Buckwheat chocolate chip cookies are a tasty alternative to regular cookies, made with healthy whole grain buckwheat flour that gives them a rich nutty flavor and a tender texture.

buckwheat chocolate chip cookies are a welcome (and healthy!) change
Chocolate chip cookies are amazing, and we all love them, but the basic recipe doesn’t vary all that much. Using whole grains can definitely boost the nutritional value of a cookie, but in all honestly I didn’t make these because I was looking for a healthy dessert. I made them because I love the flavor of buckwheat and wondered how it would translate into a cookie. Turns out the whole grains in these cookies gives them a deliciously distinctive flair without sacrificing everything we love about chocolate chip cookies.
what is buckwheat?
- Buckwheat is not a type of wheat, despite its name. It’s not a grain at all, it’s a plant related to rhubarb. Buckwheat four is made from grinding the seeds or ‘groats’.
- Buckwheat is gluten free, and contains fiber, along with other health benefits.
how to use buckwheat flour
- Even though buckwheat ‘flour’ is not actually a grain flour, it can be used in place of, and in tandem with, regular flours.
- Basically you’re safe to swap out about 1/4 of the regular flour in baked goods like cookies, muffins, scones, or biscuits, cakes and quick bread without effecting the outcome of the recipe. The result will be a richer tasting, more tender treat.
what you’ll need
These cookies have a slight crunch on the outside, and a thick, moist, almost fluffy interior. In this case I think that whole grains really contribute to the deliciousness of this cookie. They give it a richness and that ‘x’ factor.
- butter ~ unsalted, at room temperature
- white and brown sugar
- large egg ~ at room temperature
- buckwheat flour
- white whole wheat flour ~ you can also use regular all purpose flour
- baking powder, baking soda
- salt
- vanilla extract
- cornstarch ~ tenderizes the cookie and helps prevent spreading
- semi sweet or dark chocolate chips
more chocolate chips, please!
- Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
- Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Muffins
- DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe ~ the secretโs out!
- Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, plus more for studding the surface of the cookies before they bake (optional)
Instructions
- preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter and sugars together for several minutes until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to get everything evenly incorporated.
- Add in the vanilla and egg, beat well. Scrape down the bowl again.
- Whisk the flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cornstarch together, then blend into the wet ingredients until there is no dry flour left.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by medium sized scoops onto your prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Gently flatten out the tops with an offset spatula. Just press down lightly. Press in a few extra chips into the surface of your cookies, if desired.
- Bake for about 11 minutes. The cookies will appear slightly underdone. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.
Hi I made these today and substituted the sugar for a teaspoon of honey and maybe half a cup of date paste that I made and they turned out great! Thanks for a great recipe
I know this is an older recipe but I had the same idea as youโthat buckwheat would work good in a CC cookie, and all I could find was gluten free/paleo/whatnot versions. Yours was perfect! I also love the smaller batch size. Thanks,
I have a fresh bag of buckwheat flour on the counter as I type this…you’ve inspired me to bake up a batch ๐
Okay so this is a very random but amazing thing that happened: I forgot the butter by accident because I was so keen on making these into chocolate pumpkin buckwheat cookies. So I mixed in the pumpkin puree and realized it’s way too wet of a mixture, added a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to balance it out, scooped it up and put it in the oven. As they’re baking, I internally screamed as I realized that I completely forgot the butter, and except for the chocolate chips and the egg, there’s no fat to make it all yummy (hahahaha!). But they tasted FANTASTIC!!! Your recipe is so fool-proof that even without butter and the totally random addition of pumpkin and cocoa powder makes great cookies. Thank you! <3 ๐
Now you’ve got me craving this pumpkin version Sarah ๐
Hi, These cookies are terrific! I was trying to use up some buckwheat cereal so tossed it in the blender to make flour. Left it a bit coarse which gives the cookies a lovely crunch. Also substituted oat flour for the wheat and reduced brown sugar to 1/2 c. (not packed), plenty sweet. Mine spread out a bit but that made them crispy and i like that.
Thanks for the great info Rose, I love to grind my own flours, I just got a vitamix and I’m going crazy with the dry container!
can’t.stop.eating.them. but they’re buckwheat and pumpkin, I mean, c’mon there are worse things out there. ๐
Thanks again for this awesome recipe!
There’s something about that buckwheat flour, and I happen to have a bag on my kitchen counter right now…my cupboards are overflowing this time of year ๐
How much pumpkin puree did you use, Sarah? Thx!
Found these recipes by looking for buckwheat recipes in order to make some gluten free recipes and low glycemic cookies but with wheat flour and the sugar unfortunately I don’t think they will fit this criteria.
I wonder if my nut butter based cookies would work for you, Mary, here’s a link: TVFGI Flourless Cookies
If I want to ‘veganize’ the recipe, can I substitute chia seeds or flax for the egg? Thank you!
I don’t know, Melissa, sorry!
As a vegan who loooves food…. I can tell u…. ABSOLUTELY I hope u have figured that out by now but yes 1T chia + 3T water and let sit and voila u have your no-egg binder! U can do this with flax too but grind it up just before use (dedicated coffee grinder!) same measurements. Any baking that uses 2 or less eggs 4 binders u can easily sub w/o out issue….sometimes 3 eggs even….
Hello Sue,
Thank you for these cookies recipe!
We are trying eat healthy and almost everything gluten free. My Husband loves buckwheat pancakes but I am struggling with the flavour.
I have changed the recipe a bit, because I did not have all ingredients, so I have used buckwheat and corn flour and only brown sugar and no baking soda and I add raisins and nuts instead of chocolate. I have to say they are absolutely great and our 2 year old son loves them too!
So thank you for inspiring me!
Tereza from England
I’m happy to hear it Tereza, thanks for letting me know!
I love these cookies! I make them gluten free by substituting the wheat flour with half rice flour and half almond flour. They are my go-to cookie and everyone loves them! Thank you!
This recipe doesn’t get much attention anymore, Emily, so I’m so glad you’ve commented — I love them too, buckwheat flour is amazing!
Is the cornstarch optional, or in place of other ingredients?
These look amazing! Could you pleaseee tell me the nutritional values of one of these?
Yes, I’ve provided that in the recipe card.
My fitness pal.com allows you to copy & paste a recipe link or manually type in the ingredients, and it gives you the calories per serving ๐