Buckwheat Chocolate-Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

These decadent cookies have a deliciously crinkled top and a toasty flavor that complements the semisweet chocolate.

sea salt buckwheat chocolate chip cookies — Credit: Mikkel Vang

Prep Time:

30 mins

Total Time:

8 hrs 40 mins

Yield:

26

Just when you thought you'd tasted everything possible in chocolatey treats, along come these buckwheat chocolate chip cookies from baker Umber Ahmad of Mah-Ze-Dahr bakery. Adding a little buckwheat flour in addition to the usual all-purpose and a dash of sea salt gives these treats a toasty undertone that sets off the semisweet chocolate. The cookie dough needs to be refrigerated for at least eight hours and up to two days before the cookies are formed and baked.

Another thing that makes them unique is the pan-banging technique: You remove the cookie sheets from the oven and bang them against the counter or another hard surface a few times during baking. This gives them their signature crinkled texture and helps the cookies to spread evenly. It also causes air to escape, so they are thin with a soft, chocolatey center rather than cakey.

Directions

Mix dry ingredients; beat butter and sugars:

In a small bowl, whisk together both flours, baking soda, and kosher salt. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter with both sugars on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla, then add dry ingredients and fold in chocolate; refrigerate:

Add egg, then vanilla; beat to combine. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in chocolate. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 2 days.
Preheat oven; form cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove dough from refrigerator and form into 1 1/2-inch balls (each about 2 heaping tablespoons). Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Sprinkle a few grains of flaky salt on top of each ball.
Bake and cool:

Bake, rotating pans once and banging firmly against a hard surface every few minutes, until cookies are just set and lightly golden around edges, 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.