Chocolate Crinkles part 2

I used my zester again.

Of course.

Chocolate orange crinkles again! I had good success with the last recipe (see entry from Jan 24) so I was planning on doing that one again for my roommate's birthday. I had no other plans on Thursday night, so I planned on a quiet evening at home--fold laundry, watch a TV show and make the cookie dough. As I should have anticipated, the couch managed to suck me in and I didn't get around to the dough.

I had promised to make my roommate something for his birthday, though, and I was still set on the idea of chocolate orange cookies. I managed to find a recipe that didn't require chill time AND didn't look like it would break my hand mixer.

This recipe doesn't require three hours of chill time, which is a huge plus. It doesn't even require half an hour, but the half hour does make the dough a lot easier to work with. I pushed the dough up the sides of the bowl to thin it out and give more surface area for chilling. It's a thick dough but nothing like the Fine Cooking recipe.

I used Hershey's Extra Dark cocoa, so the almost black color contrasted beautifully with the light orange sugar. Also, because of the cocoa, the chocolate flavor is much more pronounced. The texture is not as melt-in-your-mouth as the Chocolate Orange Crinkles, which has twice the number of eggs. Overall, it's a good recipe, especially if you don't have the time or foresight for three hours of chill time.

Batter was about standard cookie dough consistency, which meant it was rollable but soft and had to handled very gently to maintain the shape. Popping it in the fridge for half an hour--as I preheated the oven and cleaned up the counter--was perfect.

I didn't have enough oranges to use zest for flavoring the dough. Unless you NEED zest (e.g. orange sugar), extract's not a horrible way to get the flavor :)

The (now) obligatory orange zest shot.

Prepping the cookies gets sticky, so to eliminate multiple hand washings, I separated dough chunks with a spoon, then rolled the chunks into balls, and then dipped the balls in the orange sugar.

Color contrast between the first chocolate crinkle recipe (top, with melted chocolate) and this post's chocolate crinkle recipe (with dark cocoa). I personally liked the darker cookies but my date preferred the lighter ones. To each his own, I suppose.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Adapted from Williams Sonoma

½ cup sugar
Zest of one orange
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon orange extract
½ chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease 2 baking sheets with butter.

In another bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1¼ cups sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add 1 egg and beat on medium speed until blended. Add the other egg and vanilla and beat until blended. Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture. Beat on low speed just until blended.

Cover and place dough in fridge for half an hour. You can skip this step if you’re pressed on time, but the dough will be a little bit stickier and softer to work with.

While the dough is chilling, mix ½ cup sugar and orange zest in a bowl. Make sure to fully incorporate the zest until all of the sugar is light orange and fragrant.

Using a tablespoon, scoop up a rounded spoonful of dough. Scrape the dough off the spoon into the palm of your other hand. Roll the dough into a ball. Roll the ball in the orange sugar until covered. Place the balls on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat, spacing the balls about 2 inches apart.

When 1 baking sheet is full, put it in the oven and bake the cookies until they are crackled and puffed, 10 to 12 minutes. Using oven mitts, remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Using a metal spatula, move the cookies onto the rack and let cool completely. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. Makes about 24 cookies.