These little Almond and Einkorn Cookies have made an appearance in the snack jar in my family’s kitchen twice a week for the past month. And, for a family that generally doesn’t care too terribly much for sweets, that’s a lot. I made them so frequently at such great demand that the moment I’d turn on the shiny red KitchenAid stand mixer its whirring sound would beckon my son and husband into the kitchen, and they’d ask, “Are you making those little cookies again?” Every. Single. Time.
It’s been terribly cold in the mountains over the past few weeks. We’ve seen some 100 inches of snow fall in the last week, and I there’s a wall of snow that makes it impossible to see out of my kitchen window. I bake more frequently in the colder months, as the heat from the oven helps to warm the rickety bones of our old home. Baking is also an expression of love and of comfort. My husband and I have been married nine years now, and together for fifteen. It wasn’t so long ago that we eloped, and honeymooned in Amsterdam where we ate chocolate truffles.
Baking with Ancient Grains
I favor ancient grains and heirloom wheat in my baking. I like the richness of einkorn, the nuttiness of emmer, the dusty qualities of spelt. I like supporting farmers who charge themselves with the safe protection and eventual revival of heritage grains, and I love the old-fashioned charm of working with these grains. Other than minor adjustments to the hydration levels of baked goods, working with ancient grains and heirloom wheats is more or less the same as working with modern wheat – you have to take care not to over-beat the dough lest it become tough.
Little Almond and Einkorn Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose einkorn flour
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup whole, unrefined cane sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- powdered sugar for dusting the cookies
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 F.
- Dump the einkorn flour and the almond flour into a medium mixing bowl, and stir in the salt until the almond flour and salt are evenly distributed into the einkorn flour.
- Spoon the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl, and beat them together until the butter lightens in color and becomes billowy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts.
- Working about 1/2 cup at a time, spoon the mixed flours into the mixing bowl, beat them into the sweetened eggs and butter until they’re fully incorporated.
- Working one at a time, spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough into your hands, roll it into a ball and set it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Arrange the cookies about 2 inches apart to allow them to spread. Press them down with the tines of a fork, and bake them 12 to 14 minutes, or until the tops are barely touched with gold. Remove them from the baking sheet with a metal spatula, and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. While they’re still hot, sprinkle them with powdered sugar, if you like, and continue working in batches like this until you’ve exhausted all the dough. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container where they’ll keep about 1 week.
I have made these many times since you first posted them. Really love this recipe. The other simple one we often make is 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg, splash of vanilla, 1 cup organic sugar and a pinch of sea salt. Mix all together well and use a small scoop to spoon out small balls and put a cross hatch marking with a fork dipped in water. Bake 10 min on 350 or until softly baked. Flourless peanut butter cookies. ????
For those of you looking for a gluten free substitute I have made these with no other changes than subbing out buckwheat flour for the Einkorn. I do love Einkorn but I ran out and had buckwheat flour. They are delicious.
These were amazing! Only trouble is, I won’t be able to make them very often or I’ll be 500 lbs in no time.
I really want to make these cookies, but have not seen any replies re a Gluten Free substitute, are there any for the einkorn flour?
We love almond cookies and would like to try this recipe except for our family it must be GF, DF and egg free. I have the egg part covered by using flax goo or another egg sub, and I am wondering (as a couple of others above asked) if this will turn out okay with a gluten free alternative such as Mama’s coconut blend or a Pamela’s or Bob’s Red Mill alternative. Or maybe a blend of coconut, arrowroot and potato flour. I don’t know and wondered if anyone had ever tried a GF sub. Thanks in advance – we hope to make these for Christmas so I am hoping for a response in time. 🙂
I made them for my husband’s Christmas party at work. They were the talk of the office and they didn’t know who made them. Thanks for the great recipes.
Sounds delicious! Would gluten-free flour (ala Pamela’s or another pretty low-processed one) work as a sub here?
I popped over after seeing a tweet from Leanne at healthfulpursuit ..
I’ve never heard of einkorn flour, but will be interested in giving it a try 🙂
What a great combination: einkorn and almonds! I’ve been baking your great recipe and playing with the ingredients after a few times. I’ve added lemon zest and blueberries to the almond recipe (trust me there… I thought it would be impossible but it even enhances the almonds) and replaced the ground almonds with ground hazelnuts, which pick up on the einkorn nuttiness, replacing a small part of the butter with sour cream and mixing them with some hazelnut crumbs. It’s all delicious and all are really wonderful additions to our cookie jar… Thanks so much for the inspiration to use einkorn! I’m definitely going to check out your book!!
Just made these and used sucanat instead of the cane sugar and they still turned out great!
Actually, if you used Sucanat, you did use cane sugar. Sucanat is just a brand name for whole, unrefined cane sugar. It’s good, isn’t it?
I’m not familiar with high extraction flour. Is it possible to just use fresh ground einkorn wheat berries? I love the flavor of einkorn and can’t wait to try these! Thanks!
These look awesome!! Have you tried making them with clarified butter?? The nursing is very sensitive to cow dairy 🙁
These look great but is there a way to make them gluten-free? My daughter has celiac but loves the look of these.
Made these today and they are delicious! 2 teaspoons rather than 2 tablespoons is a better amount for making the balls. I used 1 tablespoon and they were not small like the picture or yield 2 dozen – but whatever size, they are great.
Can you use the pulp leftover from making almond milk instead of the flour? I like to strain my almond milk and am trying to find a use for the pulp (other than feeding it to the chickens!). I adore your blog, by the way!
Aimee, I make my own almond milk too and I use the pulp to add to homemade granola bars and protein balls. Works well!
i’m just starting out in the quest for different grains and this recipe looks wonderful. Thanks you for your wonderful descriptions.
The cookie sounds great and I plan to try it. Can I just mention though that the “rollover” ad on the right margin of the page is a major nuisance. I couldn’t get rid of it and had to exit out of your website. I understand the need for revenue but there are limits….