Chocolate snap cookies

Lately, I've been getting a hankering for cookies in the late afternoon. I know, this is the time of day when a better snack choice would be a piece of fruit or some cheese, but sometimes you need to acknowledge your cravings.

Being The Ninj, I don't keep cookies around the house unless I have made them myself. So nine time out of ten, I'll have to bake a batch of cookies if I have a cookie craving at four in the afternoon and want to satisfy it.

Now, the great thing about being a food blogger is that, when I get said craving for cookies and must bake a batch, it's still considered working, not screwing around in the kitchen to satisfy a craving. And when it's work, it gets shared with you.

Really, we all win when I have a cookie craving.

Another part of being The Ninj, as you know, is keeping my recipes on the healthier side -- even the indulgent, four-o'clock-craving-satisfying kind.

(Yeah, you're welcome.)

I'm not going to tell you that these are healthy chocolate cookies. But I have made the effort to make them a bit lighter and they are awfully rich and chocolatey, so you're not likely to scarf down all of them in one sitting, which helps. Although, if you are a crisp cookie fan, they are pretty darned addictive.

The recipe was inspired by one I came across for "copy cat" Oreos. I don't know about you, but I have always preferred only the cookie part of the Oreo, not the cream. In fact, as a kid, I would get really excited if there were Oreo tops that had fallen off in the package because it saved me the step of pulling them off and scraping out the cream with my teeth (you know you did it, too!) in order to be left with a stack of chocolate wafers to eat. If you are nodding your head in agreement, you're going to love these chocolate snaps because that's almost exactly what they taste like!

I like to use light spelt flour in this recipe because I've been experimenting with different kinds of grains and grain flours lately, but it is certainly not a requirement -- I have also used all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and gluten-free flour, all with equal success. No matter the flour, the cookies are still hugely chocolatey and snappy.

After much experimentation, I think these chocolate snap cookies are best when you use a pretty small cutter (mine was just over an inch in diameter); the smaller size helps them stay crunchy, as opposed to having softer centers. Which I normally prefer in a cookie, but these are snap cookies and really all about the crunch.

A la Oreos.

So, who's with me on preferring Oreos without the cream filling? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Chocolate Snap Cookies

(adapted from Chocolate-Covered Katie)

Note: Despite chilling, this dough will be very, VERY sticky. I strongly suggest you roll it out on parchment paper and use extra cocoa to coat your rolling pin, as you would with flour (using the cocoa prevents the cookies from turning ashy white from the flour). Also, the recipe as written makes a ton of cookies so feel free to either half it or plan on freezing some of the cookies once baked.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's special dark)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
3 ounces skim milk
1/3 cup maple syrup

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients (the dry) in a large bowl. In another smaller bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (the wet) and then add them to the dry mixture, stirring with a spatula until well combined. Put the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for an hour (a little longer is fine).

Scrape the dough out of bowl and form into a ball with your hands (it will be VERY sticky so you might want to rub a little extra cocoa powder on your hands). Flatten out the dough ball ON A PIECE OF PARCHMENT PAPER ON TOP OF YOUR WORK SURFACE and then roll it out very thinly -- the thinner you roll it, the crunchier your cookies will be. Dust your rolling pin with cocoa powder to prevent it from sticking.

Using a small round cutter, cut out cookies and place them on parchment-lined cookie sheets -- give them a bit of space, as they will spread. Bake each sheet for about 15 minutes or until edges begin to crisp (the middles may still seem underdone). Cool another 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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