Olive Oil Crinkle Cookies

If you did a quick google image search for ‘crinkle cookies’ these are not even close to what you’d find: rows and rows of round, puffy chocolate cookies rolled in powdered sugar. These are clearly not those although they do share something in common with them: crinkles. 

Remember these chocolate sugar cookies? I just absolutely love how they look and while I didn’t intentionally set out to create the vanilla version, I fell in love with these. The initial goal was a pistachio, white chocolate olive oil cookie but after some tests I somehow found the cookie itself the most enjoyable part and decided I didn’t need any other distractions. 

Having said that, the combination of olive oil and white chocolate turned out truly delicious and we may find ourselves revisiting this in the near future. What’s so great about crinkle cookies? 

Really the magic is in the leavening and the chemical reaction that happens in the oven; a mixture of baking soda and powder (more than you’d usually use for a cookie) reacting with the acid in the cookie, causes them to both spread and puff up causing large crevices in the cookie. You’ll notice in the instructions that I ask you to wait until you can see this before you take them out. 

Then, as they cool the puff goes and gives away to a flat cookie with large grooves. They are gorgeous but more importantly they taste wonderful: crispy edges and very chewy, nearly fudge-like centers. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Olive oil: Extra virgin, and use a very good quality as you will taste it! I 

Sugar: A mix of fine granulated and brown, dark or light is fine. 

Egg: Just one, no need to bring it to room temperature. 

Flour: All purpose flour, I used KAF which is a protein content of 11.7. I imagine a lower protein flour will cause the cookies to spread a bit more. 

Cornstarch: This helps gives the cookies a chewy interior. You can also use tapioca starch if that’s what you have. 

Salt & Vanilla: Fine sea salt and pure vanilla extract. 

Chewy Crinkle Cookies as Crinkle Cookie Sandwiches 

My gut instinct (or my summer sweating self as I’m writing this in early august under 90 degree weather) knows that these would be absolutely wonderful with a blob of ice cream sandwiched in the middle. 

I also think that, given they aren’t that sweet, they would be the kind of cookie you might like to give a filling: a buttercream, a jam or maybe even a curd.

Olive Oil Crinkle Cookies

Big chewy brown sugar cookies made with olive oil.

Yields: 12 cookies

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Ingredients

• ½ cup or 100g olive oil
• ¾ cup or 170g brown sugar
• ¼ cup or 55g granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 ¼ cup or 180g all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two greased cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• In a bowl whisk together the olive oil, sugars and egg very well. Add the cornstarch, baking powder, soda, salt and flour and, using a rubber spatula, mix until well combined.
• Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough, I use a 2 tablespoon scoop, leaving about two inches between each dough mound as these will spread.
• Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, at ten check on them - if they have the large crinkles they are done. If not or just beginning to, leave them in for another 2-4 minutes. Take them out when they are puffy, have wrinkles all over, and are dark on the edges. They will flatten as they cool.

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