Five Spice Chocolate Krinkle Cookies

I've been playing with more of Pichet Ong's recipes from his book. With each recipe, I'm learning something new about pastry and desserts and get a delicious tasty morsel as well. Today I approached the Spiced Chocolate Krinkle cookie.

I admit I doubted the recipe at first. When making it, it feels like everything you're doing is wrong. From forming the disk out of a still-liquid dough to rolling out the cookies into balls only 1/2 inch big, I kept second guessing myself. Still, the recipe worked like a charm just like all the others. Overall, it's a cookbook I highly recommend.

I did rework it a bit, I had no fresh ginger as called for, so instead I just went and used Chinese Five Spice. It was a subtle taste that gave paired well with the chocolate. I brought them in to my graduate class on Postmodern Fiction and they were happily devoured by everyone with a few asking for the recipe, so here it is...5 Spiced Chocolate Krinkles
Makes about 45
Adapted from The Sweet Spot, by Pichet Ong

What You'll Need,,,
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 ounce of bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice powder
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of almond flour
2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/3 cup of flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
confectioner's sugar

What You'll Do...
1) Place the oil, chocolate, salt and spices in a double boiler and melt. Allow to cool.

2) Combine the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder together in a bowl as the chocolate mixture cools.

3) Once cool, mix in the egg, sugar, and vanilla extract and whisk together.

4) Fold in the dry ingredients. Afterwards pour out into plastic wrap and shape into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill until hard, at least 2 hours or up to 5 days.

5) When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

6) Put confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Take pieces of the dough and roll into balls about 1/2 inch wide, about the size of a marble. Roll in the powdered sugar until totally coated.

7) Place coated dough balls onto the baking sheets one inch apart. bake for about 10 minutes or until dry to the touch. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for two days, assuming you don't eat them all yourself.