Our favorite cookie from the Puffy Muffin is the Mocha Crinkle Cookie.  Last Christmas, Cary bought me the Puffy Muffin cookbook, which has many lovely recipes.  Unfortunately, the Mocha Crinkle Cookie recipe was not included.  We searched on the internet for different recipes, finding two types.  One recipe called for black pepper, which was interesting.  I’m fairly sensitive to black pepper, so I was pretty sure it was not in Puffy Muffin’s cookies.  The other recipe from Betty Crocker seemed more appropriate, but was lacking the mocha portion.  So, I adapted the recipe just a tad to try to create the cookies we love.

The ingredients I used are as follows:

• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted according to directions
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 heaping Tbsp of instant espresso powder
• 1 cup of powdered sugar

Using a stand mixer (or large bowl and hand mixer), combine the oil, melted chocolate, sugar and vanilla.  Mix in the eggs one at a time.  Carefully, add the flour.  I got a little over zealous and subsequently spent quite a bit of time cleaning flour from my counter tops.  Stir in the baking powder, salt and espresso powder.  Chill the dough for at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°C.  Even after chilling the dough, it is going to be pretty sticky.  Drop a spoon full into the powdered sugar and roll into a ball.  Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 11 minutes.

These cookies turned out a little lighter in color than Puffy Muffin’s and the espresso flavor was a little strong.   While these were delicious, next time I think I’ll try dark chocolate and less espresso.