Chocolate Crinkles

Mmm...holiday goodies. I just couldn't wait to start making the holiday cookie recipes I've been looking over for the past couple of weeks. Chocolate Crinkles are not strictly holiday cookies, but I think they're pretty festive - especially if you add mint or peppermint extract in place of vanilla...which I thought to do AFTER I added the vanilla. So this recipe is for the original Chocolate Crinkles, but I hope to try out a minty one in the near future! Also, I'll be completely honest with you - these aren't the healthiest cookies, but they sure are delicious!

*Original recipe from allrecipes.com - Chocolate Crinkles II

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups white sugar (I used organic)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine cocoa, sugar and vegetable with a hand-mixer.

2. Beat in eggs, one at a time - then stir in vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into sugar mixture.

4. Cover and chill for 4 hours (this allows you to shape dough into balls).

5. After 4 hours, remove from the fridge and heat over to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place powdered sugar into a bowl.

6. Shape dough into 1-inch balls (try not to make too big of ones!) while coating it in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer the parchment paper onto a wire rack - it helps to keep the cookies on the parchment paper until they cool completely - a good 2 hours.

8. Enjoy!