A Christmas Cookie...Chocolate Crinkles

Christmas cookies are a once-a-year indulgence. Holiday treats are part of every heritage, and the key is moderation. I'd rather my children consume real food--no matter how rich--than be tempted by the platters of store-bought goods and candies that are everywhere this time of year.

A couple of years ago I started baking for the holidays. I mean really baking. When DD17 was in treatment and we were stuck inside away from crowds, I decided to make as many different kinds of Christmas cookies as I could. Call it therapy, a creative outlet, or maybe even a way to jumpstart better memories.

So now I'm the designated Christmas cookie baker in my extended family, and other people around me have come to expect cookies, too. Everyone has their favorites, but I'll always try something new and occasionally even drop a favorite cookie recipe (when DD17 was diagnosed with nut allergies, I sadly stopped making most of the nut cookies which are so popular around the holidays).

Here's a recipe for Chocolate Crinkles. I've modified a couple of recipes to come up with this one, and you can certainly modify it further with different chocolates or deeper coffee flavor (one recipe I've seen uses espresso powder, of which I've never used, but I suspect is delicious here).

Chocolate Crinkles

1/2 cup butter
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. instant coffee granules
1 cup powdered sugar

In small saucepan, melt butter and chocolate. Let cool slightly. In mixer, blend sugar and chocolate/butter mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, until well mixed. Add vanilla. Sift together salt, flour, baking powder, and coffee granules. Add to mixer and blend well. Chill several hours, or overnight. Heat oven to 350. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into powdered sugar. Roll around and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Move to racks to cool. Makes about 50 cookies.