What are my excuses in baking cookies? The holiday season. Perfect season for baking cookies. I figure that I can wrap them up in pretty cellophane bags and serve them up as gifts. But most often than not, I end up eating too many of them. Not to mention all the cookies you eat at holiday gatherings. So, I don’t make a habit of baking cookies other than at yearend.
You see. I have a conflicted relationship with cookies. Since I have been in the holiday baking mode, I’ve found cookies recipes that may allow me to look at cookies differently.
The amount of sugar and the use of white flour have given me pause about cookies. But I can’t be more excited about Heidi Swanson’s wholesome approach in using whole grain flours and other sweeteners in her baking. Not easy to find good recipes using this type of healthful ingredients. Please let me know if you find some good ones.
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with rye flour in my breadmaking. Rye has a flavor notably distinct from the family of wheat. It has very little gluten. My pantry is currently stocked with organic rye grains and stone ground flours from local farms. All the reasons to bake cookies using rye; something I’d embrace enthusiastically.
Heidi Swanson’s Swedish rye cookies recipe is unusual. These rye cookies are made with 100% whole grain flour: 50% rye and 50% whole wheat pastry flour (of the total flour weight). It is doing away with the refined flour (or all-purpose flour), completely. Way to go! She also suggests using barley or oats flour in place of rye. These are shortbread-style cookies. There is the usual good amount of butter. Heidi puts in cream cheese, because she likes the combination of rye and cheese. However, I can’t really taste it in the cookies, the cream cheese or rye.
Can’t believe these cookies are supposed to be wholesome. Blame it on the buttery richness. Anyway you look at it, these are tremendous cookies, I won’t change anything. Well, on second thought, may be a little less sugar, if you are in the mood of pushing the envelop further!
Too see more sweet treats, please visit IHCC’s blogroll.
5 Comments
ostwestwind
December 18, 2016 at 3:48 pmI am a huge fan of rye in bread baking, and why not using it in cookies. What a great choice, I'll put them on the list for later.
Kim
December 19, 2016 at 1:13 amI'm so very glad that someone baked up a Heidi Swanson sweet treat this week! I'm also interested in the use of more natural, and better for you, ingredients with regard to sweets. These look incredible! No one would even know a different flour was used by looking at them. Very pretty!
Lydia Filgueras
December 20, 2016 at 2:00 pmI have not tried rye flour and other than commercial breads I don't think I've eaten it. These look fantastic though. Love the cutter you used to shape your shortbreads. Yum!
kitchen flavours
December 21, 2016 at 1:24 pmYour cookies looks fabulous! I've only used rye flour for making breads. Heidi Swanson certainly has a way of using these healthier ingredients with great results!
Mokonuts' Rye-Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies | Baking with Dorie - Ever Open Sauce
February 18, 2022 at 7:34 pm[…] replace all-purpose flour with whole-grain wheat flour. This is similar to the approach of the Swedish rye cookies, which are plainly sugar cookies with very few ingredients. In both of these cookies, they showcase […]