chocolate-espresso crinkles

      I have a hoarding problem.
      With recipes, that is.
      I use an app called Springpad to bookmark recipes: ones that use ingredients we often have; ones I find mildly intriguing; and most importantly, ones I feel are "classics", the kind that I think every cook should have in his or her repertoire. Even as a teenager who isn't even the main meal-maker in the house, I have recipes saved for rack of lamb, meatballs, lemon gnocchi, multiple tomato sauces, lasagna, cassoulet.
      When will I ever even use these? I don't know. When I am in charge of making something for the family, I often scramble for a new recipe rather than one I already have saved. I guess it's just an obsession I have, the need to be well-rounded and versatile in all things, and to not limit myself to the world of baked goods.

      These cookies were adapted from a recipe I had saved and come back to. I've never tried chocolate crinkles, only seen them on the Internet as I had with countless other foods. They're the kind of cookie you find arranged on a platter at the reception after a youth symphony concert, or the kind at a Christmas party. Wholly middle-class, wholly nostalgic, wholly suburbia. Yet they, I imagine, would be perfectly at home at a fancy tea party, among the petits fours. Or maybe they are the kind that are stealthily swiped from the kitchen counter, to be enjoyed with a mug of coffee. They are rustic, with their uneven, cracked shells, but sophisticated for the same reason.With a generous helping of coffee in each cookie, they are fudgy and rich, and satisfying on a deep level.
      I hope you enjoy these cookies. The people I baked these for certainly did!

Chocolate-Espresso Crinkles
adapted from Betty Crocker
makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted, cooled
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp instant coffee (I used one packet of Starbucks VIA)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. In large bowl, mix oil, chocolate, granulated sugar, vanilla, and instant coffee. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover; refrigerate at least 3 hours.
2. Heat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat and shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly in center. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.