chocolate crinkles

Per Joanna's request:

Chocolate Crinkles

1/2 C vegetable oil
4 sq unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 C sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 C powdered sugar
Mix oil, chocolate, and sugar.  Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed.  Add vanilla.  In seperate bowl mix flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to oil mixture.  Chill several hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350.  Shape teaspoonsful of dough into balls and drop into powdered sugar.  Roll in sugar.  Place about 2" apart on greased baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 min.  Do not overbake!

Cool on cookie sheet a couple of minutes; cool completely on wire wrack.

Pour a glass of milk and indulge.

Double Chocolate Fudge Cups

Travis requested these majorly chocolately cupcakes for his birthday. 
This recipe came from Kraft Food & Family magazine.

Ingredients:
3 squares semi-sweet baking chocolates
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/3 C unsweetened cocoa powder
4 egg whites
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
4 Tbsp cool whip

Directions:
Microwave chocolate and oil in glass measuring cup on High 1-2 mins.  Stir in cocoa powder; let stand at least 5 mins.

Beat egg whites and sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed 3 mins or until tripled in volume.  Reduce speed to med low; blend in melted chocolate mixture until well combined.

Spoon batter into 6 paper-lined medium muffin cups; muffin cups can be almost full.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven 18 mins or until puffed and center is set.  Remove from oven and let stand in pan 5 mins

Serve with whipped topping.

There's 190 calories and 8g of fat in one of these babies - not too bad for a cupcake!

World, meet the cookie brownie

Going through left over Valentine's candy I found some Hershey Hugs for half price.

I thought to myself, "I need to make a cookie like a peanut butter blossom but with Hugs."

And thus the quest began.

I talked with my sister-in-law, a very good baker.  I discussed things with my mom, another accomplished baker.  I glanced through allrecipes.com, checked the index in multiple cookbooks, read the suggestions on the Hugs' bag, and I thought about what I wanted.  It had to be chocolate and chewy like a brownie, but not a brownie.  I also wanted to make something from scratch - not just make a brownie mix and pretend it was a cookie.

That's when the 1963 Betty Crocker's Cooky Book came through once again.  I took old Betty's brownie recipe, made some modifications, experimented a bit, and ended up with a cookie I'm quite pleased with.  It kinda looks like a brownie and it tastes like a brownie, but it's not as crumbly, gooey or sticky as brownies can be.  So it travels like a cookie but tastes like a brownie.

Ingredients

2/3 C margarine, softened

4 Tbsp oil*

2 C + 1 Tbsp sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 C + 2 tsp cocoa powder*

3 1/4 C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 bag Hershey Hugs, unwrapped

Beat shortening, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Separately mix cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt.

Blend together.

Make small balls out of dough and place on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.

Place Hug in center of each cookie, softly pressing down on each one.

Allow cookie to cool on baking sheet.

*You can use 4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and blended with shortening.  Omit the cocoa and oil if using squares.

I hope you like it!  Let me know if you try it and enjoy it.  But don't tell me if you don't like it - I can't handle rejection.