Ginger chocolate crackle cookies are fudgy spiced chocolate cookies rolled twice in sugar so they bake with a white cracked top. That makes them a striking Christmas cookie for a cookie plate, a cookie exchange or a gift tin, and they need no decorating at all. The batch makes 32.
Roll each ball in granulated sugar first and only then in the powdered sugar. The granulated layer is a barrier that stops the powdered sugar dissolving into the dough. That is the whole reason the cracks show up white.
This is the same dough Food Network uses for its chewy chocolate ginger cookies, with bittersweet chocolate and cloves swapped in. The second sugar roll is the only real difference, and it changes how they look rather than how they taste.
Ginger Chocolate Crackle Cookies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalBittersweet chocolate melted with butter, beaten through whipped eggs and brown sugar, then bound with almond flour and spice. Chilled, rolled in granulated and powdered sugar and baked until the tops split.
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- For Rolling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions
- Melt the chocolate: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the chopped bittersweet chocolate and the butter in a microwave safe dish and heat in 30 second bursts, stirring after each, until smooth, about 2 minutes. Let it cool slightly.
- Mix the dough: Whisk the almond flour, all-purpose flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Beat the eggs and brown sugar in another bowl until pale and fluffy, add the chocolate mixture and beat to combine, then mix in the dry ingredients on low.
- Chill: Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour, until firm. Overnight is fine. If it goes too hard to roll, leave it on the counter for a few minutes.
- Roll twice: Put the granulated sugar in one shallow bowl and the confectioners sugar in another. Roll the dough into balls, then roll each one in the granulated sugar and straight after in the confectioners sugar, until it is coated as heavily as a powdered doughnut.
- Bake: Space the balls 2 inches apart on two baking sheets and bake 8 to 10 minutes. The tops will split as they spread. Cool on the sheets a few minutes, then move them to a rack.
Notes
- The coating has to be heavy or the cracks will not show white. The original says 3/4 inch balls for 32 cookies, which does not work out against the weight of the dough, so roll them closer to 1 1/2 inches.
FAQs
Why bittersweet chocolate and not semisweet?
Bittersweet carries more cocoa and less sugar, which matters when the cookie is then rolled in two kinds of sugar. Semisweet works and makes a sweeter cookie that children prefer. Anything above 60 percent cocoa keeps the spice from disappearing.
Why did my cookies not crack?
Either the powdered sugar coat was too thin or the dough was too warm going into the oven. The coating has to be heavy, like a powdered doughnut, so the surface sets before the middle spreads. Chill the rolled balls another 10 minutes if your kitchen is warm.
Can I skip the hour in the fridge?
No, because warm chocolate dough will not hold a ball and spreads into one sheet across the pan. An hour is the minimum and overnight is fine. Let it sit out a few minutes if it goes too hard to roll.
Do I have to use almond flour?
It is a full cup against half a cup of wheat flour, so it does most of the work and keeps the crumb soft. Replacing it with plain flour gives a drier cookie. For a classic wheat flour Christmas cookie, these gingerbread men are the better route.
How do I keep the white coating white?
Store them in a single layer if you can, because stacking smudges the powdered sugar onto the cookie below. Keep them cool and dry, since humidity turns the coating transparent overnight. The same goes for these gingerbread thumbprint cookies once the chocolate has set.
