1/2 cup vegetable oil (original recipe calls for, specifically, Mazola corn oil---I used generic canola oil)
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (This is my addition. I didn't use additional unsweetened chocolate since I didn't want to mess around with sugar/flour/liquid ratios.)
2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup confectioners sugar (for rolling cookies in)
1. Melt both types of chocolate in a heavy bottomed pot (or double boiler, if you have one).
2. Meanwhile "cream" oil and sugar together. Blend in the melted chocolate. Blend in the eggs, adding one at a time. Finally, mix in the vanilla. (The mixture will be a bit gritty compared to cookie bases made via creaming sugar with butter).
3. Sift or mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until incorporated fully.
4. Let the batter chill in the refrigerator for several hours until firm
5. Preheat oven to 350 F. Either grease a cookie sheet or cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil
6. Put confectioners sugar in a bowl
7. Shape teaspoons full of the chilled dough into round balls and roll these in the sugar to coat fully (there shouldn't be any cookie showing through).
8. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
9. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. (In my experience, the cookies are done once they have started to firm up on their outsides; they will still look wet in the regions of the cookie showing through the cracks that will form while baking).
10. Let the cookies cool for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet then move them to cooling rack to cool fully. They should still be tender once fully cooled.
