Learning Experience #3: Chocolate Crinkles

I've done it again. Except this time, instead of cyclooctane rings of overspread cookies a milimeter high, I had the opposite problem. The cookies didn't really budge...

I blame two things: too much flour, and too much xanthan gum.

The failed. spreading cookies that I've made in the past contained very little xanthan gum, and acted as though they didn't have enough flour (very thin and brittle, more sugary than soft). So I compensated. Overly so, evidently... now I have cakey, gauzey cookies with nearly no spread whatsoever. At least they taste good.

I did make one batch of drop cookies that came out PERFECTLY... some chocolate chip cookies a couple of months ago. They spread like charms, stopped at just the right spot, were soft and chewy and melty and tasted exactly like a chocolate chip cookie should taste. I didn't blog about it because I forgot to take pictures.

Maybe that's the key, here...

Anyway, these aren't all that bad. I will make them again with the aforementioned changes to see what might happen.


CHOCOLATE CRINKLES
from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick Goudreau, adapted slightly

3 tsp egg replacer powder (I used my own blend of soy flour, potato starch, baking powder, and xanthan gum)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup hemp milk (or whatever - I can't have soy milk and rice milk is too thin)
1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine or other trans-fat-free nondairy butter
3 1/2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend 1:2:3:3 tapioca:potato starch:sorghum:brown rice (I kind of... packed it in... don't do this)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. Whisk together egg replacer powder and water for about a minute, until thick and creamy. I'm guessing Ener-G powder gets thick and creamy, mine doesn't really. I'm so homemade it makes me ill. Toss in the sugar, vanilla, and hemp milk and beat another minute or so.

2. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate completely. Remove immediately from stove and stir into the milk mixture.

3. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt and baking powder. Add the wet ingredients and mix slowly until all is combined. You'll get kind of a loose batter at this point because everything is still melted, but it will start to firm up soon. Plop in the center of a large rectangle of waxed paper and wrap up. Refrigerate one hour to overnight.



4. When dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 325°F. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper.



5. Sift confectioners' sugar into a small-medium bowl. Divide dough into 36 round, 1-inch balls. Round each one in your hands and toss it in the powdered sugar to coat, jiggling off the excess.



6. Line prepared dough balls on cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 18 minutes or until... you know, they're done. They won't look much different. Only a little cracked. Let cool on pans for 2 minutes, then remove to cool on racks.





PROS: chocolatey, crunchy exterior and chewy, soft interior, attractive
CONS: unspread, the *littlest* bit gummy