Christmas is almost here. Even during the pandemic, walking around your area seeing, all the decorations, lights up your spirit. To celebrate this festival, I started baking classic sugar cookies for Christmas past few years. I love the whole process. Making the dough, cutting them into shapes, bake and then decorating them. I find the icing process very therapeutic.
This year too, I wanted to go all out to create sweet memories with our new addition to our family, my daughter. But, as much as I enjoy baking, I could not manage much time with an active toddler!
But not baking at all was not an option, so I whipped up a quick batch of chocolate crinkle cookies. If you do not want to put too much effort or are new baking, this is a good recipe. They are simple to bake and very delicious.
You can enjoy these as a quick dessert or with a glass of milk.
The cracked top looks gorgeous and are perfect gift option for the holiday season. Put the cookies in a decorative bag and tie it up with a bow or pack it in tin cookie boxes. One would think you bought them from a store.
So let, get into the recipe, shall we?
Yield: 15 approximately.
Recipe:
- Butter – 84 gms
- Castor Sugar – 112 gms
- Icing Sugar – 46 gms
- Eggs – 1 no
- All-Purpose Flour – 125 gms
- Cocoa Powder -29 gms
- Baking Powder – 2.5 gms
- Baking Soda – 1.5 gms
Method:
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.
- Preheat the oven at 180°C.
- Cream the butter and sugar (both castor & icing) until it turns pale and fluffy. Use a machine for this.
- Crack the egg in a bowl and give it a quick whisk.
- Once the butter and sugar, well combined, add the egg gradually.
- Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and soda together.
- Once the egg is combined, add in the flour and mix well to form a dough.
- Now chill the dough for 2 hours or until it is firm.
- Make dough balls of 30 gms each.
- Pop it in the refrigerator for 15-20 mins.
- Just before baking, roll them in icing sugar and place them on the baking tray.
- Bake them at 180°C for 15-16 mins. Bake just until the edges are slightly firm, but the centre is still soft.
Note:
- If you are using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. If using a handheld machine, use the beater attachment. You can mix by hand too, but it will require some serious elbow grease.
- Use a whisk to mix the dry ingredients. It quick and flours mix well.
- Use good quality cocoa powder, as this where you will get the flavour.
- Do not overbake the cookies as they will be hard and dry. They will harden as they cool.
- If packing them in a cookie tin box, add parchment paper at the bottom and in between each layer.
You should have a beautiful cracked top. Enjoy your hard earned cookies. Merry Christmas and happy baking!
