Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These cookies are really between a cookie and a fudgy brownie. The batter does have to chill for about 4 hours, or overnight, but the reward is worth it! By the way, I am trying out step by step pictures. Let me know how you guys like them.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Yields: Around 2 1/2 dozen

1 cup good quality cocoa
2 cups castor (granulated) sugar
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar for coating

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fareneheit or 180 degrees Celcius.

In a large mixing bowl, dump in the cocoa.

Add the sugar, even though this picture looks like there is no bowl. :)

Stir really well, smashing any lumps of cocoa.

Next, pour in the oil and mix until it is like wet sand. From here, you could use a hand mixer if you wanted to, but it's not necessary. 

Mix in the oil, and then beat in the eggs, one at a time. 

Before eggs, and...

After eggs. We now have a super smooth, glossy batter. 

Add some vanilla to the batter to balance out the flavors. 

In a separate, smaller bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Do not add the powdered sugar; that's for later. 

In small increments, add the dry to the wet, mixing in between additions. 

You're going to have to use some muscle, but don't worry: It will come together. 

The batter will have turned into a soft dough, and it must be chilled. 

Into the fridge for at least 4 hours. Any less and the dough would be pudding when you try to roll the balls. 

After chilling, roll the dough into 1 inch balls (about a tablespoon of dough) and toss in the powdered sugar until well coated. 

This sounds odd, but trust me. It will be great. :)

Pop them into the preheated oven for 10 to 20 minutes, checking every few minutes. They should be taken out when mostly firm around the edges, but they will remain softish in the middle. Even when cool, these cookies are soft, chewy, and fudgy. 

Yum! See the crinkles? These go well with coffee, or they are great to have on days ending in y.

This is my title cause I have no idea what to title this post.

It's been a while, I know. Sometimes, when one has good intentions to do something, but that something isn't mission critical, that something gets pushed down the to-do list. And pushed. And pushed. School has been good, but it is getting tough. I like a challenge though. Work has been awesome. The first few days I was sort of nervous, but now it's really fun. All of the other chefs working at Prego are super nice and they give great advice. So far I have learned some new knife techniques, made pizza dough, learned how to roll the pizza dough into proper dough balls, made deep-fried feta and fig stuffed risotto balls thingys, learned how to butcher a duck, and I'm learning a lot about Italian cuisine. For example, Tuscani means food that is made very rustic by using rosemary, sage, garlic, and basil. The aromatics in Italian are quite superb. Chopping up the fresh herbs is my favorite. For a couple days afterward, my hands smell like pizza! Seeing how a kitchen works and all of the different aspects of it has been great. If someone orders a Caesar salad, the order goes to the chef whose station is antipasti and salads. He then preps the salad while asking the main course chef for a grilled chicken breast. Everything comes together, final touches are applied by the chef at the pass (the area where dishes are handed from the kitchen to the waiters and then to the customers) and the food is out. The order tag is discarded and the process begins again with new orders.

The reason I have been a terrible blogger lately is that I have been so busy with regular stuff that has to be done, I haven't had any extra time. I haven't even cooked, apart from work, in a month!! My knives are so sad. They say, "Please, use us! We are so sad from staying in this old kitchen drawer all the time." On the topic of other things, the horse show this year went really well. I competed in the beginner category, this being my first show competing. I won 1st place in the ball and bucket race, 2nd place in equitation, and 2nd place in the hat race. I had a blast, even though I hardly slept the whole weekend.

So, yeah. Life has been good. Today I went to my favorite coffee shop, went swimming at a friend's house, and managed to have some time to blog. I will try to make something over the weekend or next week, and then let you know how it goes. Ooooh, and by the way, we went to see Lincoln, and it  was really good. I highly recommend it. Thanks for reading!