Chocolate Crinkles - to make the world a better place

Have you seen this movie? It's one of my favourites. It's definitely a unique movie that has ejected itself from the mainstream of Hollywood movies. It's got wit, charm, heart. I especially love the fact that the movie features writers and bakers. :)
In the movie, Will Ferrell meets a quirky baker, Maggie Gyllenhaal. And, of course, they meet to fall in love. (What other reason could there be??) Will Ferrell asks the quirky baker how she came to be baker and she replies that she initially wanted to be a lawyer to make the world a better place but dropped out of law school to become a baker. She figured that she would make the world a better place with cookies instead of with law as the latter wasn't working out for her. Isn't that great? Isn't that what all of us should strive to do with what we do, whether we end up where we planned to be or not? To make the world a better place - by baking, waitressing, or dog-walking, if we all did what we do with this mindset, we can totally improve the world, right?

So here's my contribution to healing the world and making a better place - Chocolate Crinkles. Yeah~I have nick-named these 'brownie cookies' - if you love brownies you cannot not love these little babies.




Chocolate Crinkles
adaptd from Joy of Baking (Stephanie Jaworski) -> Have you been to this site? It's totally amazing! I'll probably end up downloading all of the recipes on this site!!!

You need:

• 4 Tbsp (56g) unsalted butter
• 8oz (225g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 C (100g) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 C (210g) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Topping: 1 C (110g) confectioners sugar, sifted
• I didn't have enough chocolate to melt so I added 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder - I did see another Chocolate Crinkle recipe that added cocoa powder.

1. In a stainless steel bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and set aside
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the melted chocolate mixture.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls (3-4hrs or overnight)
4. Preheat oven to 325 d F (170 d C) and place rack in the center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Place the confectioners sugar in a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands, roll a small amount of chilled dough to form a 1 inch diameter ball. Place the ball of dough into the confectioners sugar and roll the ball in the sugar until it is completely coated and no chocolate shows through. Gently lift the sugar-covered ball, tapping off excess sugar, and place on prepared baking sheet. Place the cookies 2 inches apart. (If you find the dough getting too soft for rolling into balls, return to the refrigerator and let chil until firm) I was a little impatient (I wanted the cookies NOW) so I stuck the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. The dough was very flaky so I took the amount I needed for a cookie and squeezed them a few times with my hands like I was playing with a playdough and it was quite easy to mold.
6. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centers are still soft. (For moist chewy cookies do not over bake. Over baking will give you dry cookies) Leave on the pan until the cookies are set. Place on a wire rack to cool.
7. Makes about 3 dozen.

P.S. - I had my first baking burn today. I burned my index finger and thumb. Now, I'm a real baker..right?