Chocolate Crinkles

Posted Dec 16, 2011 | By Kelly Rudnicki |

The Chocolate Crinkle is the quintessential holiday cookie. Everyone loves them; they’re chocolaty, sweet, and look like cute little snowballs. They always make an appearance in cookie swaps and on holiday treat trays. But traditional recipes call for milk, and require excess steps like melting chocolate over a double boiler or chilling the dough for hours before using. For me, if I’m in the mood to make delicious holiday cookies with my five children, the cookies need to be fast and easy for everyone to make. These crinkles are my children’s favorite type of cookie and they can practically stir the dough and roll the balls in sugar themselves. It’s a lot of fun to make, bake and eat, and has become a staple at our house during the holidays.

 Milk-, Egg- and Nut-Free Chocolate Crinkles

• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 c. cocoa (I use Hershey)
• 2 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 c. unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. confectioners sugar

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugar, applesauce, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract until well combined. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt with a wire whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Put batter into resealable plastic bag and freeze until well chilled, about an hour. (Alternatively, chill in fridge 3-4 hours or overnight).

Preheat oven to 350° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut open bag with scissors. Lightly flour your hands with confectioners’ sugar and scoop out 1-inch balls of dough, and roll into a perfect balls. Drop into bowl with  confectioners sugar and roll until completely covered with sugar. Place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets and bake about 10 minutes or until cookies are just set. Do not over bake. Cool completely on cookie sheets.