Choconana cookies (eggless)

Choconana crinkle cookies

I've been a very bad girl. Its been a very long time since I updated the blog and that's not good at all. So much so that hubby dearest lately came up to me and said, "Why aren't you updating your blog?"

If the busy bee like him has noticed, then I have really really been a slacker. I think I just got caught up with everything else and more often than not, only updated my FB page . Since having a page was new to me, it took all my attention, but that's no excuse. I hope to be more active on my dear blog, the one that started my baking journey. So here I am, back to blogging with a recipe from a fellow blogger (Cheryl, the super talented blogger at Kitchen kemistry) and friend who I look up to for her culinary knowledge and awesome recipes.  This recipe, like most of her recipes, is a keeper. Its an eggless chocolate banana cookie that is made out of atta (whole wheat flour). Now I have only used atta for making chapatis other than this one time I accidentally used atta instead of maida (all purpose flour) for a cake and I kept wondering why the batter looked funny till I realised what I had done, thankfully, before baking the cake. More on that blunder later, but coming back to this recipe, one would think, atta cookies, but they won't taste so good. But trust me, anyone who has had this cookie did a double take when I told them it had atta, not flour in it as it tastes so yum.  Now, those who follow my blog know that I do not like bananas, but this one, I love. It has an oh so subtle taste of bananas that contrast beautifully against the dark rich chocolate that makes you go yum. 
So without further ado, here's the recipe.

Choconana crinkle cookies

(Makes about 20 cookies)

You can find the original recipe and more awesome recipes here 

Ingredients

Dry ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp atta (or whole wheat flour as you might call it).
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

• 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar. (I used brown sugar to add to the moreish taste of these cookies, but you can use caster sugar as well)
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp oil. (Any neutral flavoured oil will do)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder ( the darker and richer, the better, especially for pronounced crinkles, taste aside)
• 1/2 cup banana puree. (Make sure to use ripe bananas and if you want to save time and not puree them, mash them really really well).
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

You will also need a bowl of icing sugar to coat the cookies in for the crinkle effect

Method

• Give the dry ingredients a quick whisk
• Mix/whisk the wet ingredients together. You can use an electric mixer, but I did it by hand and it works just fine. Just make sure to not over mix as that will lead to dense cookies.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine with a spatula. It might look runny, but it will come together.
• Cover the ‘dough’ mixture with cling film and refrigerate overnight or for a couple of hours if you don’t wanna wait that long.
• When you are ready to make the cookies, preheat your oven to 170 C and using a melon baller or a tiny scoop, take out even sizes of dough balls and roll them between your palms to make even shaped balls and place them on your baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper. They will expand slightly, so leave a gap between each cookie.
• Take each ball and roll in icing sugar till completely coated.  Ensure that no chocolate bits are seen through the icing sugar coating. Double roll if necessary.
• Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. As they heat they will crack, exposing  the chocolate interior, making them crinkle cookies.
• I personally prefer them hot from the oven, but you can cool them and store them in an airtight container.
• So what are you waiting for? Get, Set, Bake!