Chocolate Crackles & Moments with Ruth...

Yesterday I was called to work with Ruth and we made some Chocolate Crackle cookies.  

Chocolate Crackles are cookies I've made for years, but have no idea where the recipe came from.  For some reason the recipe rarely gets pulled out of my recipe file except for Christmas time, so I've come to think of them as Christmas cookies.   

So that makes now a perfect time for me to share the recipe!

These cookies are fudgy and pretty enough to be kind of sophisticated, but the powdered sugar makes them fun and playful.  

Truth be told, while I love me some chocolate, I'm not really a chocolate cookie fan, but these are yummy.  Let me rephrase that.  These are melt-in-your-mouth yummy!

When I told Ruth what I had brought to make she didn't look overly interested.  Sympathizing, I asked her if she liked chocolate cookies, and as politely as she could she told me she wasn't really a fan.  I knew trying to convince her with words wasn't worth trying to do, so I didn't.

But I did ask her if she'd like to join me in making some anyway, and she obliged.

Some words of warning:  I added a tad too much water (like maybe 1/2 - 1 tsp too much) and these ended up being very messy to roll into balls, and they flattened more when cooling than they normally do.  While they were still delicious, I recommend following the recipe exactly.  Let me repeat that in case you weren't paying attention...  Follow the recipe exactly.

Get ready to hang onto your hat, 'cuz these are the quickest and easiest cookies you'll ever mix up and bake.


Chocolate Crackles
 ~makes approx. 2 dozen


1 Devils Food cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
1 Tbs. water

Mix all ingredients together (the dough will be thick like cookie dough), roll into balls, then roll balls into powder sugar (coat them well).  Place 2-3 inches apart on cookie sheet.  (3 inches is best)

Bake at 375୦ F for exactly 8 minutes (they will look like they're not quite baked enough).  Pull them out and let sit on cookie sheet for a minute or two (just until you can slip a flipper under them without messing them up).  Transfer cookies to cooling rack or paper towels to finish cooling.

Enjoy!  


We played some checkers while we waited on the baking cookies.

Ruth was way ahead of me at this point in the game. 

Below is a picture of some Chocolate Crackles  I had made over the weekend, this is how these lovely delectables should look when they're finished:

But even a bit flattened, they were still chewy and delicious.  

And Ruth liked them!   

I wasn't the least bit surprised.  😊

~~~~~