I’ve eaten so many terrible vegan cookies in my time that I was almost too scared to attempt a vegan & gluten-free cookie recipe. I imagined it could never achieve the texture that you get from using wheat based flours, like in my vegan white chocolate spelt cookie recipe. But my poorly gut convinced me to give it a go.
I am so glad I did. These vegan buckwheat chocolate chip cookies are shockingly cookie like.
What I mean is that they are chewy on the inside with a really nice crisp outer. The buckwheat flour brings a slight nutty flavour to the mix, but it is really subtle and balances well with the other flavours.
I gobbled a few just 10 minutes after they came out of the oven. But I found that they really came into their own when left overnight. Normally I find many gluten-free bakes don’t last particularly well, but these buckwheat cookies only seem to improve. As long as you have enough will power to leave them alone that is.
Can you make vegan cookies gluten-free?
In my eyes, a good cookie should be thin and chewy like the ones they do in America. This can prove to be quite difficult when attempting vegan cookies, but it is definitely still achievable. I find that using an oil emulsion, rather than vegan butter and an egg replacement, helps to replicate this.
But then add gluten-free flour into the mix and you have an even bigger task on your hands. Most gluten-free flours don’t work in the same way as wheat flour. The texture is different and the cookie may not hold together as well.
Well, that is with most gluten-free flours. But I am going to show here how you can achieve a really delicious thin and chewy cookie that is both vegan and gluten-free by using buckwheat flour.
What is buckwheat flour?
Despite its name, buckwheat is not a wheat. It is actually a flowering plant in the knotweed family, which is related to the rhubarb family. The seed of this plant is harvested to be eaten either like a grain or it is milled down into a flour.
Because it isn’t actually a cereal-like grain buckwheat is naturally gluten-free and yet works really well as a direct replacement for wheat-based flours.
- Here is my favourite brand of buckwheat flour
Is buckwheat healthy?
Buckwheat is considerably much more healthy than wheat flour alternatives. It is high in minerals including manganese, copper, magnesium, iron and phosphorus.
It also has a few related health benefits including improved blood sugar control and improved heart health. So yes, buckwheat is quite a healthy ingredient. And it is great that you can sneak it into your sweet treats by baking these vegan buckwheat chocolate chip cookies!
You can read more about the benefits of buckwheat on Healthline.
Why make vegan buckwheat cookies?
If you aren’t already convinced by the fact that buckwheat is gluten-free and also really quite nutritious, you should make these just because they taste great and have a real cookie like texture to them.
I have found them to be really nicely chewy and soft on the inside. The flour itself adds a nice nutty flavour to the dough and the cookies stay thin and crispy without becoming really flimsy and fragile.
So even if you don’t need to follow a gluten-free diet I urge you to gives these vegan buckwheat cookies a go.
How do you make vegan buckwheat chocolate chip cookies?
To make these vegan buckwheat chocolate chip cookies you’ll start by whisking together some oil, water and vanilla bean paste. This will form an emulsion which will add fat to your vegan cookies but will also work as an egg replacement. Nifty, ey.
After this you will measure out and mix all of your dry ingredients, excluding the chocolate chips, into a large mixing bowl. Then you’ll pour in your oil emulsion and mix together.
This will then form a cookie dough which you’ll mix the chocolate chips into before chilling the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.
These will then bake in the oven for about 12 minutes. You’ll want to let them cool for at least 20 minutes or so before munching away.
They really are simple to make yet so tasty!
So are you ready to give these vegan buckwheat chocolate chip cookies a go? Follow the full recipe below.
Vegan buckwheat chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients
- 70 g Organic sunflower oil
- 60 g Water
- 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste
- 180 g Buckwheat flour
- 150 g Soft light brown sugar
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 120 g Dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Measure out your sunflower oil, water and vanilla bean paste into a glass bowl. Whisk the liquids together until they form an emulsion. Set aside the bowl until later
- Measure out and mix together your buckwheat flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl
- Pour the oil emulsion into the mixing bowl and mix together with the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. It will start to form a shiny dough
- Now pour in your chocolate chips and gently fold them into the cookie dough mix
- Cover your mixing bowl and put it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes so that the dough stiffens
- Meanwhile, heat up your oven to 180°c (fan)
- Line a large baking tray with baking parchment
- Once the 30 minutes is up take the cookie dough out of the fridge and using a metal spoon, form 12 cookie dough balls and place them evenly across your baking tray
- Using the back of your spoon, press the dough balls down firmly so that they form wider circles on the tray
- Place the baking tray into your heated oven and bake for 12 minutes
- Once the 12 minutes are up, or the cookies look golden brown and firm on top, take the tray out of the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to fully cool down
- You can eat the cookies as soon as they are cool enough, or leave them overnight for them to go super chewy
2 Responses
My new favourite cookie recipe. Tried the recipe with plain flour and with the buckwheat flour and both times came out great. Will definitely be making them again….soon
I am glad you enjoyed them Bee 🙂