Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

I'm trying sooo hard to get caught up on Christmas recipes before Valentine's day rolls around.  It's a little bit hard when your kid is STILL out of school.  Whose idea was THAT?  I mean he only goes to preschool for 4 hours a week but it's sure killing me to have two toddlers home alldayeveryday.  Is this how it feels when your kids are off for summer vacation?  Seriously.  Somebody needs to invent a daycare "holiday camp" where you can send kids when they're off-school and they're supposed to be on "vacation".  And since it would be called "holiday camp" no one would be like: "Wow, you're a lazy butt mom because you don't want your kids home 24/7 to spend quality time with you".  Instead they'd be like: "Awww.  You're so nice to let them do that, I bet your kids love it!"   And secretly you'd be nodding inside thinking about how you're going to be able to vacuum in peace without anybody using the cord as a lasso or chasing after you with the sucker piece while you scream that dead spiders live in there.

It could be a moneymaker!

For best results, this dough should rest in your fridge overnight, so keep that in mind before you make it. The dough can be made up to 4 days in advance. Also- you can omit the peppermint extract if you'd like to make the plain chocolate version of these.

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

Recipe slightly adapted from Bakers Royale

• 1 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour  (I used 9 oz.)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (If you want a dark beautiful color use a dark chocolate- I used 60% cacao and next time will do 75%)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup of canola oil
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and warm, not hot (or it will cook your eggs!)
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (can omit if using peppermint extract)
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

For Rolling:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup powdered sugar

1. In a medium bowl, beat together well the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on 50 percent power for 1 minute, then stir. Microwave for 30 seconds more and stir.  Continue microwaving for 30 seconds at 50% power until completely melted. Mine took 2 minutes total.
2. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together 2 1/2 cups of the sugar, the oil, butter and corn syrup to blend. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla and peppermint extract. Then on low, beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture and beat in on low speed. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
3. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Pour the 1/4 cup granulated sugar into one small bowl and the confectioners’ sugar into another small bowl.  Use an overflowing #40 or 2Tbsp cookie scoop to form 3 inch balls. (I just scoop it right out of the cookie dough brick, like ice cream.) Roll each cookie lightly in granulated sugar immediately after forming (if it sits for even a few minutes it will dry out and the sugar won't stick well).  Then roll heavily in confectioner's sugar. After forming an entire cookie sheet (I do 6 balls per sheet), put dough back in fridge until cookie sheet is ready again.
4. Bake 10-14 minutes.  I bake mine for 14 and they are crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. Perfect.
5. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.  I prefer to eat these the day they were made, but if you find it impossible to eat an entire batch in one day, you can add a piece of plain bread to your storage container to keep them chewy.  When the bread gets hard, replace it with a fresh slice.