Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies

Desserts

Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies

By Dixya

Enjoy Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies with your morning coffee or tea! Simple recipe that features 2 types of chocolate and 2 variations of buckwheat.
I bake real deal cookies from scratch may be 2-3 times a year. For the past three years, I participated in Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap where I exchanged brown butter chocolate chip cookies, brown butter cardamom cookies, and cranberry almond biscotti! I was little sad when I found out they discontinued the cookie swap from this year as I was looking forward to it again….So, when OXO reached out about their latest campaign to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, naturally I jumped right in. PS. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer was founded by two OXO employees..It’s a win-win situation when you receive some stellar baking sets from OXO plus an opportunity to bake Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies (from Dorie Greenspan’s newest cookbook, Dorie’s Cookies), which eventually results in OXO donating $$$ to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.

The recipe comes directly from Dorie Greenspan’s newest cookbook, Dorie’s Cookies. Just as the name suggests, it uses 2 types of chocolate and 2 variation of buckwheat…plus an option to free form cookie (which I did) or slice and bake. Rather than your traditional American cookies, Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies are more like snack cookies, short bread cookies, or biscuits (as in the UK).

I have talked briefly about buckwheat flour here but kasha (another name for whole buckwheat) is a surprise ingredient for that added crunch. Unfortunately, I was not able to find the medium granulated type which the recipe calls at grocery stores around me. Maybe online?

I am not a baker by nature but every now and then I enjoy following a recipe as it is. I can’t say I LOVE it but I appreciate baker’s patience and attention to detail in making sure the final result is perfect. For Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies, Dorie has explicit notes for what to expect and how ingredients will transform from crumbly mixture to pliable dough, and how to roll a free form dough vs. slice and bake cookies. It’s those little details that makes a huge difference, especially for a novice bakers.

I’d like to thank OXO for providing me with the following baking sets to make Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies:

Illuminating Digital Hand Mixer has a digital control to steadily increase or decrease speed. The bottom of the mixer actually lights up to illuminate the bowl.
Non-Stick Pro Cookie Sheet has a unique micro-textured pattern that ensures even baking and adds structural rigidity.
Double Pastry Wheel which comes handy to cut cookie dough into square/diamond shape. I could see myself using this for pie this Thanksgiving!

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Double Buckwheat Double Chocolate Cookies

Serves: 80 free-form or 60 round cookies

Ingredients

1 2⁄3 cups (227 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 grams) buckwheat flour
1⁄4 cup (21 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 sticks (8 ounces; 226 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
1⁄2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1⁄4 cup (50 grams) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1⁄4 cup (45 grams) kasha, preferably Wolff’s medium granulation
4 ounces (113 grams) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sanding sugar, mixed with 1 teaspoon flake sea salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling

Directions

If you’re going to make free-form cookies, position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat it to 350 degrees F. (If you’ll be making slice-and-bake cookies, preheat the oven after the logs have chilled.)
Whisk both flours and the cocoa powder together. (If the cocoa is lumpy, sift the dry ingredients, then whisk to blend.)
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars and the salt together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Drop in the yolks and beat for another minute, scraping the bowl as needed, then add the vanilla. Turn the mixer off, add the dry ingredients all at once and mix on low speed until they are almost incorporated. This takes a minute more than you might think it should; at first the dough looks crumbly and then it starts to darken, moisten and come together. Mix in the kasha and chopped chocolate. Use a large flexible spatula to give the dough another few turns and mix in any loose ingredients.
Turn the dough out and divide in half.
To make free-form cookies: Shape each piece of dough into a disk. One at a time, place between pieces of parchment paper and roll out to a thickness of 1⁄4 inch. It’s the thickness, not the shape, that matters. (I usually go for a rough oval or round.) Peel away both pieces of paper from one piece of dough, then return the dough to one piece of paper and slide it onto a baking sheet (if you don’t loosen the bottom paper, the dough will curl during baking). Repeat with the second piece of dough. Sprinkle the dough with the sugar-salt mixture.
Bake for 14 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back at the midway mark, or until the cookies are set — the edges will be more set than the center, which might still have a bit of give when gently prodded. Slide each cookie slab, still on the parchment, onto the counter. Using a pizza wheel or a knife, cut the big cookie into as many cookies of whatever shape you like. I cut it into strips about 1 inch wide and then cut these diagonally so that I end up with diamond-shaped cookies. Slide the cookies, still on the paper, onto a rack to cool to room temperature.
To make slice-and-bake cookies: Roll each piece of dough into a log that’s 12 inches long. Wrap well and freeze for at least 1 hour, or refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven as on page 203. Slice each log 1⁄3 inch thick and place the cookies about an inch apart on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone mats. Sprinkle with the sugar-salt mixture.
Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back at the midway mark, until the cookies are firm around the edges and give slightly when pressed in the center. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely.

Notes

Storing[br]If you’d like, you can freeze the dough, either rolled out or shaped into logs, for up to 2 months; be certain to wrap it well. The logs can also be refrigerated for up to 3 days. The cookies can be baked (or sliced and baked) straight from the freezer; add a minute or two to the baking time. The cookies will keep covered at room temperature for about 4 days; they can be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 2 months.

I was provided with baking sets as a part of OXO campaign but I was not compensated to write this post. All opinions are 100% as usual mine!