Panera Inspired Chocolate Mint Crinkles

Pin It

I went to Panera Bread last week and aside from my usual entré that i get every single time, aka the frontega chicken with broccoli cheddar soup, I had the opportunity to split their chocolate mint crinkle with my sister. Yes, I lack variety in my life. Once you've found that one menu item it's hard to deviate away from it, am I right? Anyway, it was DELICIOUS! So fudgy, chocolaty, minty, and just the perfect way to end my meal. Now I know it's really sad that I couldn't stop thinking about these cookies and that I became possessed to try to clone these treats at home, but I must say I did a decent job. Just enough mint flavor. The hardest part about making these cookies is basically waiting for the dough to chill before you can shove those babies into the oven! Try the recipe out!

I'm also content and mildly satisfied with how the pictures developed. It's been ages since I had made contact with my dad's Nikon camera. The quality is beyond that of my phone that I can't even fathom why I neglected this camera for so long. Then again the soreness in my arm might be the result from holding it up. I don't understand why it's so heavy!? My arm started to cramp while trying to focus the lens for a particular shot. Pathetic. Oh well, cookies make every form of pain go away whether it be emotional or physical so I shall go secretly munch on some right now.

Did I ever tell you guys how much I love my dad's English? He tends to mock the colloquial language I use like epic fail, shiz bombs, oh-la-my-goodness-ah!..etc. The word delicious-ah is also excessively exhausted in my daily conversations. I rarely swear so wipe that smirk off your face and don't laugh at my weird phrases. Back to the story, the family was talking about one of my sisters during dinner and I was saying she epically failed at whatever we were talking about because it's all so vague in comparison to what followed in the conversation.  He replies with, "Oh yes, she fail, " then goes on to eat a cookie and says, "Delicious-ah!" So funny. Maybe you had to be there. Wish I had a camera to record that moment...

Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Mint Crinkles

Adapted from bakersroyale

Yields 1 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and warm
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 11/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, lightly coated in flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and then set aside.
2. Heat chocolate in either the microwave or a double boiler until melted being careful not to scorch it.
3. In a mixer on medium speed, beat together the sugar, oil, butter and corn syrup until well incorporated. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extract.
4. Turn the mixer down to low speed and beat in the melted chocolate followed by gradually adding in the flour mixture until mixed in completely, but do not over beat. Lastly add in the chocolate chips. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about one hour or until firm.
5. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Take the dough out from the refrigerator and form 2 inch balls, more or less depending on how large you want your cookies to be.
6. TIP: Use a small ice cream scoop to obtain uniformly sized cookies.
7. After shaping the dough, roll the balls heavily in the confectioner's sugar.
8. Arrange the cookies 2 inches apart on the baking sheet because they expand quite a bit while baking. Bake for 12-14 minutes for a crisp texture or 10-12 for a chewier end product depending on your oven of course.
9. Let the cookies cool and enjoy! Be sure to store these in an air tight container to keep the desired texture.

NOTES:

*I used olive oil because I didn't have any vegetable oil on hand, however just use whatever oil that you have in your pantry.
Do not leave these out in the open for too long. I left mine unwrapped overnight and I woke up to hard cookies. Sad day.