Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

These days, whenever I go to an artisan coffee/bakery shops I find myself face to face with a display of cookies and usually one of them is a rye variety: rye brownie (I’ve been working on trying to replicate that one for ~2 years now and I’ve not yet been successful), rye chocolate chip, rye and nuts… 

Plus, since I started maintaining a sourdough I tend to keep a medium rye on hand more often, so I figured lets try it in a cookie. 

Initial results were… not great; rye doesn’t really behave like all purpose. It’s got a lot less gluten in it so you need to add more than a 1:1 swap (a lot of very flat rye cookies still haunt me); it’s heartier (I think of it as being similar to whole wheat flour in that sense, or maybe like oat flour) and has a forward flavor; kind of nutty and earthy. 

Recipe overview 

Ryes natural ‘nutty’ flavor profile is what got me to turn to this brown butter chocolate chip recipe as a starting point. I’m always looking to amp up a nutty flavor by browning the butter but this sometimes can also produce flatter cookies, because you’ve lost some of the creaminess in the process. 

To counteract this problem, I added in a bit of milk which helps bring the sugar and butter mixture back to the correct moisture/creamy texture. I went for the full egg, knowing that the white of the egg would give the cookies more structure. I also added a chilling period and adjusted my leavening: a little less baking soda kept the cookies from over-spreading. 

The result is, well, tbh, it’s kind of like a bakery style rye chocolate chip cookie! It’s got this depth of flavor from rye and brown butter and a wonderful chewy texture that borders on bendy the next day. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Rye Flour

The first thing you should know about rye flour is that you can’t substitute it 1-1 for all purpose. Rye is much heartier and has less gluten. There are also different types of rye: light, medium and dark. Dark rye will give you a bread that almost looks as dark as chocolate. Often some flour millers classify it as pumpernickel (you’ve likely seen those dark bagels with this.). 

For these cookies I used a medium rye and I think a light rye would work very well too. Whole rye flour (or dark, or pumpernickel) would be too strong for a cookie. 

Chocolate

I used a dark chocolate of 72% cocoa solids (always my preference, keen readers will notice) but this is a flexible recipe: use any chocolate you like, be it chips or a bar; dark or milk. The cookies will spread nicely with either. 

Butter 

Unsalted, and cold is fine. We’re browning it! 

Sugar

Brown sugar takes the cookie into a chewier texture and granulated adds structure. 

Vanilla 

Pure vanilla extract. Use the good stuff and if you are feeling liberal with it, 2 teaspoons. 

Salt

Fine sea salt. If you’re using table salt, which is saltier in flavor, halve the amount. 

Egg 

One whole large egg. 

How to make Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Brown the butter: 

Let the butter cool briefly

Whisk in the sugar: 

Add the milk, whisk vigorously (or use a hand mixer) and watch the mix transform: 

Add the egg, whisk well and watch it transform: 

Stir in the dry ingredients

Fold in the chocolate

Let rest and chill

Prep the pans, preheat the oven 

Bake until edges are golden and the center is set: 

Storage Notes 

The day of baking, keep them on a tray. If storing overnight, transfer to an airtight container. The crispy edges will turn chewy and the chewy centers will turn so chewy they’ll be ‘bendy’. 

Bake Ahead Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies 

The more I make cookie dough to bake off later, the more I dislike baking them straight from the freezer (unless the recipe is designed that way to start with). Here’s what happens when you bake a frozen cookie that wasn’t meant to be frozen: 

Before the butter has a chance to melt, the cookie starts ‘setting’: the sugars caramelize and the proteins ???. This is why often cookies that are baked from frozen will spread less than intended and will have darker edges. 

So let’s say you want to make these ahead of time: flash freeze them on a plate, then transfer them to an airtight container. In the freezer they’ll keep for a few months. 

When you want to bake them, bring them to a cool room temperature. The dough should not be warm, but it should be soft at a cool room temperature. 

Rye Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies made with brown butter and rye flour which gives them an earthy, nutty flavor. These have crispy edges and a wonderfully chewy center.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 12 minutes mins

Chill Time: 2 hours hrs

Yields: 16 cookies

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Ingredients

• 113g or ½ cup butter unsalted
• 63g or ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon fine granulated sugar
• 100g or ½ cup brown sugar light or dark
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 165g or 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons light or medium rye flour not dark rye
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 100g or about 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Method

• Brown the butter: set the butter in a saucepan and cook on medium heat as it melts, then foams. Once you can begin to see brown bits at the bottom, stir and cook for another minute or so until the butter is fully browned. Immediately transfer to a large heatproof bowl. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before proceeding.
• Add the sugars to the browned butter and whisk a little then add the milk and whisk very well, for at least a minute until you see the mixture emulsify (not separated). Add the salt, vanilla and baking soda and powder and whisk well. Add in the egg and whisk for another full minute. The mixture will become light and fluffy.
• Add the flour and gently stir then add the chocolate. Fold with a rubber spatula. Set the bowl in the fridge covered, and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Line two greased cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use an ice cream scoop to portion the dough into mounds that are about 2 tablespoons, leaving 2 inches between each mound.
• Bake until the edges are set and the centers are no longer wet looking, 12-14 minutes. The cookies might be misshapen out of the oven, use a bowl of deli container to swirl/scoot them back into tighter circles. Let cool on pan then transfer to eat.

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