āThe unexpected connection is more powerful than one that is obvious.ā Heraclitus
My connection to buckwheat goes back many many years. It was in the year 1996 when the daughter was 6 months old that I had my first encounter with the grain. Didnāt know it existed before that. We were visiting friends in Moscow (the same ones we were with in Sydney last month), & Meher was just beginning to eat semi-solids. We had landed in Moscow airport on a grey, rainy day, the place full of strapping tall Russians with stern expressions & a ācold worldā charm. The city was like it was out of a filmā¦babushkas lined up at bread stalls, swanky SUVs zipping down roads, Ladas honking madly, designer stores, roadside stalls, & astonishingly, prices at most stores displayed in US dollars! Weād been transported to a different era altogether!! It was the era when we had to carry passports/ID on ourselves each time we stepped out of the house, & had to report to the police station each week. The Red Square with the onion domes is very clear in my memory to this day, with the church next to it & a beautiful mall alongside. Since we arrived via via London we carried supplies of Gerber baby food, cereal etc. Uliana then suggested a buckwheat cereal for Meher as it was a locally available one. Of course we tried, & met with some success, since the daughter was the most fussy person on the face of this earth at the time. She used to make me weep with every bite I gave herā¦ but thankfully buckwheat had better luck! A native of Russia, buckwheat is thought of as a cereal, but is actually an herb of the genus Fagopyrum. The triangular seeds of this plant are used to make buckwheat flour, which has an assertive flavor and is used for pancakes and as an addition to some baked goods. The famous Russian blini are made with buckwheat flour. Buckwheat groats are the hulled, crushed kernels, which are usually cooked in a manner similar to rice. Groats come in coarse, medium and fine grinds. Kasha, which is roasted buckwheat groats, has a toastier, more nutty flavor.
From then to a month ago buckwheat had no meaning in my life. Until recentlyā¦Circa 2008, while walking towards Echo point in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Uliana & I began talking food. The conversation veered to buckwheat & we had a good laugh about the days of cereal & baby Meher. Then Uliana mentioned that you can only pick up buckwheat from a Polish store in Sydney, & we had to make sure we stopped by the store, for old times sake!That was not to be with the drama that followed.
Then the other day, back home, I stopped by a lovely store called Fab India, & was looking for some stuff to mail to a friend. Sadly enough, what I came for was out of stock, so I searched each & every shelf for something else ā¦ only to find bags of buckwheat staring back at me! HAPPINESS IS ā¦ grabbed a bag with both hands & wanted to call Uliana. Turns out that itās been available in India for years by the name ākuttu ka aataā, a locally available flour, especially used in the fasting season. I donāt fast, so I obviously donāt know!!
Literally galloped home in glee & googled for buckwheat cookies ā¦ got a match that couldnāt keep me out of the kitchen for long. It was at Heidiās blog101 Cookbooks ā¦ & I knew I could follow that with my eyes closed. She has a wealth of stunning recipes, & Iāve made her peach galette before. This particular recipe, the āNibby Buckwheat Butter Cookiesā is an Alice Medrich recipe, which is a twist on the traditional butter cookie, or maybe on shortbread. Mine spun off some more since cacao nibs are unheard of here, & my elder sis in Dallas would shoot me if I asked for stuff like cacao nibs, matcha powder, lemon myrtle, dried lavender amongst other āsilly stuffā ā¦ āyou canāt get this sorta stuff at regular Target, Walmart etcāā¦she thinks Iāve lost it!!
So, I made the cookies with mini chocolate chips, that I roughly beat up in a bag to break up randomly. GREAT COOKIESā¦yum & different, & got me many thumbs up from the kids. As Heidi says, you can roll āem or slice āem; she rolled hers out & so did I. Thereās something inhenrently romantic & elegant about scalloped edges; I stamped out scalloped circles & hearts!I love the use of alternative flours, & was thrilled to use buckwheat here. About the cookieā¦crisp, wholesome in every bite, great texture & every bit full of Alice Medrichās brilliance. Her book Pure Desserts is not available here, but itās on my list of books to own one day! Iāve tried a Citrus Olive Oil Cake of hersā¦signature style & outstanding. Do stop by at 101 Cookbooks & check out the review of Alice Medrichās book & much more. Thank you for posting this cookie recipe Heidi. Itās a beautifully written post.
NIBBLY BUCKWHEAT CHOCOCLATE-CHIP COOKIES as adapted from āNibby Buckwheat Butter Cookiesā from 101 Cookbooks Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups (5.6 ounces) all-purpose flour 3/4 cup (3 ounces) buckwheat flour 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup mini chocolate-chips (the original has 1/3 cup cacao nibs) 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Method: Whisk the all-purpose and buckwheat flours together in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, with the back of a large spoon or with an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar and salt for about 1 minute, until smooth and creamy but not fluffy. Mix in the chocolate chips and vanilla. Add the flours and mix just until incorporated. Scrape the dough into a mass and, if necessary, knead it with your hands a few times, just until smooth. Form the the dough into two flat patties & chill for at least 2 hours. It is quite cold here, so 1 hour was good enough. Lightly grease 4 baking sheets, & preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out with a floured rolling pin and cut out shapes with cookie cutter. Place the cookies at least 1 1/2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until the cookie are just beginning to color at the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool the cookies in the pans on a rack or a minute, & then onto racks until completely cool. As Heidi rightly saysā¦The cookies are delicious fresh but even better the next day.
They can be stored in an airtight container for at least one monthā¦.(wishful thinking..mine disappeared in 2 days) Makes forty-eight 2 1/2-inch cookies. ( I got more than 2 dozen 2 1/2ā³ circles, & as many smaller hearts).
Thereās a bunch of events these lovely cookies are going off to over the holiday season. These would make nice gifts over Christmas. I would have loved to send then to Weekend Herb Blogging too, since buckwheat is a pseudocereal/almost a herb, but sadly the rules donāt allow clubbing of events. So the nibblies are en route toā¦
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
View all posts by Deeba @ PAB
32 thoughts on āNIBBLY BUCKWHEAT CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIESā¦& BUCKWHEAT CONNECTIONS!ā
I always have buckwheat in my pantry, because we all love to have savory crepe on the week-end for breakfast. So, this cookies look like a good candidate for my buckwheat.
I never been to Russia, and always request this destination to my husband. Unfortunately, he always prefer to go somewhere else. Maybe there will be luck for me one day, that heāll consider to take me there. Have a wonderful season, Debaa! Cheers, Elra
wow thes elook nice and wholesome. I ve never used buckwheat flour but i cought some buckwheat. I m curious how these taste. If i find the flour I ll try them. You always have great recipe and presentation is unique š
Thankyou for sending this over to me. I have only made buckwheat pancakes. Never made anything esle with them. I love thsoe green stars, i bought few from one of the indian emporiums when we were in India and at the moment they are hanging in the christmas tree.
Lovely.Nice post.You gave me a tour of Moscow and much much needed info on buckwheat.Never ever knew they were available in India.Thanks for sharing the cookie and info.
Cookies look so pretty Deeba..as usual,fantastic post and even great pics!!Have never heard of Buckwheat before..but thanks for the info about fabindia,maybe I can pick it up from there..lovely lovely cookies!!
the cookies look fabā¦i love the picturesā¦and i hope the cookies all around will get me off my behind and start baking for christmas!!thanks for letting me know buckwheat flour is available āat a store near youā!
wow.. They look so pretty..Never heard of Buckwheat before.. Thanks for the info. Love your pics.. I simply cant seem to be making friendship with my oven. tried twice but my cakes simply donāt agree to turn out fine. I have been eying your Zebra cake for a while now!
Leave it to Heidi to create a delicious cookie with buckwheat. And leave it to you to make your own delicious batch and present them so beautifully. š Many thanks, my friend.
Those cookies look wonderful, Deeba. I bake a lot with buckwheat for my gluten free creations. I love the earthy taste of it. It is underused in my opinion. Thanks for the post.
I donāt think Iāve ever cooked with buckwheat, but it I do love buckwheat crepes, so maybe itās time I started! Love the sound of these cookies ā and really loved reading about your memories of Russia š
I always have buckwheat in my pantry, because we all love to have savory crepe on the week-end for breakfast. So, this cookies look like a good candidate for my buckwheat.
I never been to Russia, and always request this destination to my husband. Unfortunately, he always prefer to go somewhere else. Maybe there will be luck for me one day, that heāll consider to take me there.
Have a wonderful season, Debaa!
Cheers,
Elra
wow thes elook nice and wholesome. I ve never used buckwheat flour but i cought some buckwheat. I m curious how these taste. If i find the flour I ll try them. You always have great recipe and presentation is unique š
Thankyou for sending this over to me.
I have only made buckwheat pancakes. Never made anything esle with them.
I love thsoe green stars, i bought few from one of the indian emporiums when we were in India and at the moment they are hanging in the christmas tree.
They looks crisp and yummy!
Lovely.Nice post.You gave me a tour of Moscow and much much needed info on buckwheat.Never ever knew they were available in India.Thanks for sharing the cookie and info.
Have never used buckwheat before, but this sounds like a wonderful use! Nice one, Deeba! š
I love buckwheat pancakes. So good. I never used it for cookies. You must spend hours writing all these posts. Great pictures again.
Cookies look so pretty Deeba..as usual,fantastic post and even great pics!!Have never heard of Buckwheat before..but thanks for the info about fabindia,maybe I can pick it up from there..lovely lovely cookies!!
Pretty cookies! Thanks to this post, Iām going to have to buy some buckwheat and try it out myself.
Okay I loved your story. I too have many of the same memories of Moscowā¦back when the cold war was a well, the cold war. Stern place eh?
These cookies sound awesome, love the edges of the cookies too.
the cookies look fabā¦i love the picturesā¦and i hope the cookies all around will get me off my behind and start baking for christmas!!thanks for letting me know buckwheat flour is available āat a store near youā!
Deeba, can I visit your place when I come to India? It seems a heavenly house with lots of yummy goodies heheheā¦
And how does Meher feel today about buckwheat? After these delicious cookies Iām sure she loved it! š Youāve lived quite a life so far, Deeba!
Buckwheat is kuttu atta ?
I can imagine the earthy, nutty flavour of the cookie..yum!
love the use of buckwheat here Deeba! nutty and bold flavor for a chocolate chip cookie!
wow.. They look so pretty..Never heard of Buckwheat before.. Thanks for the info. Love your pics.. I simply cant seem to be making friendship with my oven. tried twice but my cakes simply donāt agree to turn out fine. I have been eying your Zebra cake for a while now!
Wow looks healthy and yummy. I love the small and cute deco you use in the pics.
These look amazing, Deeba.
One thing we do have here is a fabulous FabIndia store, and iām going to check it out for buckwheat next time.
A dozenā¦thatās how many of these I need right nowā¦a pure dozen.
Iāve never thought about combining chocolate and buckwheat :), what a tasty idea. The photos are so pretty and festive :D.
those cookies look awesome! thanks for the lovely entry!
I never dreamt of making cookies with buckwheat! I have to get some flour right away. And I love those cute cookie cutters you used.
Good to know that buckwheat flour is kuttu atta. I think we get it here too. Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe.
Deeba all look nice na dyummy, and the pictures really beauty!! xxxGloria
Up until now I have only thought of buckwheat as a cereal as well Deeba. You have definitely opened my eyes!!
Leave it to Heidi to create a delicious cookie with buckwheat. And leave it to you to make your own delicious batch and present them so beautifully. š Many thanks, my friend.
Those cookies look wonderful, Deeba. I bake a lot with buckwheat for my gluten free creations. I love the earthy taste of it. It is underused in my opinion. Thanks for the post.
Hey Deeba! I know Kuttu ka atta but never knew it was buckwheat. Thanks for telling me; now I can try my hand at blinis.
Wow, these cookies look so good. I love all the picture combinations! Very cool.
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I donāt think Iāve ever cooked with buckwheat, but it I do love buckwheat crepes, so maybe itās time I started! Love the sound of these cookies ā and really loved reading about your memories of Russia š
We use buckwheat for our fast days, too, but I never thought of making *cookies* with it!! This, I have to try. š
Thanks for the clear description of the cookies as well the fabulous pics.Keep going the same way.good luck!