Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Chocolate Snowcaps – There’s Snow on Them There Cookies

I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a holiday cookies swap (apparently you need to have like-minded friends), but if I were, I’d bring these chocolate snowcap cookies. They just look so wintry, with their powdery-white tops, contrasted against those deep, dark cracks.

They’re so captivating, that I find myself daydreaming about tiny Christmas elves skiing down them when no one is looking. I really should see someone about that. Anyway, the point is, if you’re looking for a holiday cookie so seasonally appropriate it hurts, this is the one for you.

As I stated in the video, the only way to mess these up is to not use enough powdered sugar. The first batch I made looked like they had plenty, but that little bit I shook off before placing them on the pan made all the difference. You want to coat them, roll them, coat them again, and then, coat them again. You can’t put too much on.

Also, the batch I made after letting the dough sit overnight didn’t spread out as much, which I thought looked better, and much more mini mountain-like. As far as baking time goes, mine took about 12 minutes, but that depends on exactly how large you roll your dough balls.

To be safe, you should probably do five or six practice batches to get this time dialed in [wink]. Once you do, you’ll be rewarded with a classic Christmas cookie that tastes as good as it looks. I think I speak for tiny, imaginary elves everywhere, when I say we hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for about 2 dozen Chocolate Snowcap Cookies:
Recipe found here on Foodess.com
6 ounces dark chocolate, broken in small pieces, melted over hot water
3/4 cup AP flour
1/3 cup cocoa (I used Guittard’s Cocoa Rouge)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup room temp butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup powdered sugar, or as needed

*Bake at 350 degrees F.  for about 12 minutes, depending on size

67 comments:

Victoria said...

Oo I am excited to try these soon!
I also wanted to stop by and say I am a huge fan! I am a very inexperienced cook, and found your site via allrecipies.com a couple of weeks before thanksgiving. I poured over the recipies and my husband and I hosted this year- it was a complete success! Not to mention the delicious breakfast items I have been making your site too! The hollendaise, pie crusts, hot chocolate stones mashed potatoes, I could go on and on! The videos are sooo helpful- I make hardly any mistakes compared to my previous recipe-following blunders! And so entertaining too!
So thank you for all that you do, Chef John! Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Victoria said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Chef John said...

Thank you!!

Madonna/aka/Ms Lemon of Make Mine Lemon said...

I need to check out these for my chocolate friends.

This is off topic, but I wanted to tell you I just made your crème fraîche. It is heavenly. I am so grateful for all your hard work. I have also made your cured lemons and I always think of you when someone says how good the dish is that has your lemons, what is in this? I say Chef John's lemons.

VinnyF said...

I know you always say to use high quality cocoa, but the only thing I have in my house is from Hershey's. Would that be anywhere near what you call quality? I know its not european and stuff so I'm not sure.

Chef John said...

Hershey would work, but I MUCH prefer the one I listed. :)

Monica said...

What is AP flour?

obeah said...

welcome back Mr Chef Jon, yum yum

S/V Blondie-Dog said...

Welcome back Chef!

Anywho's I gots' to tells' ya' dat' I shor' won'ts be a baking these dainty, powdered sugar cookies for fear of the distinct possibility of having to forfeit my man-hood card. And dat' surely wouldn't set well wit' my finicky lady-friend I'll has ya' know.

On another note I did howevers' done made me a boatload of Short-Cut lefty-over Turkey Enchiladas jest' the other day and 'dem fellers' were good!

Thanks! You're da' best!

Aaron said...

Chef John the cookies look amazing!

However, my food wish is to learn more about that brick oven you didn't make and what you didn't use it for. =)

JJ's Blog said...

Hi Chef John. I noticed in a video from Sept. of 2012 that you are using Better Homes & Gardens stainless steel cookware. A couple of other video chefs also received this product. How do you like it? How does it cook for you, etc? I have this cookware and I like it very much. Answer if you have a chance, thanks.

Suman said...

Hi John :) I think our family will travel this Christmas . Do you know if these choco snowcap cookies store well? Or rather , how can i take them along without ruining them? I have recently started following your blog.. Let me just say that u r a great teacher .. If u taught a class when i was studying Im sure id never skip a single one of ure classes :)

Andre C said...

They are also known as chocolate crinkles, am I right?

Unknown said...

Helloo.
I did exactly what you said but my cookies didn't crack they just melted and became flat. What did i do wrong? :(

Rose CSS Test said...

I couldn't find anything but Hershey's dark chips in my supermarket (it's very small). I've made the dough and it's in the fridge. We'll see how they come out!

Chef John said...

Khulood, sounds like you missed and ing. or mis-measured. Was dough chilled and very firm?

Chef John said...

The sugar may flake off a little but should travel ok as long as you don't pile them up.

Chef John said...

Love the BHG cookware!

Chef John said...

AP=all purpose.

Skyjackie737 said...

Looking forward to making these with my daughter! You have the BEST easiest,tastiest recipes ever! Thanks!!

Justincase said...

hello !!!!
just tried these, but as you mentionned, the powdered sugar just melted after 5 mn baking !!!
but you told us to coat them several times into it...

but once i coat them into the powdered sugar , my cookie balls are all white, and I dont get how is it possible to coat them again and again (whereas they're coated already !!!)

i dont know if this makes sense !!!

thankk you

Michele Cryan said...

I just wanted to say I did my first cookie exchange last year and brought your wife's (Michele.....just like me) and my friends are still raving how great they were. So your snow topped might be good but Michele's chocolate cookies stole the show!

Unknown said...

How do you keep your Silpats so clean?!

Unknown said...

The first batch i made i over mixed the dough and it became a batter. I left it in the fridge overnight and while it did firm up, it melt right down the first 2 minutes in the oven. The second batch i made i watch my mixing and it came out so perfect.

Unknown said...

Would white fudge possible work for this?

grumbleghoul said...

Just made these..Wife's response to taste test? "These are sex in cookie form" Thanks Chef John!

Chef John said...

Nice work! ;)

Jakob, not a white choc fan, so not sure what you mean by "white fudge"

Unknown said...

For some reason my dough is not a dough but a batter. I'm hoping it firms up but is there a reason it's not thick like yours?

Unknown said...

Can you replace the dark chocolate for milk or semisweet chocolate?
Thanks

Unknown said...

Didn't mean white fudge, I mean chocolate, thanks though!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John... Is the cocoa you used unsweetened or sweetened? Im going to make these for Christmas eve.. first time im hosting :/ so nervous

Bri said...

Hi John,

How long would these keep? We're going to be baking Christmas Cookies to give as gifts and these seem like they would be lovely but they need to keep for a while.

Chef John said...

Not sure, but they may be a little fragile for a gift, and prob best eaten fresh.

Chef John said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chef John said...

It's unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa!

Unknown said...

Well, my first try I thought half a cup was equal to two sticks of butter. I Al so used some unsweetened chocolate, so.... My husband says, "Can you give them away?"

Victoria said...

Soooo delicious! Great idea to refrigerate dough and load with sugar.. They look beautiful and snowy white! Also a great cookie for chocolate lovers like me! I am giving them as gifts in the morning! (Packaged very carefully :)

Unknown said...

I wish everyone used the same measuring system. Converting food recipes doesn't always work out too great. Love you videos though.

Rebecca said...

These are very messy to make if you don't have a stand mixer. But, I have high hopes for a delicious outcome. I am going to chill them for 2-3 hours.

Ana said...

Hi Chef John. Thank you so much for this recipe.

Yesterday I made this recipe and the flavour toourned out great, they tasted amazing, however the confectionary sugar didn't stay as shown in your picture. It was all absorbed by the cookies while cooking in the oven.

Do you have any clue why this could have happened?

Thank you so much. Wish happy holidays for you and your loved ones.

Aric said...

I also made these without a mixer, but it was the powdered sugar part that got messy for me. These came out really well. I'm almost tempted to cancel at the cookie exchange and just keep them for myself.

Unknown said...

If I were to 'chill it overnight' do I put it in the freezer or refrigerate it? Maybe a silly question but it'd help as I am a newbie baker! Thanks! :)

Unknown said...

Julia, put it in the fridge.

Chef John, I like the name of these cookies. Where I'm from, they're called Chocolate Crinkles.

PS: I've been watching your recipe videos on AllRecipes.com through my Roku. My kids and I are big fans of yours, now!

Unknown said...

Yes, i'm just wondering if it is a 1/2 cup butter like the ingredients listed say or 1/4 cup butter which looks like what you used in the video?

Chef John said...

I used a 1/2 cup in the video! The ing amounts are correct.

Unknown said...

Hello Chef,
What percent cocoa dark chocolate did you use? I bought some 85% cocoa ghirardelli chocolate. Will this suffice?

Unknown said...

What percent cocoa dark chocolate did you use chef? I bought some 85% ghirardelli will that suffice?
Thankyou.

Chef John said...

That's perfect!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Chef,

These were delicious! Thank you!

PVH said...

Oh horror! Bringing a batch of these cookies (which have now become my grandchildren's favorite) on a flight to Portland tomorrow, when I realized that instead of rolling the dough in powdered sugar, I had rolled it in OO flour! Snatched them out of the oven and sifted powdered sugar all over. I just tested one and they are delicious but using OO flour does not help the powdered sugar adhere! Still a fine recipe.

Unknown said...

this is a beautiful recipe! The people I made these for inhaled them. They were just that good. So good in fact that I made a "cobblestone" version for my mom for Valentine's day covered in powdered sugar/ cocoa powder and she was enamored. Thanks so much for the crowd pleaser!

Anonymous said...

Hi chef john! I tried this recipe and they turned out delicious but the cracks in mine are so large they take up about 1/2 the cookie. How do I get mine to look like yours?

Kauhanehemolole said...

Unsalted or salted butter. Assuming unsalted

Unknown said...

Salted or unsalted butter?

Chef John said...

Unsalted! (the only stuff i use)

Unknown said...

Thank you :)

Kauhanehemolole said...

Mahalo!(thank you) mine spread out though. I used one stick. I think i gotta use a little less butter because its hot here in Hawaii. Aloha

Anonymous said...

Hello I just want to know what kind of dark chocolate should I use or is any kind good.

Unknown said...

Chef John, unless you have already addressed this in another blog post can you please clarify the difference between baking bars and regular chocolate bars? It confuses me because some brands making bars are inpalatable and some baking bars taste very similar their non-bake counterparts. Should you only use baking bars when baking, or does chocolate follow the rule of wine where you should only cook with something you would try alone? What is it on the ingredients list of baking chocolate that makes it best suited to be bakeable? Thank you.

Russ said...

The chocolate snow capped cookies came out very flat. I don't know what I did wrong?

Unknown said...

Russ, you probably overcooked the cookies by a minute or 2 OR the balls werent cold enough when you put them in the oven. Make sure to refrigerate them at least a few hours before cooking them, and take them out BEFORE they look cooked (it takes 11 min in my oven but each oven is different) They will firm up outside of the oven

abijoon said...

Hello chef Jon
I did exactly what you said but my cookies didn't crack they just melted and became flat. I did Refrigerated the mix over night and followed the exact measurement. What possibly was wrong?

PJ.1o4 said...

Hi Chef John

Thank you for this recipe. My family actually had me baking these cookies NON-STOP last month! I am so glad Christmas is over! I felt like their cookie slave😳 But seriously, they loved them, even those who don't fancy chocolate, and that made me so happy. Thanks again for sharing it with your adoring public.

System Shock said...

Chef... I tried 3 batches of these and mine always come out very flat. What could be the problem?

Unknown said...

Sure glad you didn't say "Don't eat that raw cookie dough." OMG, outstanding.

Unknown said...

This recipe is amazing. We are two people only and I still made the whole recipe and we cannot stop eating. The cookies are so flavorful, rich and addicting. Next time I will need to double the recipe and make it for friends. Thank Chef John a lot