Chocolate Christmas Cookies with Crackled Sugar Tops

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113 g)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (150 g)
• 1 large room-temperature egg (50 g)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (4 g)
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (64 g)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (150 g)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (4 g)
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder (1 g)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (1 g)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar for coating (67 g)
• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar for coating (90 g)

Instructions

1. Make cocoa base. Melt butter over low heat in a medium saucepan. Remove pan from heat and stir in cocoa, espresso powder, and salt until glossy. Rest five minutes, stirring once, until warm rather than hot.
2. Combine wet ingredients. Whisk brown sugar, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Gradually whisk in the warm cocoa mixture, then scrape down the sides with a flexible spatula until the batter is evenly dark.
3. Finish and chill dough. Fold in flour and baking powder only until no dry streaks remain. The dough should look soft and shiny. Press parchment directly on its surface and refrigerate twenty minutes.
4. Coat dough balls. Heat oven to 350°F and line two sheet pans with parchment. Put both sugars in separate shallow bowls. Scoop level tablespoon portions, roll into balls, coat in granulated sugar, then heavily in powdered sugar.
5. Bake until crackled. Arrange balls two inches apart. Bake ten to twelve minutes, switching pan positions halfway through, until tops are puffed and visibly crackled, edges are set, and centers still appear slightly soft.
6. Cool completely. Leave cookies on the pans five minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. Cool completely before stacking or packing, because warm cookies can soften the sugar coating and blur the crackles.

Notes

• For the clearest cracks, cover each ball generously in powdered sugar after its granulated sugar layer. If chocolate patches show before baking, roll again in powdered sugar rather than sprinkling it on top.
• A level tablespoon scoop makes twenty-four similarly sized cookies. For larger portions, add one or two minutes, removing them when edges are set and centers remain soft.

Nutrition Facts