Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

While I’m licking the melted chocolate from my fingers I want to introduce you to my little Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies creation! These aren’t your ordinary chocolate chip cookies. Nope, they are made with rye flour with hints of bourbon and rosemary. And they’re’ freaking delicious!!

I wanted to make a batch of cookies with rye flour and decided to experiment. I mean bourbon and dark chocolate go well together. Plus, the combo of dark brown sugar, rosemary, and cardamom is pretty tasty too. So why not mix them all together?! Let’s just say I was pleasantly surprised, then froze a bunch of cookies to save myself.

Baking With Rye Flour

Rye Flour comes in different varieties from dark to light. Each one bringing a different flavor and texture to the recipe. For these cookies I used an organic medium rye flour that offers a nice robust flavor and slight nuttiness.

I love the moisture that rye flour brings to the cookies. This gives a nice soft chew to the cookie texture. The texture is perfectly snackable, not being to soft nor crunchy.

Chilling Your Cookie Dough

Why chill your cookie dough? Well, it adds flavor and helps keep these moist morsels from spreading too much in the oven. I let this particular cookie dough chill in the fridge over night to let the bourbon, rosemary, and spices develop. Plus the fat in this recipe is good old butter. Chilled fat in cookie dough takes longer to melt in the oven and helps them stay a bit thicker.

Banging Cookies on the Counter

So, I just told you that I like to chill the cookie dough for less spread. Then I go and bang my cookie tray on the counter when they come out of the oven. Well, this technique doesn’t make the cookies spread but flattens them and creates a bit of a crinkly top. It also releases air and prevents the cookies from become cake like in texture.

What Makes Cookies More Moist?

The moist chewy texture of these rye chocolate chip cookies comes from the addition of an extra egg yolk and the brown sugar!

Tips for Making Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Make sure eggs and butter are at room temperature.
• Use a medium rye flour such as King Arthur Baking Company’s Classic Medium Organic Rye Flour.
• Make sure to beat butter and sugar until its light and fluffy. This should take about 4-5 minutes and will turn pale in color.
• Use a high quality dark chocolate baking bar chopped roughly into small chunks. This is my favorite way to create pools of melted chocolate dispersed through my cookies.
• Use a high quality Bourbon.
• Make sure to chill your cookie dough for at least an hour. You’ll get even better flavor if you chill them overnight.
• Use a 1.5 Tablespoon cookie scoop to evenly measure your dough balls.
• Cookie dough should be super cold and firm when it goes into the oven.
• Make sure to use a fresh sheet of parchment paper and a room temperature or cold baking tray.
• Don’t over bake! Take them out right when you see the edges darkening. I don’t always trust a timer and an oven, but I do trust the way the cookies look. In my oven these cookie bake perfectly at 11.5 minutes.
• They will to continue to cook on the pan once placed on the cooling rack.
• Bang that cookie pan on the counter to deflate and crinkle those tops.

Troubleshooting Cookies

If your cookies are flattening too much during baking or the second batch is flatter than the first tray, try these tips.

1. Do Not over mix the cookie dough.
2. Make sure the cookie dough balls are cold before tray goes into the oven.
3. Keep dough you are not using in the fridge to stay cold.
4. Always place cookie dough balls on a room temperature or cool baking tray.
5. If you’re using the same pan, let it cool between batches. Always use a fresh sheet of parchment paper.
6. You can even use frozen cookie dough balls or chill the tray with cookie dough balls for 10 minutes in the fridge before baking.
7. Check the temperature of your oven to make sure it doesn’t increase to a higher heat the longer its on. Use an oven thermometer to properly gauge your oven’s exact temperature while baking.
8. Add 2 more tablespoons of flour to the batter the next time you make the recipe. This won’t matter if you use all purpose or rye, either one is fine.

How to Store Chocolate Chip Cookies

Place cooled cookies in an air tight container. To keep these semi-soft cookies from getting hard, add a slice of white sandwich bread to the container. These rye cookies are full of brown sugar and the moisture from the bread works to maintain the soft cookie texture.

Store your cookies at room temperature for up to a week of freshness.

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!