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Rye chocolate chip cookies are an elevated take on the classic chocolate chip cookie, made with nutty rye flour, a splash of bourbon, and a subtle hint of rosemary. Each cookie is tender, rich, and full of chopped dark chocolate. I bake these all year long, especially during the winter holidays.
I love the interesting flavor of these cookies. They are wonderfully soft and chewy. Delicious, this is a keeper recipe. Thank you!
Sophisticated Chocolate Chip Cookies
Tender, chewy, chocolatey, and a touch of earthy nuttiness is the only way to describe this cookie experience.
Every baker I know has a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, I have a few versions myself. But with this recipe, I wanted to create a cookie to serve a more elevated palate. That’s where rye flour, rosemary and bourbon come into play. A trio of flavors that combine into a speakeasy worthy cookie treat.
Dark chocolate, dark brown sugar, and cardamom create a layered taste experience, almost like sipping a good red wine. The flavors of the dough deepen with a cold overnight rest in the fridge for those with a little patience, baking into complex delicious cookies. They’re soft in the center, have chewy edges, and taste better than any pre-made cookie dough.
For more uniquely flavored cookies, try my dark chocolate chai cookies or brown sugar toffee cookies.
Rye Cookie Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour: Creates the base of the cookie dough structure. I used a stronger all purpose flour with 11.7% protein.
- Rye Flour: Lends a nutty flavor with a bit of malty and slightly earthy notes that pair nicely with the brown sugar and chocolate.
- Note: Use a medium rye flour such as King Arthur Baking Company’s Classic Medium Organic Rye Flour.
- Rye flour and all purpose flour are not a 1:1 swap. I recommend baking my Favorite Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies if you would like chocolate chip cookies without the rye flour.
- Unsalted Butter: Make sure the butter is softened so it creams nicely into the sugar.
- Note: This recipe uses American style butter “sweet cream” butter with 80% butterfat.
- Dark Chocolate 65-70% : Dark bitter contrast is needed for the cookie dough’s sugary sweetness.
- Note: I prefer to chop quality dark chocolate bars into small chunks as it disperses little chocolate flecks throughout the dough. But, dark chocolate chips will work just fine if that’s what you have on hand.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Creates that softer chewy texture that makes a cookie melt in your mouth. Plus, the caramel and toffee notes from the touch of molasses are what we came for!
- Bourbon: Imparts a nice warming note to the overall flavor, just a splash is all you need.
- Note: The alcohol will bake off while the cookies are in the oven, leaving just the flavor behind.
- Fresh Rosemary: The perfect aromatic herb to pair with rye and dark chocolate. I promise you’ll love this flavor combo!
- Cardamom and Cinnamon: We need to add a little spice to make everything nice.
Baking With Rye Flour
Rye flour comes in several shades: light, medium, and dark, each bringing its own flavor and texture to a cookie. Light rye has a mild, gently sweet flavor and keeps the cookies soft and tender without adding too much earthiness. Dark rye offers a deeper, more robust flavor with a hint of malt, along with a denser, chewier texture.
For these cookies, I use an organic medium rye flour, which has the perfect balance of warm, nutty complexity without overwhelming the classic chocolate chip profile. Rye flour also brings extra moisture to the dough, creating a soft, chewy center and a perfectly snackable texture that’s neither too soft nor too crisp.
Some of my favorite rye flours to use for this recipe are King Arthur Flour Medium Rye or Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour . The dark rye will result in a slightly darker cookie with bolder rye flavor.
How to Make Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
The cookie dough comes together with creamed butter and sugar, add in the eggs and flavorings, then the flours all in one bowl. Fold in the chopped dark chocolate, chill, and bake until the cookie edges are golden and set. Here’s a step-by-step:
- Cream softened butter and sugar together to form a fluffy paste. Mix in the egg first, followed by the extra egg yolk. Then add the vanilla and bourbon until combined.
- Add dry ingredients of flour, rye flour, rosemary, spices, and leaveners to the wet mixture. Blend on low to form a soft cookie dough.
- Fold chopped dark chocolate chunk into the cookie dough with a silicone spatula.
- Scoop cookie dough into even sized balls using a medium cookie scoop while the dough is still soft.
- Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment paper lined tray and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight for a deeper flavor.
- Place cold, firm cookie dough balls 2-3 inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Bake until edges are set and center is mostly cooked, but still a little puffy.
Chilling Your Cookie Dough is a Must
Why chill your cookie dough? Chilling concentrates the flavor and keeps these moist morsels from spreading too much in the oven. For this recipe, I like to chill overnight to give the bourbon, rosemary, and spices time to develop, but you can get away with a 3 hour chill. The butter also benefits chilling, as cold butter melts more slowly in the oven. This helps the cookies stay thicker and maintain their shape without over spreading.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Tips
- Scoop First: Use a medium cookie scoop to evenly measure your dough balls while the dough is still room temperature.
- Chill Cookie Dough: Make sure to chill your cookie dough for at least three hours, overnight is even better for deeper flavor. When you’re ready to bake, remove the dough balls from the refrigerator and gently compress each one between your cupped hands before setting them on the baking sheet. The dough should be very cold and firm when it goes into the oven.
- Parchment Paper: Line your baking sheets with parchment paper and use trays that are either cold or at room temperature. If the parchment becomes greasy between batches, simply flip it over or replace it with a fresh sheet.
- DO NOT OVER BAKE: As soon as the edges begin to turn golden, pull the cookies from the oven. Slightly soft puffy centers with firmer edges are the sign of a perfectly baked cookie, they’ll continue to set as they cool. I don’t always trust a timer or even the oven itself, but I do trust how the cookies look. In my oven, they’re perfect at about 11½ minutes.
★★★★★ Please leave a star rating and review below if you make this recipe! THANK YOU!!
Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 125 grams (1 cup) all purpose flour, 11.7% protein
- 64 grams (½ cup) medium rye flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 113 grams (½ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 200 grams (1 cup) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 50 grams (1 large) egg
- 20 grams (1 large) egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon bourbon, *brand of choice
- 170 grams (1 cup) dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
Instructions
- Hand whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, and rosemary in a medium bowl. Set aside.125 grams all purpose flour, 64 grams medium rye flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment or large bowl and a hand mixer beat the butter and dark brown sugar just until a paste is formed. Medium speed about 1-2 minutes. Don't over cream into a lighter color, just beat until the butter is fully incorporated. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl as needed.113 grams unsalted butter, 200 grams dark brown sugar
- Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and bourbon to creamed butter and sugar. Mix until incorporated.50 grams egg , 20 grams egg yolk , 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon bourbon
- Add 1/3 of the flour at a time until fully incorporated.
- Fold in chocolate chunks with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. Fold just enough to distribute. The chocolate crumbs from chopping the bars will slightly darken the cookie dough.170 grams dark chocolate
- Use a #40 cookie dough scoop to measure the room temperature dough into balls. Place the cookie dough balls in a single layer inside a parchment paper lined air tight container.
- Place the container of cookie dough balls into the fridge and chill for a minimum of 2 hrs. This will allow the butter to firm, flavors to develop, and prevent spreading when the cold cookie dough is baked. You can also chill the cookie dough overnight for an even richer flavor.
- I have frozen the cookie dough balls for 1 hour and baked them from frozen with great results. Though, my personal preference is the overnight chill for added flavor.
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line two large rimmed cookies sheets with double sheets of parchment paper.
- When its time to bake the cookie dough balls, remove them from the fridge and gently pack each dough ball between cupped hands before placing them on the tray.
- Place cold cookie dough balls 1-2 inches apart on room temperature rimmed baking trays. Bake one tray at time. There should be about 9 cookie dough balls per tray. Keep the rest of the dough in the fridge until ready to bake.
- Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until edges start look dark and crisp.
- Place cookie sheet onto cooling rack for 10 minutes. Cookies will finish baking as they cool.
- Remove cookies from sheet and place directly onto wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Yields: 24 chocolate chip cookies that are 3 inches in diameter
- Ingredients Used:
- All Purpose Flour: King Arthur AP Flour 11.7% protein
- Rye Flour: King Arthur Flour Medium Rye
- Butter: American unsalted 80% butterfat
- Mix the Dough Just Enough: When adding in the flour, mix until just combined. Add in the chocolate chunks for a a couple of spins on the mixer, or fold in by hand with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Over mixing the dough increases gluten formation which leads to tougher cookies.
Storage, Freezing, & Make Ahead
- Room Temp: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: You can also wrap the cookies in freezer safe plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Just pull out a cookie or two at a time and microwave for 15 seconds and enjoy!
- Freeze Cookie Dough: Freeze the dough balls on a parchment-lined tray for about an hour, or until they’re solid. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. The dough keeps best for up to three months. To bake from frozen just add 1–2 minutes to the baking time.
Great cookies and easy recipe to follow. I didn’t have bourbon, but I’ll be sure to try them again if I have it on hand one day. Thanks!
Thanks Katy! These are one of my favorites!
Absolutely friggin delicious. Didn’t have bourbon so I skipped it. Used stoneground rye flour which gave it some nice texture. Love the rosemary – however I chopped it too fine. Next time I’ll make more of a course chop of the rosemary. Cardamom and cinnamon were a nice complement to the cookie. Used 70% dark chocolate. My cookies did spread more than I would have liked – probably because I used one stick of butter rather than use the weight (weight of one stick was higher than recipe called for) like I did with all the other ingredients. Will adjust to use the weighted measure for butter next time. Overall, taste was exactly what I like. It had a nice chewiness to it along with crisp edges. I did throw in chopped walnuts which I will omit next time. I don’t think the walnuts were the best for these cookies. I believe they would have been better without the walnuts. However I do love nuts so maybe hazelnuts would be a better complement to the rye. Will make these again!