Dark Chocolate Espresso Crinkles

Holy Moly!!   These Dark Chocolate Espresso Crinkles are soooooo amazing!  I am a Chocolate Chip Cookie girl at heart, but once I tried these I found my new true love.  I love coffee flavor so much that the hint of espresso in these cookies just put them over the top for me!

I actually first tried these one day when I wanted to make cookies and didn’t have any butter softened.  I wanted instant gratification without waiting on butter to soften…or sacrificing perfect texture.   So in my search for a recipe that called for melted butter, I found this one in my America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook.  I just tweaked it slightly!  Here’s how to make them…

Start by chopping the unsweetened chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl, along with the butter.  Microwave in 20 second intervals stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted.  Set on the counter and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, and espresso powder in a large bowl.  (Instant coffee can be substituted for espresso powder.)  Add the chocolate and butter mixture and stir to combine.

Add the flour, dutch process cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine all ingredients.  Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients until there are no dry streaks.  Allow the dough to sit for 10 minutes.

One of the genius things about this recipe is the double sugar roll!  One roll in granulated sugar and one in powdered sugar.  Gives the cookies great texture!

For 4 dozen small cookies, scoop dough into one tablespoon portions using a tablespoon or a 1 tablespoon scoop.  For 2 dozen large cookies, scoop dough use a 2 tablespoon scoop.  Drop cookies (unrolled) directly into granulated sugar and roll around to coat, then roll into a ball.  Then roll the sugar coated ball into the powdered sugar and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet….one dozen cookies per sheet.

Bake one sheet at a time for 8-9 minutes for the small cookies, 10-12 minutes for the larger cookies.  The cookies will puff up and crackle and will be soft in the center.  Allow cookies to cool completely on the sheet pans.

One of the tweaks I made was to use dark brown sugar and dutch process cocoa powder for an extra dark deep chocolate flavor.  The other is adding a bit more espresso powder than the recipe called for..  These cookies are still delicious with natural cocoa powder, light brown sugar, and without the addition of espresso powder…but they are deeply chocolatey and deliciously complex as written.These Dark Chocolate Espresso Crinkles are totally enjoyable either way!!  Give them a try…I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!!

Print Recipe

Dark Chocolate Espresso Crinkles

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cup dark brown sugar packed
• 3 eggs
• 4 tsp instant espresso
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped
• 4 Tbs butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Heat oven to 325° and position rack to middle position.
• Chop unsweetened chocolate and add to a microwave safe bowl. Add butter and microwave in 20 second intervals stirring after each, until chocolate is melted. Allow to cool. Whisk together brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and espresso powder together in a large bowl. (Instant coffee can be substituted for espresso powder.) Add the chocolate and butter mixture and stir to combine.
• Whisk flour, Dutch process cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Fold flour mixture into wet ingredients until there are no dry streaks. Allow the dough to sit for 10 minutes.
• For 4 dozen small cookies, scoop dough into one tablespoon portions using a tablespoon or a 1 tablespoon scoop. For 2 dozen large cookies, portion dough using a 2 tablespoon scoop. Drop cookies (unrolled) directly into granulated sugar and roll around to coat, then roll into a ball. Next, roll the sugar coated ball into the powdered sugar and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet… one dozen cookies per sheet.
• Bake one sheet at a time for 8-9 minutes for small cookies, 10-12 minutes for large cookies. Cookies will puff up and crackle and will be soft in the center. Allow cookies to cool on the sheet pans.
• These cookies are still delicious with natural cocoa powder, light brown sugar, and without the addition of espresso powder...but they are deeply chocolatey and deliciously complex as written. Totally enjoyable either way!! This recipe is slightly adapted from ATK’s Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

This recipe is slightly adapted from ATK’s Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.