Tried and Tested: Crinkles Recipe

I love Crinkles!  I have a sweet tooth so anything that has sugar (and chocolate!) is heaven for me! Heehee. . . Some people call them cookies.  How do I describe them?  Eating them is like eating a chocolate cake/fudgy brownie coated in powdery white sugar!  

The best Crinkles I've had (in no particular order) were from Becky's Kitchen (along P. Ocampo St. in Singalong, Manila), HungryPac, and believe it or not. . . from the cafeteria of ADB!  (THE Asian Development Bank in Mandaluyong).  So if you have family or friends who work in ADB, consider yourself lucky because you have a way of getting them!  

When we moved to LA, I had a sudden craving for this sweet treat so I googled for a recipe and found this posted at www.allrecipes.com (Thanks to a member, Ingrid!).  I chose this recipe because the ingredients are easy to find and the directions are pretty simple.

These crinkles turned out pretty good and have given them as Christmas gifts to family and friends (which they liked. . . sabi nila, haha!).  But I am still dreaming about those Crinkles which I've mentioned earlier.  

This Crinkles recipe works so I am still keeping it but I would like to still try other recipes for this chocolate treat.  Do you have a favorite Crinkles recipe?  Care to share it? =)

(UPDATE as of June 2016, I found my favorite crinkle recipe for keeps!  Please click here if you want to read about it.)

If you want to try baking Crinkles, you may want to try this recipe =)

Please click on this link to go to the original post at www.allrecipes.com.

*This recipe makes 6 dozen crinkles

Ingredients:

- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

- 2 cups white sugar

- 1/2 cup vegetable oil

 - 4 eggs

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

- 2 cups all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 cup Confectioner's Sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil.  Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture.  Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Roll dough into one inch balls.  I like to use a number 50 size scoop.  Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.  Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

My Personal Notes:

1. If you are fond of baking and plan to do lots of it, I suggest that you get a digital weighing scale. (Mine wasn't expensive at all, there are reasonably-priced ones out there).  One of the things I learned about baking (unlike cooking) is the importance of accuracy in measuring the ingredients. Also, I suggest googling the right weight for each ingredient.  Case in point, the weight of one cup of sugar (200 grams) is different from a cup of cocoa powder (100 grams). They  may seem the same because they are both "1 cup" but there's actually a big difference in the weight.

2. I read some reviews for this recipe and some of the suggestions I read were:

 - If you don't have 4 hours, freeze the dough for a couple of hours (instead of chilling it)

 - Use Dutch processed cocoa powder for a more intense chocolate taste

- Make sure to really cover your balls with lots of Confectioner's sugar so you get that Crinkle to crack

3. If you don't have a number 50 scoop (like me!) to use for the ball, just eyeball it.=)

4. For lesser mess, just drop the ball directly into a bowl of confectioner's sugar and roll it around.

5. I suggest baking small batches in different times (10, 11 or 12 mins) to know which would give you the Crinkles you like. 

6. In my experience and I don't know if this has a scientific basis (because Baking is Science), I feel that the crinkles---which I baked using a dough that was frozen overnight--- tasted better, haha! (Whew, that was a long sentence! Haha!)

HAPPY BAKING!