Christmas Crinkles!

I love that name. The word crinkle makes me smile. It's such a perfect word for that kind of a look...

Or the top of a sheet...

Or a cookie!

I wanted to try to fancy up chocolate crinkles for the holidays and/or the farm stand next summer. Chocolate is a huge favorite with customers, so I'm always on the look out and this recipe is wonderful. I based it on one I found online and the one I used to use and the result was a really good, chewy cookie that could actually be used as a whoopie pie or moon pie (half chocolate/half white icing)... but let's look at the Merry Christmas version today!

This recipe makes about five to six dozen cookies. I wanted a big batch so I could freeze some.

CHOCOLATE CRINKLES

4 cups flour
1 cup cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Mix those together and set aside.

In large mixing bowl, cream these three ingredients until light and fluffy:

2 cups soft butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar (I use dark brown because I like that background flavor tucked behind the chocolate)
1/4 cup Hershey's Chocolate Syrup

Once this is fluffy, add 4 eggs, and beat until thoroughly mixed. Then add flour mix, 1/2 at a time, blending it in.

PHOTO BOMB OF HALLMARK'S "CHRISTMAS TOWN" PLAYING IN BACKGROUND... :)

Using a medium cookie scoop, drop about 2-3 inches apart on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees until cookie is soft but set in the middle. In my convection oven, this was about 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cookies will deflate and "crinkle" as they sit.

Once they're cool, dip half of cookie into melted white chocolate or regular chocolate for a "Death by Chocolate" type experience! I did mine with white chocolate and sprinkled crushed candy cane over them for a more festive appearance. We didn't "dip" them, though. That was like white chocolate overkill. Instead, I painted the chocolate on, swirling it with a spoon, and then Ava and Shannon sprinkled crushed candy cane dust (which is akin to fairy dust and can be used in place of fairy dust in an emergency situation) over the chocolate. These are crazy delicious cookies! A new fave!

Definitely going to stand the test of the Herne and Blodgett family holiday celebrations. We'll see what the "fam" thinks!

Multi-published inspirational author Ruth Logan Herne is just at home at the keyboard or the Kitchen Aid mixer, both of which are considered specialized equipment in her house! You can find her hunkered down, hiding, writing sweet stories that make folks smile, cry or just go "aww..." OR you can friend her on facebook, follow her on Twitter (she doesn't like Twitter, but follow her anyway) stop by her website ruthloganherne.com or simply email Ruthy at loganherne@gmail.com. She loves to hear from folks!