Gluten-Free Chocolate Crinkles

My favorite childhood Christmas cookies were my mom's gluten-free chocolate crinkles.  She always baked them to absolute perfection: done enough to stay together but not overdone to take away from the softness.   They also always turned out so beautifully with the powdered sugar finishing on the top.

When I first tried to make these gluten-free, I followed the Betty Crocker recipe using Gluten Free Bisquick as the substitute for flour, salt, and baking soda.  They turned out well but not quite the same as I remembered; they were a little on the dry side.  I decided to work with my mom's original recipe and my own gluten-free flour blend to see if I could get results like my mom's.  After much trial and error over a couple of Christmases, I finally got the results I was looking for!  The ingredients I used were:

• 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour blend
• 1/4 almond flour
• 1 teaspoon xantham gum
• 5 ounces unsweetened, baking chocolate (You can get away with 4 ounces but I always add 5 because there is always some that sticks to the bowl)
• 2/3 vegetable oil (coconut oil works, too)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Fill a medium saucepan with water and place on medium heat.  Place the bowl with the chocolate over the saucepan so the top is covered but the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.  Stir the chocolate over the boiling water until it is completely melted.  Remove the chocolate from the heat and set aside to cool.  

Whisk together the flour, xantham gum, salt, and baking powder and set aside. In a large bowl or stand-mixer bowl, combine the oil, chocolate, and vanilla.  Add in the eggs one at a time.  Stir in the flour mixture slowly until completely combined.  Cover the dough an refrigerate overnight.

After dough is properly chilled,  preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease cookie sheet with gluten-free cooking spray.  Drop tablespoon scoops of dough in to the powdered sugar and roll in balls.  Place about two inches apart on the cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes, or until you can touch them without leaving a fingerprint.  Remove immediately from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.