This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company.  The opinions and text are all mine. You can read my full disclosure policy here. 

It’s not Christmastime around here until we have cookies. Specifically, we need Chocolate Crinkle Cookies. This is my Mom’s famous (okay, famous in my family for sure!) recipe that she’s made for us since I was a kid. Now that she lives halfway across the country, we wait for her to come home for the holidays and then we bake all the cookies. ALL OF THEM.

You can’t just whip this recipe together any old way, either. I made them on my own once and used a canola oil and they spread out and got totally weird. You have to use Crisco® Pure Vegtable Oil, which I grabbed at GIANT Food Stores. GIANT always has everything in stock that I need (which is sometimes not the case around the holidays!) for my baking marathons with Mom.

There are SO many delicious Crisco® holiday recipes and really helpful baking tips on this website, #TheDessertDebate. Check that out for some more ideas of special goodies to serve this holiday season!

This is a really important tip when making Chocolate Crinkles: The dough has to be be cold or else it will be too sticky to work with and you won’t be able to roll it into balls without make a total mess of your hands. So make it the night before you want to bake, then refrigerate overnight. It’s kind of like cutting the work in half, too, which is nice.

Once the dough is made and nice and cold, scoop out a spoonful, enough to make balls that are about 1-inch in diameter, and then drop them into a shallow bowl or plate of powdered sugar. Roll them around until they’re completely covered, then place on a baking sheet.

Ta-da! Be ready to pack them up pretty quickly after they come out so they don’t dry out (they can dry out pretty fast so take care to not let that happen). We just layer them, wax paper in between the layers, in a resealable container. Store them in the freezer – trust me on this. They’re amazing cold and will dry out on the counter.

And there you have it! So that’s the general gist of what happens around here every Christmas. It’s tradition! And let me tell you, it’s so fun for Santa when the kids leave Chocolate Crinkles out for him. So fun. Santa loves it.

Here’s the complete recipe, followed by some tips from the expert herself, my mom. (Listen to her because she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to this recipe!)

Yield: 54 cookies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies Recipe

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These Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are fudgy and delicious, a Christmas tradition in my family!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 23 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil
• 4 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate, melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup + confectionery sugar (for rolling dough in)

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix Crisco® Pure Vegetable Oil, cooled melted chocolate, and sugar.

Mix in one egg at a time until well combined.

Add vanilla.

Stir flour mixture into the chocolate mixture.

Chill several hours or overnight. (We always refrigerate overnight.)

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Roll dough into 1-inch (or so) balls, and drop into a bowl of powdered sugar, rolling to completely coat.

Place 2-inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies will still be soft in the middle when they are done. They'll firm up but remain fudgy. Don't overcook or they'll dry out.

After each batch, scrape down the baking pan and re-grease.

Tips from Mom:

• Make sure you plan ahead and make that dough the day before you want to cook these. Otherwise the dough will be too sticky to work with.
• Don’t over-bake! These aren’t nearly as good when they’re dried out. Try 8 minutes in the oven (that’s what we do) and adjust as needed. They’ll look soft coming out and that’s normal.
• Remove from the baking sheet right away onto a cooling rack so the cookies don’t continue to cook on a hot pan.
• Allow your pans to cool between batches. This is when having two pans comes in handy!
• Freeze what you’re not going to eat that day. They stay much fudgier!
• Consider doubling the batch. These are sooooo good. If you double, you have some to eat and some to share! (Though I’m not sharing. Just sayin’.)

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe on my blog for so long because it is so special to me. I mean, these cookies are absolutely delicious. And if you’re a sneaker of cookie dough, you’re going to appreciate this recipe too. 😉  But the fun part is that they are part of our holiday tradition. Now my kids ask for Chocolate Crinkles and want to  know when Grammie is coming to bake with us.

I’ve said so many times, one of my favorite things about parenting is sharing the things I have always loved as a kid and my family traditions growing up with my own kids. Especially when those things are the world’s best cookies, of course.

Visit the Crisco® website  for more information, tips, and recipes. Like Crisco® on Facebook or follow them on Pinterest for more yummy recipes to try this holiday season!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine.