Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I baked cookies today. So I shall call myself cookiewali!

For the non-Indian readers, ‘wali’ is the suffix for female gender and ‘wala’ for male gender. Recently, I came across a thread in an online forum where a home baker was addressed by her client as ‘cakewali’. Going by the same suffixation, an IT personnel is computerwala/wali, an oscar winning actor is nautangiwala/wali, a chemist is dawaiwala/wali, a renowned chef is bawarchi, a pâtissier/ chocolatier is halwai and so on.

It sounds funny, right? Politically and technically it’s not wrong. At the same time, it’s about being sensitive and respectful to your fellow being. Addressing someone by their name is a kind gesture. Trust me, it costs nothing!

With that note, let me begin the description of this crinkle cookie which is made with whole wheat. It is also egg free, dairy free and nut free. For the first time I made cookies with atta also called as chapati flour (durum wheat flour). Chocolate and banana compliment each other. And whole wheat makes it sorta guilt free. These cookies are fudgey, cakey and pillowey with a chewy interior and a slightly crisp cracked surface. These also look attractive with a dark and light contrast. With a glass of cold milk, these taste heavenly.

This recipe is generously adapted from here.

Makes about 20 cookies. The recipe can be doubled.

Ingredients

Take 2 bowls and add the listed ingredients.

Bowl 1

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp atta. You can also use All purpose flour or any whole wheat flour.
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt

Bowl 2

• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar. I used organic cane sugar. You can use white granulated sugar.
• 1/4 cup oil. I used grape seed oil. Use any neutral flavored oil.
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup banana puree. Ripe bananas give better flavor. Can be substituted with applesauce.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup powdered sugar for coating. You can skip this. But you will not get the dark and light contrast.

Method

1. I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge (Dutch processed) cocoa powder. It has a deep color and rich bittersweet flavor. You can use any cocoa powder. Good chocolate tastes better than cheap ones. Keep this in mind while buying cocoa powder for use.

2. Keep bowl 1 and 2 ingredients ready. Mix the bowl 1 ingredients with a whisk. Mix the bowl 2 ingredients in the mixer at low speed for 5-7 minutes. Since this is a small quantity, I used my hand mixer. The ingredients must be well blended but should not lighten too much in texture. Fluffy mixture produces cakey cookies. We’re aiming for a homogeneous mixture.

3. Using a spatula, add the bowl 1 mixture to bowl 2. Add 2 tablespoons flour mixture at a time. Do not dump all the flour. You’ll be using elbow grease for no reason. DO NOT OVER MIX. The dry ingredients should just disappear into the wet ingredients. At this point, the dough is a shaggy mess. This is how mine looked. I transferred the dough to a smaller bowl.

4. Now cover the dough with a cling film. And stick the bowl into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight or in the freezer for an hour. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. You can also keep the dough refrigerated for 3 days or freeze for a month. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator and use as instructed.

5. Pre heat the oven at 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove the bowl of dough. Grease your palms with oil. The dough is manageable when cold. If the room is warm, the dough becomes sticky. If so, stick the dough into the freezer for 10 mins. Make 1.5 inch dough balls. I used a melon baller to scoop the dough. Leave 2 inches space between each dough ball and place on the lined cookie sheet.

6. Keep a bowl of powdered sugar. This step is optional. Roll the dough balls to coat with a thick layer of powdered sugar. Do not skimp, else you will not get that contrasting look. Place the coated balls on the lined cookie sheet. You can choose to combine step 5 and step 6 together. But I found it mucky. So I split the rolling and the coating.

7. Place the cookie sheet on the middle rack of the pre heated oven. Bake for 15 mins. The cookies will spread a little and will puff up causing cracks on the surface. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet placed on a cooling rack. You can dust the excess powdered sugar. Serve with cold milk or hot tea. Store cookies in an air tight container for 3 days. These cookies keep well for a week when refrigerated.

This is a delish chocolate treat. The fruity banana flavor is very mild against the robust chocolate. Gooey inside and cakey on the outside, just the way I like my cookies. This is a keeper.

Copyright –  All content (text, recipes and photos) in this blog, unless specified are my original creations and are copyright of Cheryl Rajkumar. Hence, all rights reserved and use of the content is legally prohibited without permission. The content in this blog is strictly not for commercial use in your menu, classes or TV shows. I will take legal action if my content is used for commercial purpose.