Ancient Grains for Cookies

If you often bake with ancient grains like einkorn and spelt, you know that the flavour is far superior to modern white flour. That’s true for these einkorn cookies, too, and not only from the nutty einkorn flour. Chilling the dough heightens the flavour, in addition to using two types of raw sugar, olive oil, and plenty of vanilla. It’s an all-around great chocolate chip cookie with a slightly crisp, chewy texture.

The dough is mixed entirely by hand without any need for electric beaters (there’s no butter to cream) so it comes together quickly and easily. The dough does need to be chilled for at least two hours so keep that in mind before starting this recipe.

This is another of several einkorn recipes that I’ve shared. I think it’s a delicious grain and should be more popular! It’s easy to find in most of Europe and flour can be purchased from online shops like Flourist in North America.

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Ingredients You’ll Need and Why

The most important thing is to use whole grain einkorn flour. Sugar substitutes and other notes are listed below. These are my notes from recipe testing, and you can find the full recipe card below with complete measurements and instructions.

• Einkorn flour: this is a whole grain recipe, and I’ve never tested with sifted einkorn flour. I usually mill it myself but have also tested with store-bought einkorn flour. No changes need to be made to the recipe but you should always weigh your flour, especially when home-milling.
• Muscovado sugar: this is a type of unprocessed sugar. I have tried these with brown sugar, which is granulated white sugar with molasses added back in. The cookies tend to spread slightly more with true brown sugar but it can be used.
• Raw sugar: this is cane sugar that hasn’t been as finely ground. It has a more caramel flavour and rougher texture compared to white sugar. Granulated white sugar can be substituted but note that the flavour and texture of the cookies will change slightly.
• Egg: one egg is added for structure. Vegan egg substitutes will cause the cookies to spread more while baking.
• Oil: I always use olive oil because I like the slightly bitter note it adds to cookies. You can use any oil that’s liquid at room temperature. I haven’t tested with butter and don’t recommend using coconut oil.
• Chocolate chips: this can be mini chocolate chips as pictured, standard chocolate chips, or chopped baking chocolate. I recommend dark chocolate to balance the sweetness of the cookies.
• Vanilla: a good amount of vanilla extract is added to the cookies, and they will taste flat without it. You can substitute vanilla paste or powder, using half the amount versus extract.

How to Make Einkorn Cookies

No mixer needed! The oil and sugars are whisked together before adding the egg, and everything else is mixed in with a wooden spoon or spatula. It’s not really possible to cream oil and sugar, and we don’t want to add a lot of air to the cookie dough anyway.

Step 1: whisk the raw sugar, muscovado sugar, and oil together in a large mixing bowl. This will take a little elbow grease as the oil won’t want to incorporate with the sugars at first, but it will come together.

Step 2: add the egg and vanilla and beat again to combine. The egg will really bring the mixture together, increasing volume and creating a thick, glossy mixture.

Step 3: add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon to combine. Remember that baking soda and baking powder aren’t interchangeable – if you use baking powder, the cookies will be cake-like and won’t spread as they should.

Step 4: add the chocolate chips and fold to evenly incorporate. Cover the dough and chill for at least two hours, or up to 24 hours.

Step 5: scoop the dough onto a lined baking sheet. These are fairly large cookies, and I scoop with a retractable ice cream scoop. If you don’t have one, use a tablespoon and make heaping spoonfuls instead.

Step 6: bake until just lightly golden around the edges. The cookies will appear puffed up when they first come out of the oven, but will quickly collapse. This makes for a chewier centre.

Expert Tips for the Best Cookies

• Don’t skip chilling: the dough is soft, and if it’s not chilled the cookies will spread too much. Chilling also allows the flour to hydrate for a better texture – important for whole grain baking – and improves the overall taste of the cookies. Without chilling they taste bland.
• For home-milling: if you mill your own einkorn flour, mill it as finely as possible for this recipe. I use a komo for home-milling and it’s great.
• Don’t reduce sugar: you can try it, if you’d like, but note that the cookies will be dense, dry, and won’t spread as pictured. Sugar is a liquid in baking so reducing it results in dry bakes.
• These are thin cookies: this is a slightly old-fashioned style of cookie, fairly flat and with slightly crisp edges. If you’re looking for a very chunky cookie, this isn’t that.

More Ancient Grain Cookie Recipes

• Whole Grain Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Almond Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Honey Oat Cookies
• Spelt Sugar Cookies