After a little over two weeks away from the office, I've been in my usual post-holiday slump since we got back home on Sunday.
I try to tell myself that it's only because I spend 48 (or so) weeks of the year at work that I appreciate time away from it quite so much but on days like today, I'm pretty sure that I would be happy to stay on holiday forever.
It's going to take industrial quantities of chocolate chip cookies to get me through this week.
Kamut is the better known brand name of khorasan wheat, an ancient variety that is thought to have been first grown for the pharaohs. Like einkorn and spelt, the flour contains far more protein and nutrients than regular flour and it has a rich and butter-like flavour that makes it particularly good for baking (plus it contains gluten making a straight substitution fairly easy). In combination with the caramel-sweetness of coconut sugar and maple syrup and the bitterness of the dark chocolate and coffee in the dough , it creates a really quite superior chocolate chip cookie.~
Kamut flour and maple syrup chocolate chip cookies Adapted from these brown butter chocolate chip cookies Yield: Makes approx 20 cookies
I played around with the quantities of dry/wet sweetener and I think this is about my favourite ratio. The coconut sugar gives more of a structure to the cookies and without it, they tend to flatten and crisp. The combination of the kamut flour and the liquid sweetener do make for a fairly soft cookie e (especially if you under bake them a little) which makes them perfect for ice cream sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 185g (1 1/2 cups) kamut flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt plus extra for scattering on top (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon instant coffee
- 115g (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 90g (2/3 cup) coconut sugar
- 60ml (1/4 cup) maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 100g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate chips
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda/baking soda, salt and coffee and set aside.
Cream the butter together with the coconut sugar and maple syrup until combined. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again. As this isn't a recipe for a cake, you don't need to keep on beating forever - you just want everything all nicely mixed together. You can do it by hand if you want although I used my electric mixer. Fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the chocolate chips.
Chill the mixture in the fridge for about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and prepare a couple of baking sheets with either greaseproof paper or a silicone mat. Using an ice cream scoop or a cookie scoop, place spoonfuls of the dough on the baking sheet and, if desired, scatter a little sea salt on top.
Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until the edges of the cookies just start to turn golden brown and are firm to the touch. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
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