Chocolate Snowcap Cookies

Do you ever have one of those days when a bunch of little annoying or frustrating things just keep happening to you all day long?  If it was just one or two problems you probably wouldn't have thought much of it, but that particular day the 'punches' just keep coming?  I recently had a day like this and the most annoying part of it was that both of my car's headlight bulbs burned out in the same day.  Seriously, who gets two padiddles in one day?

I noticed the first light out while I was running some errands and so I made an extra stop at the auto part store and got a new bulb.  When I got home later that day, I figured out how to get the replacement bulb in and turned the headlights back on to check that it was working.  To my great annoyance, all of a sudden the other headlight was now not working.  So, since padiddles are a major pet peeve of mine, I drove to another auto part store, picked up another bulb, and got both headlights back in working order.

After all of this and the rest of my frustrations earlier in the day, I grumpily went inside and started to prepare dinner.  As I was tidying up the kitchen, I realized that there were two cookies left from the batch of cookies that my nephew and I had made over the weekend.  I was soooo excited because there is nothing like a delicious, chocolaty cookie to cheer you up after a crummy day!  I think, maybe I am failing to execute this thought process properly, but the whole point of my lengthy padiddle story was not to gripe but to express to you how amazing these cookies are.  Cookies, especially these super yummy ones, can really turn your whole day around and can help make all those little frustrations a distant memory. So as I was saying, I scarfed down the cookies, got myself in a better mood, and enjoyed the rest of my evening.

Other than being an excellent way to cheer yourself up, these cookies are definitely a crowd pleaser and make a great addition to your holiday cookie collection.  Keep in mind that the dough does need to chill for about an hour, for best results, so be sure you leave yourself enough time to make them.   Other than the chilling time the dough only takes a few minutes to prepare and assembly is easy too.  Make sure that you really super-duper coat the dough balls in the powdered sugar before baking.  You don't want to tap any of the excess off because tons of powered sugar really makes these cookies awesome.  Give these cookies a try for your next holiday party or whip up a batch the next time you are in need of some cheering up.  They truly are an amazing chocolate cookie; chewy chocolate inside with a wonderful sweet sugary coating that melts in your mouth.

Chocolate Snowcap Cookies

6 oz dark chocolate, chopped (or chips)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup brown sugar

 2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup powdered sugar (approximate)

In a heat proof bowl, melt the chocolate in the microwave (stirring every 30 seconds) or over a double boiler.  Let the chocolate cool slightly while you cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (you can use a stand mixer or do this by hand).  Add the eggs to the butter mixture one at a time until combined and stir in the vanilla. Once the chocolate is not too hot, stir into the wet ingredients.  Carefully stir in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until everything is just mixed together.  The dough should be fairly stiff.  Chill the dough for at least an hour in the refrigerator.  When you take the dough out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350°F.  Use a small scoop or two spoons to form small balls of dough.  Roll each cookie in the palm of your hands until it is a smooth circle.  Coat the cookies very well with powdered sugar and place on a parchment or silicone mat lined baking tray.  Bake cookies for 12 minutes, let stand on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, and move to a wire rack to cool completely.    

Inspired by Foodwishes

Enjoy!