Chocolate Krinkle Cookies

My husband won't be thrilled, but the Christmas tree is coming out December 1st. The first year we were married we went and bought a tree the day after Thanksgiving. Big mistake - we had pine needle litter days before Christmas actually arrived. Then, there were the many years I was finishing up finals a week before Christmas. It was simply impossible for me to think of Christmas until I was completely done with tests. And the last few years we have waited until December 15th or so. My husband is comfortable with this conservative date as too much "stuff" offends the finer points of his character. This year though I plan to pull out the tree as soon as December rolls around. Nathan my 5 year old certainly won't mind.

Why the thrill this year regarding Christmas? Yes, there is joy over the birth of my savior! I'm also just plain excited that I have two boys now. I want the Christmas "stuff", tradition, and Christmas music galore. I want to string popcorn and cranberries and read Christmas stories. I plan to make our favorite cinnamon ornaments (check back for a how-to post on those).

I also haven't forgotten about a favorite cookie of mine. They can certainly be enjoyed anytime, but I think the powdered sugar coating makes them a perfect choice for the holidays. I first came across this recipe in a Hershey's cookbook. No doubt, you have tried them or have called them by other names. I've made my original recipe gluten free and it has worked very well!

Chocolate Krinkle Cookies

Combine:

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups oil (I used Canola)

Add:

3/4 cup cocoa

4 eggs - beat in one at a time

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix the following in another bowl, then add to the above mixture:

2 1/3 cup gluten free flour (I used 1 1/3 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch, 1/2 cup sorghum)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthan or guar gum

1 teaspoon gelatin (optional - gives more chewy texture)

Refrigerate dough for several hours. Measure out by heaping tablespoon full, roll dough into ball, roll ball in powdered sugar and place on baking sheet. I can't help but take the palm of my hand and press them down a bit. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. These cookies do best when removed from the oven while still underdone. They should be crusted over or cooked around the edges, but still pretty "loose" especially in the center. Let them cool long enough on the cookie sheet in order to remove them. Or, simply slide them off along with the parchment sheet if you can do that without messing them up. That way you can get another batch started on another piece of parchment sheet and into the oven. They will firm up while cooling like a brownie would. This will produce a cookie that still stays moist and chewy inside. At least that's the way I like my cookies!!

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Today is October 31st and my 5 year old is finally laying in bed asleep - his body desperately trying to process all the sugar he ate today. What a happy boy! I'm so glad that mucho candy is gluten free. By the way, there is a 2008 gluten free candy list available. What a lifesaver. Oh dear, I seem to have written another pun. I can't help myself sometimes.

Nathan's Kindergarten class had a party today. He put on his $12.95 Walmart Spiderman costume and thoroughly enjoyed himself. I furnished some Cool Ranch Doritos and M&M individual-sized bags for the class. I knew they were having Capri Sun and that was fine. I also made him a pumpkin-shaped sugar cookie. About 80% of the candy he received in a little bag was gluten free as well. Wow - that class party was not so scary after all. However, I definitely needed to be there to help him chart his way through the mine field.

I have to share with you that the day before I put a mini M&M candy bag in with his lunch. I didn't tell him it was there, because I didn't want him eating it on the bus on the way to school! I normally tell him what is in his lunch because I want him to know it is all there for him and gluten free. He came home that day and told me, "Hey, Mommy - there's something in my lunch bag." So, he pulls out the candy and I see that it is unopened. He explained that he was trying to get a teacher's attention to ask if it was gluten free so he could eat it, but then the bus came and he had to put it back in his lunch bag. While I intended it to be a surprise for him at lunch, I was thrilled to know that he had the self-control to not eat something he wasn't sure about. Needless to say, I was very proud of my boy.

Okay, I just had to share with you about my day. This post really is about chocolate chip cookies. They are my favorite, and I love them fresh out of the oven with milk. I've been on a quest for the best recipe possible and I'm thinking I've found it. As I sat eating my third cookie in a row (shamelessly I might add), I declared to my husband, "This is the best chocolate chip cookie I've made!" And it is!

I'm not sure how this recipe will hold up to substitutions. For instance, I haven't tried making it with tapioca starch, only corn starch. I think some cookies are just fickle things, so I'm not recommending any substitutions beyond omitting the chocolate chips. But then, why would you want to do that! While I think just about all cookie dough performs best after being chilled, this also is very good baked up right away.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Mix the following dry ingredients together in a separate bowl besides your mixing bowl:

1 cup rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum

1 cup corn starch

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon gelatin (found in the Jello section)

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Cream together:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

Add:

1 teaspoon vanilla.

2 eggs

Add dry ingredients to the wet.

Mix well.

Add 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts and 1 and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Shape into 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch balls on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.