A simple way to make light, crunchy, chocolate chip cookies, without egg, using the ancient grain, einkorn. This is an easy recipe that kids can get involved in; you don’t need experience with ancient grains. After baking, you will be rewarded with delicious, chocolate-studded cookies that the whole family will love, packed full of the nutrition of wholegrain einkorn.

Einkorn is the ancient grain of all ancient grains. It is the oldest cultivated variety of wheat and also, genetically, the simplest. It’s remained unchanged for over 10,000 years meaning that, when we cook with it in our modern kitchens, we really are bringing to life a grain of our ancestors.

The word einkorn comes from the German language, meaning single corn. It’s grains are small, helping me see why, when I lived in Italy, I knew this grain as ‘farro piccolo’.

I am lover of ancient grains – over 10 years of making sourdough and I’ve never baked with modern wheat. Having explored einkorn’s cousin, spelt, so deeply, I was really keen to metaphorically step back in time and play with the ‘original’ ancient grain!

So, when I was gifted a bag of einkorn berries by Grand Teton Ancient Grains, I couldn’t wait to use them.

Having previously developed a sourdough bread recipe with their emmer berries, I wanted to try something a bit different. My son loves chocolate, particularly in cookies, but, he can’t eat egg. This means that a lot of cookie recipes out there are a no-go for us. I knew I wanted to get him involved in the actual making – being in our kitchen is part of his home-school life – so chocolate cookies seemed like a great option. I’d keep it simple, avoid eggs and develop the recipe with him.

These crunchy wholegrain einkorn chocolate chip cookies came out of our third kitchen session. This recipe was the clear winner – the addition of milk kefir making the resulting treat delightfully airy and crisp.

Why wholegrain?

These einkorn chocolate chip cookies are made from wholegrain. A couple of years ago I invested in a Mockmill counter-top grain grinder and I freshly-grind whole berries in my own kitchen. This practice has transformed the flavour of my grain products, saved me money and is connecting me more deeply with my food.

A lot of the nutrition of grains is in the bran. If you use white flour, this has been stripped out. Store-bought wholegrain flour often sits on the shelf, losing vital nutrients. By freshly-grinding whole berries, you get as much nutrition and flavour as you can.

Let’s talk about the sugar

The sugar in these cookies is minimal. Having been away from processed food for years, my family find they don’t need (or want) the same levels of sweetness in their food. The sugar amount in this recipe is to their taste. If you’d like them a bit sweeter, feel free to increase the sugar.

…and, of course, the chocolate

The chips in these chocolate chip cookies are hand-chopped from a bar of 90% cocoa chocolate. We love the depth that this level of cocoa brings. If you prefer your chocolate sweeter (or want an overall more sweet cookie) choose a chocolate with a lower cocoa percentage.

Wholegrain Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 8 cookies
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

145g wholegrain einkorn flour
1 tsp baking powder
60g salted butter
25g soft dark brown sugar
28g dark chocolate, cut into chips
20–25g milk kefir
For the topping:
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tsp dark brown sugar

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 180°C/375°F and prepare a baking tray/sheet, lining it with baking/parchment paper
• Measure the einkorn flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl and combine well.
• Cream together the butter and sugar.
• Put the creamed butter and sugar into the bowl with the einkorn and baking powder and, using your fingers, combine into a breadcrumb-style mix.
• Stir in the dark chocolate chips.
• Bring the mix together into a dough using the milk kefir to help bind. Start with the less milk kefir and, checking the consistency, add more if needed.
• When the dough is well combined, break off a small amount to make each cookie. I aim for each portion to be 30g.
• Squeeze this piece of dough a few times forming it into a ball. Place the ball onto your lined baking tray and flatten with the palm of your hand. Shape the dough into a 2 inch circle, pinching the outside edges together if they begin to crack.
• Repeat this process for the remaining dough, ending up with eight cookies.
• In a smaller bowl, for the topping, mix together the cinnamon and dark brown sugar.
• Sprinkle this topping generously over the cookies before placing them in the oven.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, watching towards the end of the cooking time to make sure the edges don’t burn.
• When the cookies look golden brown and feel hard on outside, remove them to a cooling rack.

FAQs

I don’t have a grinder, can I use store-bought wholegrain einkorn flour?

Yes these chocolate chip einkorn cookies will work just as well with store bought einkorn flour as they do with freshly-ground flour. Just remember to choose wholegrain, not white, flour.

How long do these cookies keep for?

These cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container

Where did you get your grain grinder?

I purchased my grain grinder from Mockmill. You can read about my experience here.

Can I use other grains for these chocolate chip cookies?

Yes! I have also made these with freshly-ground wholegrain spelt flour and I think they would also work really well with wholegrain emmer flour, which has a naturally sweet flavour.

Can I use different chocolate?

You do not have to use 90% cocoa chocolate for this recipe. Feel free to use a darker, or lighter, chocolate or even a flavoured one.

I don’t have milk kefir, can I use something else?

The milk kefir works with the baking powder to make these cookies light and airy. You can buy milk kefir in many stores, if you don’t make it yourself. If you can’t find milk kefir, another acidic, creamy option – like yoghurt – would work.

Thank you so much to Grand Teton Ancient Grains for sponsoring this post, allowing me to develop, test and write up this recipe.

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