CHOCOLATE CRINKLES: Guest post by Judy Clemens

The Holidays are right around the corner! Let the Cookie Recipes begin! And what cookie tastes most like the holidays than Chocolate Crinkles? Today I welcome back my mystery writing friend Judy Clemens aka JC Lane. J.C. Lane is the author of the thriller Tag, You’re Dead. Judy also writes mysteries as Judy Clemens, including the Stella Crown series and the Grim Reaper mysteries. 

Judy Clemens:
Chocolate Crinkles

When I was in kindergarten I lived with my family in Evanston, Illinois, while my father went to school for his doctorate in organ performance. We lived in student housing and I walked with my brother, then in fourth grade, to the local public school. My teacher, Mrs. McKnight, was a formidable presence, and I remember more than once hiding my face while she yelled at the class. On my birthday, however, my mom sent Chocolate Crinkles to school with me, and Mrs. McKnight loved them so much she asked me to bring her the recipe. After that, our relationship became one I wasn’t quite as afraid to pursue.

This recipe – my favorite cookie – comes from Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, first published in 1962. I now have the book, snatched from my mother’s library when she was downsizing for a move. I have used the recipe many times for gifts, my family’s dining pleasure, and post-season soccer games, when my daughter had friends calling dibs to sit beside her so they could have a cookie when our team scored (a Bluffton High School boys’ team tradition). This year, although my son graduated and I’m no longer responsible for taking cookies, another mom asked me for the recipe, and other fans remembered with fondness eating Chocolate Crinkles at last year’s district games.

May you enjoy these as much as I always have, and bring deliciousness to those around you!

CHOCOLATE CRINKLES

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 squares (4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions
Mix oil, chocolate, and granulated sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture. CHILL SEVERAL HOURS OR OVERNIGHT.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough into confectioners’ sugar. Roll in sugar, shape into balls. Place about 2” apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes.  
Do not overbake!

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen cookies.