Roasted Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Did you know you could eat roasted buckwheat kernels without cooking them? I didn’t. I bought a bag at Bulk Barn and when I opened it, the smell was so delicious that I just had to try one. Surprisingly, it was soft enough to crunch into!

That’s when I knew I had to use them in a dessert recipe.

These cookies are little imposters.

First of all, buckwheat, despite its obvious association with wheat, is not actually a grain at all. It’s a seed from a plant related to greens like rhubarb and sorrel. Seriously!

Second, they’re not really healthy, but they sound like they are. Doesn’t ‘toasted buckwheat’ scream ‘health food’? It’s a nice card to play at a time when you’re probably being bombarded by juice cleanses and all your friends are eating salad. And it’s gluten free; who cares if the rest of the cookie isn’t?

In reality, while the buckwheat in here increases the whole grain and fibre content of the cookies, it doesn’t do anything to decrease the sugar or fat content. Which is totally fine.

It also adds a delicious nutty, roasty flavour and the whole kernels give the cookies extra crunch.

New year, new cookie!

Roasted Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 oz (140 g) all-purpose flour

3.5 oz (100 g) ground roasted buckwheat (kasha)

3/4 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoons coarse salt

5 oz (140 g) unsalted butter, room temp

5 oz (140 g) brown sugar

4 oz (113 g) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3.5 oz (100 g) whole roasted buckwheat kernels (kasha)

5 oz dark chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, ground roasted buckwheat, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Or you can be like me and forego this step – it’ll all get mixed in at the end. (Somewhere traditional bakers everywhere are gasping.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat together butter and sugars until lightened in colour and texture (about 5 mins).

Add egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Scrape down the side of the bowl and beat again for another 20 seconds to make sure it’s all uniform.

Add dry ingredients and mix just to combine.

Add whole buckwheat and chocolate chips and mix to distribute. Cookie dough will be quite thick and dry, not like your average chocolate chip cookie dough. 

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets; you can use your hands to help the dough come together. Flatten each cookie slightly with your hand before baking.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven (I do one baking sheet at a time) for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

Let cookies cool on baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies directly onto rack to cool completely.

Makes about 36 2-inch diameter cookies.