Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

 

I wanted to create a healthy version of a Chocolate Crinkle Cookie that would be moist and have the same fine texture and delicateness of a traditional chocolate crinkle cookie.This recipe is adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook , a well known resource for cooking and baking. The changes I made to the original recipe are:

• Decrease the amount of brown sugar from 1 1/2 cups to just 1/2 cup of brown sugar, The dark chocolate, cocoa, and espresso  enhances the rich chocolate flavor without the added sugar.
• Decrease the number of eggs from 3 to 1, and add plain Greek yogurt.  Substituting Greek yogurt for part of the eggs in a cookie recipe helps to maintain protein content while decreasing the amount of fat and calories.  In baked goods a 1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt can be substituted for each egg.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

This recipe makes 30 to 32 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup white flour (5 ounces)

1/2 cup unsweetened 100% cocoa (1 1/2 ounces)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)

3 ounces dark chocolate chips

1 large egg

1/2 cup light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)

1/2 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons espresso powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces )

1/2 cup  confectioner’s sugar (2 ounces)

Using a food scale to measure ingredients helps to ensure accuracy and quality of cookies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Into a medium bowl sift  flour and cocoa. Mix in the baking powder and baking soda.
3. Microwave the chocolate chips and butter together in a bowl at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 2-3 minutes.
4. Whisk brown sugar, egg, Greek yogurt, espresso powder and vanilla together in a large bowl.
5. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir together until well combined. Fold in the flour mixture until no dry streaks remain. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Place granulated sugar and confectioner’s sugar in two separate small bowls. Form cookie dough by using  a one tablespoon cookie scooper and rolling dough into balls. Roll balls of dough first into granulated sugar and then into the confectioner sugar. Evenly space balls of dough on to prepared cookie sheets.
7. Bake cookies one sheet at a time, until cookies are puffed and cracked and the edges have begun to set, and the centers are soft but not gooey. Bake about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cookie rack and cool completely.