Buckwheat Molasses Cookies

Buckwheat used to be grown quite a bit as a food crop in the Northeast during the 18th and 19th centuries.  It grows really well in soil that is low in nutrients and needs very little water.  It is actually a seed and not a real grain so the resulting ‘flour’ you get from grinding cannot be used as 100% of the flour in your recipe.  Buckwheat will give your final baked product a slightly more crumbly texture if you use it for more than half of your total flour amount. When you are looking for buckwheat to grind you want to find ‘groats’.  I found mine in a local health food store from Arrowhead Mills.

buckwheat 1

I never really stopped to think about flour having an aroma but the freshly ground buckwheat groats had a very nutty and earthy smell that was just heavenly. 1 cup of groats gave me about 1 1/3 cup of flour.  Buckwheat is a good source of fiber, magnesium, copper and manganese along with 13 other essential vitamins and minerals.

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Buckwheat is gluten free so if you want to make these cookies gluten free try substituting millet flour, oat flour, or gluten free all purpose flour.  These cookies came out absolutely heavenly, with a slightly chewy texture and tons of spicy, molasses flavor!

Buckwheat Molasses CookiesBuckwheat Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
  • 1 cup sugar, plus extra for rolling
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup molasses

Directions:

  1. Combine the flours, cloves, ginger, cinnamon and baking soda in a bowl and mix to combine.
  2. Combine the butter, sugar, egg and molasses in a large bowl and beat gently until well combined.
  3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture until evenly mixed. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  4. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough at a time and roll into balls approximately 1 ½ inches wide. Roll them in a small bowl of sugar and set onto a parchment paper lined baking sheets.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.

Makes about 2 – 3 dozen cookies, depending on size.

 

About Turning the Clock Back

I have a chaotic life that includes work, husband, 2 kids, and more pets than I care to admit. I am passionate about the environment and spend way too much money on organic milk and local, grass fed beef. (Of course, I have a horrible Cheeto addiction and get quite agitated when there is no more diet Coke in the house, too!) I am trying to step back and simplify my life in the hopes of improving myself and the world around me. I enjoy teaching my children how to grow their own food in the garden and cook from scratch. I am hoping they remember enough so that they won't live on Ramen noodles when they leave home!

Checkout my Blogs: Turning the Clock Back , and Suburbia Unwrapped

Grain Mill Wagon Challenge Experience:
I was thrilled to be a part of the Grain Mill Challenge because I have been wanting to experiment more with different kinds of flours in my recipes. While you can buy some exotic preground flours, they tend to be a little bit pricey compared to the whole grains themselves for some reason. This was an amazingly easy grinder to use and the one thing that truly amazed me was how fresh and nutty the flours were right after grinding. Traditional white flour that you buy at the grocery store doesn't really have much of an aroma but the grains I ground from scratch smelled incredible! It was easy to substitute a portion of the flour in my recipes for whole grain flour with very little change in final taste. Many thanks to Wondermill for including me on this challenge and I look forward to freshly ground grains for many years to come!

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