I am known for my stress baking; it's probably my most defining characteristic. Maybe it's just my Southern roots, but for as long as I can remember, when anxiety strikes, the soft, fudgy texture of chocolate crinkles has never let me down. I use bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet, for a darker, more intense hit of chocolate. This time around, I decided to add some ground anise seed for complexity. It was perfect; I will never make the plain version again! I'm not a huge fan of licorice flavor, but with just 1 1/2 teaspoons, it offers a delicious balance to the dark chocolate. If you are absolutely opposed to anise, try it with 1 teaspoon of ginger instead.
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate (NOT semi-sweet!!)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground anise seed (I only had whole seeds on hand, so I ground them in my food processor)
1 cup powdered sugar
Carefully melt the unsweetened chocolate in the microwave or over very low heat on the stove - it burns easily. Whisk together the vegetable oil, melted chocolate, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, ground anise seed, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture in several increments, stirring after each addition. Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least three hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease your cookie sheets. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 in. balls, and then roll in powdered sugar until generously coated. Place the balls at least 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets, and bake for 10-12 minutes. Be careful not to overbake the cookies, as they should have a soft, cakey texture. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for 5-10 minutes, and then use a spatula to move the cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.
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