Espresso Crinkles...

Since we were going to be staying home this past Christmas eve, I threw together a batch of dough to make these Espresso Crinkles on Christmas day. We didn't really need cookies since we did just make those Iced Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies last Tuesday, but they didn't really fit in with the holiday theme and besides, one can never have enough cookies!

The dough for these cookies took just a couple minutes to throw together - no planning ahead for softened butter either, as they use just a couple tablespoons of canola oil instead. I used Dutch-process cocoa powder mainly because that is what I primarily have in the pantry - it has a smooth, rich chocolate flavor. However, natural cocoa powder would also work well - it has a slightly bitter edge, but can also be described as having a more rounded note.

Instant espresso powder is used in the dough, however there isn't enough called for to give the cookies a prominent coffee essence. What it does is dance with the cocoa powder to intensify the chocolate flavor - however, you could bump up the amount by a half teaspoon or so if you wanted the cookies to exude a bit more coffee bite. While the original recipe called for light corn syrup, I swapped that out for Lyle's Golden Syrup to give the cookies a mild caramel/burnt sugar background. The dough, once combined, will need to be well wrapped and left to hang out in the refrigerator for at least a couple hours or overnight.

Rolled into balls and dragged through a bowl of powdery confectioners' sugar to give them a snowy coating, the cookies are baked until spread out and the tops bust, leaving behind craggly crevices. Take these cookies out just before they are completely set - if you feel like you need to check, a toothpick placed in the center should have some sticky crumbs attached when pulled out. Be sure to let these cookies cool for at least 2 minutes (and maybe a couple extra, as needed) on the baking sheets - right out of the oven they are fairly soft, but they will firm up as they cool so you can move them to a wire rack.

Chewy through and through, sinking our teeth into these cracked rounds was like taking a bite from a rich brownie, just thinner! I stuck a couple of the cooled ones into a bag and stashed them into the freezer - when I went to take them out to thaw this morning, they looked and ended up tasting just as good as when we made them on Thursday! A tiny bit of the sugar coating on the outside faded away as they came to room temperature, but Jeff didn't even notice when I asked about it. So, I think these would definitely be a good candidate to be made ahead of time!

Recipes
Espresso Crinkles