For those of you who don't know, I live right down the street from Jungle Jims. The only thing non fabulous about this is that on a clear, perfect spring day... you can hear the jungle sounds and "Welcome to Jungle Jim's! Hahaha!". Everything else rules. It's close, has everything you can never find anywhere else and on a Saturday you can make the rounds of the store and have what I like to call a "sample lunch".
As a teenager my best friend and I would frequently walk up there with our allowance money and just wander for hours. I can't count how many times I've seen that Jungle Jim's movie in the makeshift theater in the back of the store. I've seriously considered applying there to give store tours. I'd be waay more entertaining than the man who looks like Santa.
Anywho, every time I go there I meander around the store like I don't know everything they have and search for that thing... that one perfect bite to fit my mood. Many times that thing has been something they call Brownie Cookies. They are on a center table between the candy/meat area and the caramel apples/pastries. They are moist, fudgey, covered in powdered sugar, and made fresh in house.
Now separately, I've always been fascinated by Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. The dark rich chocolate against the white powdered sugar. And when I got to thinking about my baking project I remarked at how similar the two things looked, right down to the ingredients. Well, there really wasn't a choice any more was there? I had to make them. So, I did.
I'm sad to report that while tasty, they were very different. My cookies were fluffy and light and didn't have that fudgy goodness I was so craving. The chocolate flavor didn't really shine through. I thought that if I baked the second batch less (9 minutes instead of 11) this might remedy the problem and it did to a degree. But it still wasn't quite right. I searched online to see if anyone had had similar results or had found a way to get the result I wanted but, no luck. I was on my own. And I've come to some conclusions.
1. I used cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate. One can be substituted for the other in most recipes with the proper adjustments but it will show its difference in the taste.
2. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Hence the fluffiness. I'm betting that if the amount were reduced to 1 1/2 teaspoons, the cookies would be more dense.
One last thing you should know. This dough is really more of a batter. It looks like and is the same texture as brownie batter. Don't be alarmed. Just do as the recipe says and when you scoop out the dough, immediately drop into the powdered sugar. Have fun with this part and don't be too prissy because no matter what you do, the powdered sugar will make a mess. :)
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
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