Chocolate Chip Cookies Using Einkorn Flour

Einkorn Flour: A Wheat for the Gluten Free?

My husband has been gluten free for over 8 years now. In the beginning we were lucky to find one gluten free flour mix at the grocery store. Now there’s pancake mixes, flour mixes, cookies and cakes… and they’re all made with gluten-free ingredients that have been deemed safe.  But what if it didn’t have to so complicated?

What if eating gluten-free was as simple as choosing a better wheat flour?

In the last month we have discovered Einkorn Wheat Flour and every time we have cooked with it my husband has NOT gotten sick. This is amazing as he gets sick from food just fried in the same oil as products containing wheat.

What Is Einkorn Wheat?

Early on in the history of wheat, Einkorn grew wild in the Far East.  Soon thereafter, the first farmers began to plant and harvest Einkorn, making it one of the earliest crops.  As an unmodified, ancient grain, Einkorn contains 14 chromosomes.

A little while later, Emmer spontaneously appeared.  Emmer is the first hybridization of wheat, being part wild wheat and part goat grass, and contains 28 chromosomes.

Then, Spelt emerged.  Spelt is a hybrid of Emmer and goat grass, intentionally bred by migrant farmers in order to keep the desirable traits of goat grass and diminish the undesirable traits of Emmer.  Spelt is the second hybridization and has 42 chromosomes.

Over time, farmers bred Spelt and Emmer to create today’s Durum Wheat, Spelt and Soft Wheat.  These too have 42 chromosomes and along with Hard Red Spring, are the most common varieties of wheat used in the market today.

Einkorn and Gluten

This gluten chart shows the low-gluten content of Einkorn Flour in comparison with other grains.

While einkorn flour isn’t gluten-free, it has been found to lack some of the proteins that people with gluten intolerances can’t manage to digest. So if you have a gluten sensitivity — but one not as severe as celiac disease — einkorn flour may prove a good alternative to modern flours for you.

Baking with Einkorn Flour

There are few things you can’t make with this type of flour. While it has its differences from modern varieties of flour, it can be used to make all the same things — everything from breads and rolls, to muffins and cookies.

How It’s Different from Modern Wheat Flours

While you can bake just about anything you’d bake using a modern wheat variety, einkorn flour can prove quite different to work with. Two notable differences are the way einkorn flour absorbs both fats and liquids: Einkorn flour absorbs less fat than the modern wheat flours we’re most familiar working with, so the key is having just the right flour-to-fat (usually butter) ratio. It also absorbs liquid much more slowly.

Our Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe using Einkorn Flour

This week we made Chocolate Chip cookies with it. They came out delicious and didn’t have that grittiness or blandness that gluten free flours can sometimes bring to recipes.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1/4 cup Butter, softened
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips

 

Directions:

• Set Oven to 375 degrees Farenheit
• Beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Add egg. Beat until blended.
• Add Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt and Vanilla. Beat until blended.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop teaspoon size cookies onto ungreased baking sheet. Push dough into cookie shape.
• Cook 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Makes Approximately 2 dozen cookies.

 

Where to Find Einkorn

Einkorn Wheat was lost in the hubub of modern wheat for a long time, so despite being a very old grain, it’s relatively new to the current market of wheat.  A few health brands carry it currently.  Young Living is one of them.

They currently carry three items with Einkorn

• Einkorn Flour
• Einkorn Pancake and Waffle Mix
• Einkorn Spaghetti

If you are interested in ordering please click here or comment below with questions and I will answer.  Finding this flour has been HUGE for us and I am excited to see what other products Young Living will come out with using Einkorn.