The Desserted Girl

Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (Eggless & Gluten-Free)

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Soft and chewy, these buckwheat cookies have a nutty flavour, lots of texture from the oats, delicious flavour from honey and cinnamon and of course, plenty of melty chocolate chips. I recently revisited this recipe (new info and tips in the recipe notes) and if you’re looking for a gluten-free cookie, I hope you enjoy making and eating this one!

Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies made with buckwheat flour!

A few years ago, I swapped the wholewheat flour in these cookies with buckwheat and really liked the results, despite buckwheat not being the best candidate for 1:1 swap for a flour that does contain gluten. The cookies are a little bit soft, but don’t fall apart and have a more complex flavour. Buckwheat flour comes in light or dark variants and I’ve updated this post to show both (see below the recipe).

Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies made with buckwheat flour!

The dough is a little soft but does not need refrigeration because these cookies don’t spread much. They contain a much smaller amount of butter compared to my classic cookies so you can bake them straightaway and in fact need to press them down a little to encourage them to spread. Let me know how you like these!

Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies made with buckwheat flour!

Soft and chewy gluten-free, eggless buckwheat cookies

Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and chewy gluten-free, eggless buckwheat cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Makes: 12 cookies
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Ingredients
  

  • 1/4 cup butter at room temp (55 gms)
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt or curd, at room temp (55 gms)
  • 2 tbsps honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup soft brown sugar, light or dark (55 gms)
  • 1 cup buckwheat flour (120 gms; see notes)
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats (25 gms; see notes)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt, if using salted butter
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 175 C and line a baking tray with a silicone mat or non-stick baking paper.
  • In a smaller bowl, beat the butter briefly with a whisk or spatula until smooth, then whisk in the yoghurt, honey and vanilla. Add the sugar and whisk well to combine. The mixture might appear slightly curdled, but don't worry.
  • Add the oats, then sift in the buckwheat flour baking soda, cinnamon and salt, if using. Fold it all together till you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. Some readers have reported finding the dough a little crumbly. If this happens, add a tablespoon of milk to bring it together.
  • Fold in the chocolate chips. This dough will not spread much so there is no need to chill it.
  • Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to make 10 to 12 equal portions of the dough and space them apart about 2 inches on the baking tray. Flatten them almost all the way as they won't spread as they bake. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. If they still remain puffy, use the back of a spoon to flatten further. While the cookies are hot, press a few more chocolate chips into the top of each one.
  • Allow the cookies to cool slightly, then place on a wire-rack to cool completely and firm up. They will have crisp edges while freshly baked, but once covered, these cookies will soften partly because oats are highly absorbent and buckwheat doesn't give the same texture as all-purpose flour. Store at room temperature for a week in an airtight box. Happy baking!

Notes

*Buckwheat flour is typically not used as a 1:1 swap for all-purpose but I liked it here and didn't find the cookies very fragile in the absence of gluten. While revisiting this recipe, I made some observations which I wanted to note here. Without meaning to, I bought dark buckwheat flour this time, which has more of the husk and has a much stronger, grassy smell which will be evident in the baked cookies too. If this is a concern, make sure you get a lighter variant. If you live in India, the light version I'd used was Sattvic (years ago though, I don't know if the flour is still the same) and the dark I used this time was Organic Tattva, just because it was the brand that was easily available to me. In terms of the dough texture, I didn't notice a difference based on what kind of buckwheat I used but the cookies do change colour depending on what you use. See photos below for the colour on the dark buckwheat cookies, which is something a few readers reported experiencing too.
*Originally, this recipe used 1/2 cup rolled oats. I've now reduced it to 1/4 cup which I think keeps it from being crumbly (a few readers experienced this, I myself haven't and usually have a soft, slightly sticky dough) but still gives a nice chewy bite. Rolled oats provide more texture, instant oats will make the dough a little dry because they're more of a flour consistency. If that's what you have on hand, add a tablespoon of milk if needed to bring the dough together. 

Soft and chewy gluten-free, eggless buckwheat cookies

Soft and chewy gluten-free, eggless buckwheat cookies

 

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Hi! See step 7, a couple of days at room temp but longer in the fridge to retain texture 🙂

      Reply

      • 5 stars
        These came out pretty good! More sense than I thought, but they have a good flavor.I added a tablespoon of milk and I think that kept them from being too dry. They don’t have the beautiful color that yours do, more of an odd gray-ish color, but they do taste good

        Reply

        • Thank you for trying them! They are a bit more dense than using traditional flour and I think there would be some variations in buckwheat flours which could explain the colour difference 🙂

          Reply

  5. 5 stars
    5 stars for the taste and how-easy it is to prepare this recipe. The only downside would be that the dough was too crumbly to be made into cookies so I just baked it in a pan. The end-result exceeded my expaectation taste-wise! Thank you for such a tasty combination of tastes.

    Reply

    • I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Sometimes a little milk or extra melted butter helps with shaping the cookies although yes, overall they’re crumblier than traditional cookies. I love the idea of cookie bars though!

      Reply

  6. Hi
    Can I use egg instead of yogurt & if I don’t want to add honey should I just increase the quantity of the brown sugar?

    Reply

    • It doesn’t really need the egg, haven’t tried it that way so not sure how the dough will be but brown sugar should work in place of honey

      Reply

  8. I tried these but mine came out looking a lot darker (nearly charcoal coloured) and very dry (no they weren’t burnt). For the next batch (I had to bake in 2 batches because my oven is made by tiny fairies) I reduced the baking time to half and still they are dry. I followed the recipe completely, which makes me suspect and conclude that my buckwheat flour is not as finely milled as yours so its perhaps absorbing all the moisture and fat. I am determined to get it right (because my dought wasn’t as sticky), so do you have suggestions to get by this? (give it a whirl in the mixer and sift?)

    Reply

  10. Looks and sounds purrfect! How long will they stay if kept outside in fantastic weather that is Delhi? Or do you recommend refrigerating them. Thanks!

    Reply

    • Haha, when I doubt, refrigerate! I don’t take a chance in Mumbai weather and I think with delhi’s current heat, refrigeration on the same day is a good idea 🙂 Let me know what you think of them !

      Reply

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