Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

 Every Saturday morning my DVR records Cook's Country and America's Test Kitchen on our local PBS affiliate (WPTD, channel 16). I enjoy watching the programs in the evening when I have time. A recent program showed Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. I was enthralled by the look of the cookie ... a fractured top, dark chocolate beneath, white powdered sugar above. Could I make them?

 The program offered two warnings: "Cookies are the most high-risk type of baking you can do". And, it also stated that these Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (are) "at the top of the most dangerous baking pyramid".

 I was equally warned and challenged.

 What choice did I have but to give it a try?

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies - the result

Gathering the ingredients

 I used Hershey's Cocoa's dark chocolate version. And I used a 4 ounce bar of Ghirardelli chocolate for the simple reason that they are the best. There's a ton of chocolate flavor in these two items.

 The resulting batter resembles that for brownies rather than cookies. When it's first mixed it is extremely wet and sticky and unable to be handled. The TV program said the batter did not have to be refrigerated but merely left sitting on the counter for ten minutes before use. They're right. In just that short amount of time the batter can be touched on top. Yes, it's still sticky when you dig into it with a #30 portion scoop, but when you place the dollop into granulated sugar, it can be handled easily.
 I did not buy unsweetened butter but rather used my regular margarine and cut back to less salt than the recipe calls for. That worked fine for me.

 And here's the cookies just out of the oven. They need to cool on the cookie sheet before removing them. The cookie, at least for the first half hour (I haven't checked back), are chewy inside, similar to a fudge brownie. I suspect the cookies will set further but remain a somewhat a "soft" cookie.

 The taste? Decadently chocolate! And beautiful to look at.