Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies

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Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies

Back in November, when all stores were full of festive spirit, green and red decor and Christmas carols, I stumbled upon a set of tiny little bottles of various mint oils and flavourings perfect for making winter desserts. I bought that set in hopes of making delicious homemade peppermint marshmallows and spearmint hot chocolate. December has come and gone and although I cooked and baked a lot, none of my creations included these ingredients. Well, ok, I'm lying here. I made a brownie cake topped with candy cane meringue. I actually made it specifically because I had these little bottles of winter goodness. Except I thought they were extracts and when it turned out that they were oils, I knew I had to use something else, otherwise meringues would deflate, so I crushed a bunch of candy canes and used those. Anyway, back to December. I have not used those flavourings and they just stared at me every time I opened my spices/oils cupboard. Finally, I felt guilty and started looking for minty desserts in my cookbooks. To my surprise, there were no recipes!! So, google to the rescue. I decided to give Martha Stewart's recipe a try and I am glad I did. I have never made Crackle cookies and I was worried that they wouldn't actually crackle, but they did and I was happy. Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies about 30 cookies Bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped - 2 ounces Unsalted butter - 4 tablespoons All-purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 1 teaspoon Unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder - 1/4 cup Sugar - 1 cup Eggs - 2 large Mint (or pepper mint or spearmint oil - 1/4 teaspoon Icing sugar for rolling - about 1/2 cup (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart * Melt chocolate together with butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Let the mixture cool slightly. * Whisk together flour, baking powder, and cocoa in a small bowl. * Whisk in eggs and sugar into a bowl of slightly cooled melted chocolate and butter, mix until smooth. * Whisk in Mint oil. * Stir in flour mixture. Mix well. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. * Preheat oven to 325 degrees. * Roll tablespoons of dough into balls using your palms, then roll in icing sugar to coat. * Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart. * Bake until slightly firm in the center, about 15 minutes. * Let cool slightly on sheets set on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely. * Comments * I don't usually use disposable gloves when I cook. You know, environment, recycle, etc. However, this is one of those times when gloves are really helpful. My hands were clean, chocolate dough did not touch my palms and the cleanup was a breeze. I highly recommend using gloves for this recipe. * Original recipe called for 3/4 teaspoon of extract, but I read that oil can be substituted. Usually 1 teaspoon of extract is equivalent to 1/4 teaspoon of oil. * These cookies are not too sweet and this is why I like them. For more rich flavour, I'd add more cocoa powder (maybe another 1/4 cup and perhaps 1/4 cup more sugar, but I actually like them as they are. Considering that these are chocolate cookies, they are pretty light. This post contains affiliate links.