Refrigerator for the night, I can’t wait to bake them tomorrow morning before work!
The texture of the dough is really easy and lovely to work with!
Weeheeeee!! They are perfect! Such a nice recipe! The dough was nice and chilled in the morning, really easy to roll into balls. I baked them for 13′. Fabulous. A big hit with my coworkers! Thanks a lot!
I have a hard time following recipes too. They sort of cramp my style, but when I do the food often tastes better than when I wing it. This chocolate cookie recipe looks great so I’ll try to follow it to the letter. Thanks, Cristie
Actually those are so good I am baking a second batch. Two in a day, it’s nearly sinful :-)
The overnight refrigerator stay is the like the recipe for the BEST EVER choc. chip cookies in the NYTimes a few months ago. The recipe had to be refrigerated for 24 hours or more to allow the flour to ’soak up’ more of the moisture….it worked like a charm causing the best texture in the finished cookies. Must work in these, too!
OMG I made these for Thanksgiving yesterday… they are amazing! I made them with Askinosie Cocoa Powder which made them really rich and added chopped walnuts to half the batch per my mom’s request. I’ve actually had issues with Martha’s Cookie Book as well but if you haven’t tried it, her Baking Handbook is unbelievable. Thanks for the recipe!!
[...] also whipped up a batch of these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies from Martha Stewart’s Cookies. These. Were. [...]
I absolutely love this stuff.. I love the crackly outside and moist center. Looks great!
What were the two descriptions that were inappropriate? Inquiring minds want to know!
I tried the granulated sugar tip in this recipe today:
http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2007/12/original-new-glarus-bakery-pfeffernusse.html
It’s really true! The results were so much nicer. I describe it in a comment under that post.
I have just put the last of a double batch in the over for christmas gifts this weekend (over 150 cookies). I have just had 2 and they are to die for.