Kamut and Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Wow, life has been running at breakneck speed. I cannot believe it's been so long since I posted. Almost three weeks? How's it possible?
Easily. As you may know, Bruce and I promised ourselves that we were not leaving our home this summer. After months of travel and hard work in the winter and spring, I couldn't bear being away from my gardens--and my bed!--anymore.
Once summer wound down, we stepped up again. In earnest. We've been in New York City for a four-day photo shoot. And we've been in Birmingham, Alabama, for a three-day video shoot. And are now home briefly before we head out again on the road.
One of the projects we're working on for next year is a whole-grain book. Not baking. But cooking: roasting, braising, and stewing. Even stir-frying!
I'm so excited about whole grains that I can hardly sit still. They are definitely real food. And one of my favorite food groups. So much more to come. Rye berries. Triticale. Whole-grain polenta. Brace yourself.
But today, I wanted to offer you these great cookies made with kamut and spelt flakes. You may know spelt, that ancient grain often used in whole-grain baking recipes. But you may not know about kamut, another ancient wheat varietal, now grown extensively in the United States. It's chewy and sophisticated, a wonderful addition to the whole-grain baking catalogue. Both spelt and kamut can be rolled into whole-grain flakes--and thus make wonderful additions to baked goods like these. Along with chocolate chips, of course.
You can find kamut and spelt flakes online or at almost any health food store. Just don't use rolled oats. They'll turn gummy. These are whole-wheat cookies: chewy, hearty, and wonderful.
Here goes (after the jump):
First, position the racks in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Lightly butter a large baking sheet.
Whisk 2 1/2 cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Set it aside.
Beat 16 tablespoons (2 sticks or 240 grams) cool, unsalted butter and 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and creamy, about 6 minutes. Don't skimp. You want the sugar almost completely dissolved.
Why not use whole-wheat flour here? Bruce found he had to add too much fat to compensate, what with the whole-grain flakes coming in the mix. So all-purpose gave him more tender--and less larded up--cookies.
Beat in 6 tablespoons (90 ml) molasses, then 2 large, room-temperature eggs, one at a time. When all that's creamy, beat in 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract.
Turn off the beaters and add the flour mixture. Beat at a very low speed just until moistened. Then beat in 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) kamut flakes, 1 1/2 cups (150 grams) spelt flakes, and 2 cups (350 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips just until evenly distributed.
Mound by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 3 inches apart. As you can see, Bruce uses a small ice cream scoop for perfect mounds. Gently flatten them with your cleaned palms, a rubber spatula, or the back of a wooden spoon.
Bake until brown but still soft and pliable, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet a couple of minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to continue cooling. Let the baking sheet cool a few minutes, then lightly butter it again before baking another batch.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 2:35PM | in Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts, Fabulously Empty Calories, Whole Grains
Reader Comments (3)
I haven't tried spelt flakes yet. I bake with spelt flour (instead of wheat) in all my recipes and I love it! I will have to try some spelt flakes in baking as well.
Those cookies look delicious!
I've been baking with Kamut and spelt for a while now - spelt flakes are a relatively new addition to our pantry, but they're absolutely delicious and we use them in place of oats. The Kamut and spelt flours can be quite low in gluten, so can result in a heavy bread (which is mainly what we've been using it for). The spelt flour makes magnificent chocolate chip cookies though!
I recently learned that Kamut is actually the registered brand name for khorasan wheat - over here it's often sold as the latter.
KAMUT® is the name of the BRAND, not the wheat. One of the biggest misconceptions about KAMUT® Brand khorasan wheat is that the name “Kamut” refers to the type of wheat, while in fact, KAMUT® is the trademark name. Bob Quinn, Founder of Kamut International, wanted to assure the quality of the organic, heirloom grain, khorasan wheat. Under the brand KAMUT®, consumers know they can trust this wheat will always be grown certified organic, will always be non-GMO, and will never be altered or modified. KAMUT® brand khorasan wheat is grown under strict production guidelines and every field is tested for high quality standards. Go to http://www.kamut.com/en/trademark.html for more information about this including how “KAMUT” was picked as the name!