Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

These are crisp on the surface with a soft and gooey centre. These are great for the holiday season as the white powdered sugar contrasts dramatically with the deep brown chocolate crevices and they look as though they are covered in snow. The recipe is from "Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking" by Shirley Corriher. These are Shirley's favourite cookies! She is a food scientist (as well as a cook) thus her recipes are very reliable. The dough needs to be refrigerated for a few hours or overnight. Makes 3 to 5 dozen, depending on size.

• Ready In: 42 mins
• Yields: 60 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3⁄4 cups  spooned and leveled all-purpose flour, plus
• 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 8  ounces  semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 3⁄4 cups sugar, divided
• 1⁄3 cup canola oil
• 2  tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2  large eggs
• 1  large  egg yolk
• 2  teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1  cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, beat together well the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.
2. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute, stir, and microwave for 15 seconds more and stir.
3. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together 2 1/2 cups (17.5 oz/496 g) of the sugar, the oil, and corn syrup to blend. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Then on low, beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat in on low speed.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
5. About 30 minutes before you are ready to bake, arrange a shelf in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F/163 degrees Celsius Line a baking sheet with Release foil (nonstick side up).
6. Take out about one-quarter of the dough at a time to shape. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 to 2-inch (3.8 to 5 cm) balls. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup (1.8 oz/51 g) granulated sugar into one bowl and the confectioners' sugar in another bowl. Roll each cookie dough ball lightly in granulated sugar first, then very heavily in confectioners' sugar. (By rolling in plain sugar first, the confectioners' sugar does not soak in so much and stays on the surface better.).
7. Arrange cookies 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the foil. For crisp cookies, bake 12 to 14 minutes. You can have several sheets of foil covered with cookies ready.
8. When one sheet is done, you can pull off the foil and move cookies to a cooling rack. Rinse the baking sheet with cold water to cool and then slip the sheet under another sheet of foil with cookies on it and get it right back into the oven. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.