Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share some favorite treats made with real food ingredients. To start, we’re going to make a classic: chocolate chip cookies, then einkorn oatmeal cookies. I know the internet is full of chocolate chip cookie recipes. Today’s recipe is unique because we’re going to make the cookies with ancient einkorn flour. These are the absolute best chocolate chip cookies.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

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What Readers Say

“These cookies are delicious! I have made them twice in the past couple days. I have just started cooking with einkorn flour this year and was excited to find this easy recipe.”

Melissa

What is Einkorn Flour?

I know einkorn flour is fairly new (although it’s very old) to most people (including myself just a few years ago). I thought it would be helpful to talk about what einkorn is before sharing this recipe. If you’ve never used einkorn before, this recipe is the perfect way to “test the waters” and fall in love with this ancient grain.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Einkorn is a variety of wheat. It’s known as the oldest variety of wheat, or the first wheat, making it an ancient grain. This particular species of grass grew wild for thousands of years before it was intentionally planted and harvested.

Einkorn hasn’t been hybridized (crossbred like modern day wheat) so it still holds to its original properties and nutritional values. In our effort to make modern wheat “better” and more efficient from a production standpoint, nutrients have been lost. Einkorn has a much higher protein content (30% more) and less starch (15% less) along with a higher concentration of minerals and flavor than modern wheat. This makes einkorn distinctly different than modern wheat.

ingredients for chocolate chip cookies

Einkorn is NOT a gluten-free grain. This means einkorn is not safe if you have celiac disease (an autoimmune condition). According to celiac.org, about 1 in 100 people have celiac disease. If you have celiac disease or currently cannot consume gluten (there are times when gluten may need to be temporarily removed to heal the gut, etc.), this almond flour chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best.

Personally, I’ve found that I digest einkorn well (and this is one reason einkorn is gaining popularity as more people are sensitive to modern wheat), along with wheat breads and baked goods that have gone through the sourdough process (which makes grain easier to digest–a practice that has been around for thousands of years). This is why so many of the recipes on the blog feature this grain.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can find einkorn at some Whole Foods and health food stores, Earth Fare, Vitacost, and Amazon. Definitely shop around as prices can vary based on the retailer.

My favorite brand is Jovial Foods since finding their products is fairly easy and I’ve come to respect this brand as a leader in the real food movement. Another fantastic source for einkorn (flour and berries) is einkorn.com. If you use a lot of einkorn, buying a large bag of flour from Jovial is the most economical option.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

To learn more about einkorn, I recommend reading this post and listening to this podcast with Carla from Jovial (hearing her daughter’s story about gluten sensitivity is worth it).

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies with Einkorn Flour

Einkorn can be a bit finicky to work with. Due to the gluten structure of einkorn, when the flour is mixed into a batter (when you combine the flour with wet ingredients), the dough can be very sticky. This is particularly apparent with yeasted breads.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

That said, drop cookies, like chocolate chip cookies, are easy to make with einkorn flour. Since chocolate chip cookies don’t require any handling, there’s no need to worry about a sticky dough that can be hard to handle.

All of that to say, these cookies are perfect for beginners or those experienced with einkorn flour. All levels of experience are welcome with this recipe.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

To make the cookies, simply cream the butter and sugars together.

In this particular recipe, you’ll find that we use brown sugar and cane sugar. When it comes to sweets, I’m not opposed to sticking with sugar.

I’m definitely in the camp that sweets and treats are to be enjoyed as just that: treats. We don’t need to “healthify” these treats with avocados or black beans. (Black beans and brownies just don’t belong in the same sentence. I love both, just not together.)

So, we’re using sugar here. The amounts are reduced so the end result is a cookie that isn’t overly sweet but just right (the BEST, in my opinion).

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Back to the steps…

Cream the butter and sugars together, then add two eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together the einkorn flour and leavening agents (baking soda and baking powder). Finally, gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients .

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Once the cookie dough is ready, and you’ve enjoyed a few bites (because sampling homemade cookie dough is a must and since you’re using quality, pasture-raised eggs, there’s no need to be concerned IMO), bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until just slightly brown around the edges. The cookies will have a yellow tint which is the classic characteristic of a baked good made with einkorn flour.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

The end result is a soft and slightly chewy homemade chocolate chip cookie that will wow everyone in the family (even the folks that still love cookies from a box). If you don’t want to eat all the cookies within a few days, I recommend freezing the extras.

What Else Can You Make with Einkorn Flour?

You can use einkorn flour for all your baking needs. After you make these cookies, here are a few other ways to use einkorn flour.

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies
Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies
4.73 from 80 votes

Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Homemade chocolate chip cookies made with the ancient grain einkorn. Soft, slightly chewy, and perfectly thick. Just what a chocolate chip cookie should be.
Kristin Marr
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 30 cookies, depending on size
Calories 112 kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • To a large bowl, add the butter and sugars (brown and cane sugar). Use a hand mixer (or stand mixer) to cream together the ingredients until light in color.
  • Add the eggs one at a time and beat to combine, followed by the vanilla extract.
  • In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk to remove any large lumps.
  • With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
  • Use a wooden spoon to stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be stiff. Allow the batter to rest for about 10-15 minutes, as the einkorn needs this rest time to absorb the liquid ingredients.
  • Use a medium-size cookie scoop to scoop the dough and place cookies about 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined sheet pan. They will spread some so be sure to leave room between the cookies.
  • Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until barely beginning to brown around the edges. They should appear set on top but not browning. Einkorn produces yellowish baked goods, so a light golden/cream hue is normal.
  • Let the cookies rest on the sheet pan for 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.
  • Once cool, store in an air-tight container or bag on the counter for a couple of days, or freeze for a few months.

Video

Notes

Cakey Cookies? Some folks have had an issue with the cookies being cakey and have expressed disappointment in this texture. Here are a few thoughts…
  • If the butter is too warm, this could be an issue. Try chilling the cookie dough for about an hour before baking or overnight. Personally, I love to make this cookie dough, roll it into a log on parchment paper and then freeze. Then just slice and bake the cookies later. That’s what I do a lot so we always have cookie dough in the freezer and the cookies always turn out great.
  • Use the gram measurements (and a scale), not the cup measurement for flour. Grams will give you a precise measurements when baking, cups will not! My cup of flour will not be the same as your cup of flour, depending on how we scoop the flour, pack it in the measuring cup, etc. This is true for all cookie recipes. Using too much flour can and will result in overly cakey cookies.
  • Another thought is to allow the dough about 10-20 minutes after mixing to rest on the counter before scooping and baking. Einkorn absorbs liquid very slowly.
Sugar Content: Since the sugar amount is dialed back in this recipe (I don’t care for overly sweet cookies and prefer to develop recipes that don’t call for a ton of sugar), much of the flavor of the cookies should come from the nutty einkorn and then the touch of sweetness from sugar. Some people have suggested that their cookies were cakey due to the reduced sugar amount. If you feel that you want more sugar, you can increase the cane sugar to 1/2 cup as this will cause the cookies to spread more while baking, resulting in a thinner cookie. I personally like these cookies just the way they are and make them on repeat. 

Nutrition

Calories: 112kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 2gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 19mgSodium: 91mgPotassium: 23mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 111IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 17mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!

In the video, you’ll notice the use of a whisk. This is because a clunky hand mixer or stand mixer takes up to much screen space, which wouldn’t allow me to show you how the cookie dough/ingredients look at each stage. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer is the best way to make the cookies.

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99 Comments

    1. Hey Donna, I haven’t tried an egg replacer in this recipe. I **think** it should work (if it normally works in other cookie recipes you make). Let me know if you try it.

  1. 4 stars
    I’ll start by saying the flavor is great (hence the 4 stars). However, I too had trouble with the cookies not spreading at all. The first dozen I baked per the instructions, with the second dozen I flattened them down (like you would for peanut butter cookies), and the remaining few for the last batch, I flattened them way down. The cookies I flattened way down worked the best and they actually looked like a cookie and baked just fine. I’m no stranger to baking and made sure my scale measurements were spot on due to reading the comments. Maybe the recipe needs a little tweaking or unless I missed it in the instructions, I would recommend flattening them before baking.

  2. 5 stars
    These cookies are delicious! I have made them twice in the past couple days. I have just started cooking with einkorn flour this year and was excited to find this easy recipe.

  3. 5 stars
    Two thumbs up here!
    I added 40g of brown sugar, having read your note about sugar and due to my light brown sugar being a bit dry looking, but next time, would stick to your original recipe – as I think the Einkorn flour adds it’s own layer of richness.
    My cookies were crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside – not ‘cakey’ at all.
    I ground my own organic Einkorn in a Komo Fidibus, used French unsalted butter, and baked on 180 C. The cookies took slightly longer to bake, perhaps because I did not use the fan oven, just conventional.
    All around, great result.
    Thanks for the Einkorn recipes as I have a lot of grain to get through 😉

    1. Yay, Gale! So glad you loved the recipe and cookies. I agree about the einkorn adding its own richness. That’s my favorite thing about einkorn–the incredible flavor. Thank you for sharing.

  4. 5 stars
    Everything I’ve tried on your site is delicious, but I do have a question about the cup-to-gram measurements in your einkorn recipes. On my bag of Jovial AP flour, a ¼ cup is 30 grams, so 1 cup would be 120 grams. With that in mind, this cookie recipe, which calls for 2½ cups of flour, should then convert to 300 grams not 290. In the bread recipe, it calls for 3½ cups of flour or 440 grams, but when doing the math (using 1 c = 30 g), it should be 420 grams. These differences do not significantly affect the recipes, but I’m confused nonetheless! I apologize if you’ve already addressed this somewhere and I missed it. And thanks so much for your input and clarification.

    1. Hey Patricia, Thank you. I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the recipes. The grams provides in recipes are based on the measurements/weights taken while developing/testing the recipe. So the grams are the exact weights used as the recipe is developed and then tested. Hope that helps.

  5. 5 stars
    I made these for my husband for his birthday. They turned out prefect! I did 2 things differently. 1. I used salted butter (that’s all I had) so I just omitted the salt. 2. I used coconut sugar in place of brown sugar. It made 30 delicious cookies, definitely book marking this for next time! Thanks for the recipe!

  6. 5 stars
    I think these cookies are perfect! I have made this recipe 10+ times, and they are super delicious.

    I undercook them slightly because I like my cookies just a tad doughy and ooey gooey (is that a word?). They aren’t a super flat cookie, they have some substance to them which I love.

    For those complaining about them being super domed after cooking, I’m wondering if they are adding too much flour. I weigh the flour with a precise scale and have never had a problem. I wonder if adding 1 T of extra butter might fix this solution for those having this issue (since more fat = a flatter cookie).

    Thanks for this fabulous recipe! I always come back to it.

  7. 5 stars
    I just made these and they turned out great. I used vegan butter and increased the cane sugar to 1/2 cup. I live at a high elevation and thus increased my amount of flour. I did a couple of test cookies to get it right. They are delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!

  8. They were tasty, but dome shaped. They were pretty soft. My family liked them, but asked to make them more chewy next time. I didn’t weigh the flour.

  9. 3 stars
    I’ve made these cookies now. First time with einkorn AP. Cookies were puffy as others have noted. Second time with regular AP flour and again puffy and pale. My thought is too much baking powder/soda and perhaps too much flour. They tasted good just did not turn out like I hoped.

  10. Thank you for this recipe! From Jovial foods, their chocolate chip cookie recipe involves resting in the fridge for a while to allow the flour to absorb moisture (because it’s protein structure is different from modern wheat). Could this be contributing to the cake-like texture the reviewers are commenting on? I noticed there is no rest time in your recipe. Just a thought. I’ve been looking around for different ways to make cookies with einkorn but a lot of recipes tell you to rest.

    1. Hey Grace, That’s a possibility. Many of the einkorn recipes on Live Simply do call for resting the batter for about 10 minutes, for something like pancakes or muffins. That’s usually plenty of rest time for those batters and you’ll notice the batter changes very quickly. Usually with cookie recipes, the idea is for the butter to not be too hot/warm before baking, so that may also be the reason for the resting in the fridge?

  11. I’ve made this recipe about 4 times now and every time they come out really dry and thick. I’m not sure what’s going wrong it /:

  12. I just made these – delicious! I agree with the previous comment about them being cakey, but they were very tasty and great anyway, so I don’t mind. I’m saving this one for the future, thank you! <3

  13. I made these the other day. I’m a beginning baker and expected my cookies to look like the ones in the picture. Mine, however, came out of the oven very cakey. They tasted great, but the texture was not very pleasing (to me – my husband thought they were great). They were domed rather than flat. I tried baking the second tray longer and the third tray shorter, but neither made a difference. I followed the recipe exactly, but was very disappointed. I weighed rather than measured the flour and used room temperature butter.

    1. Hey Kim, I’m sorry you were disappointed with the cookies. Many times a cake-like texture can result in too much flour, but since you weighed that wouldn’t be an issue. My other thought is to increase the cane sugar to 1/2 cup. The increase in sugar may also help lessen the cake texture. And also be sure you’re using medium-large eggs, not anything larger–too much egg can also result in a cake like texture.

  14. I absolutely love the recipes on this site so I hesitated to leave a negative review but I keep making this recipe (and so have several people I know) and every time, our cookies turn out super cakey/fluffy and not chewy looking like the ones in the picture. I’ve tried making the recipe exactly and I’ve also tried making tweaks regarding the amount of egg, temperature of the butter, etc. It doesn’t seem to help! The flavor is just fine but I cannot get the texture right.

    1. Hey Julie, Thank you for sharing. I’m not sure why people are having this issue, I honestly wish I knew what is causing the cake-like texture that some people get. My thought is too much flour, but even some of the people weighing the ingredients have had this issue. My other thought is to increase the cane sugar to 1/2 cup. The increase in sugar may also help lessen the cake texture. I’ve made this recipe so many times, both in the testing of the recipe and also just for personal enjoyment without issue, but I want to make sure people have good success with this recipe so I plan to retest this week with an increase to the amount of sugar and see if that helps prevent any potential issues.

  15. 5 stars
    I made these with all purpose Einkorn but want to try with whole wheat Einkorn. What would I do differently? Thank you!