Chocolate, Rye and Festive Spice Cookies
This recipe for Chocolate, Rye and Festive Spice Cookies is by the brilliant George Fuest, the owner of micro bakery Populations Bakery on Fournier Street just off Old Spitalfields Market in London. George is a self-taught baker and entrepreneur and operates out of a converted shed in his back garden, and was so committed to his craft, he used to ride all over London on his bicycle hand delivering his breads, cakes, pastries and other baked delights.
I prefer to drop the “festive” in the title of these Chocolate, Rye and Festive Spice cookies because it implies they are specifically for the “festive season” and not for every season! The warming spices feel wintery, but I don’t discriminate and when it comes to these moreish cookies, I can and do eat them during any season. These are VERY good.
George is fascinated by working with special whole grains and using rye flour in these cookies gives them a deep, satisfying flavour and texture. What is rye flour anyway? As an alternative to wheat flour, rye flour is pretty impressive. Packed with fibre, B vitamins and iron, it’s a healthier choice. Rye flour is made from ground rye berries, which are also known as whole rye kernels. A close relative of both wheat and barley, rye berries are a cereal grain grown across the world, particularly in Europe and Russia. Rye, is what gives these chocolate spice cookies their va-voom!
Rye flour imparts a sour, nutty taste to baked goods and is the star ingredient of these Chocolate, Rye and Festive Spice Cookies. Not only do they look wonderful and taste scrumptious, but the rye flour adds the magic ingredient of being a heart healthy superfood! Go on, have another one…
Chocolate, Rye and Festive Spice Cookies
Equipment
- Electronic digital scales
- 2-3 Mixing Bowls
- Stand Mixer OR Hand Mixer
- Spatula OR pastry/bowl scraper
- Baking Parchment
- Baking Tray
- Cooling Rack
Ingredients
- 125 grams Chocolate [about 4 1/2 ounces] (minimum 70% cocoa)
- 20 grams Butter [ 4 1/4 teaspoons]
- 30 grams Rye flour [ 1 ounce]
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground cloves
- 100 grams Caster Sugar [Note 1]
- 1 Egg [Note 2]
Instructions
- Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof mixing bowl over, but not touching a pan of simmering water. Occasionally stir until just melted. [7 minutes]
- In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients except the sugar, and set aside.
- Using a stand mixer [Note 3], whisk the egg, then slowly add the sugar and whisk at a medium-high speed for 10 minutes, until pale and trebled in size. Then slowly fold in the dry ingredients a spoonful at a time. Next fold in the chocolate mixture.
- Place in the fridge to set for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6. [355F]
- The mixture should be quite firm now, so spoon it out into 30g balls. Evenly space them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Bake for 14 minutes until the the biscuits are nicely domed and cracks are showing. Cool on the tray before eating.
