These Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rye Flour are a delicious twist on the classic chocolate chip cookies we all love. Packed with goodness but still full of delicious flavor, these cookies are an excellent way to treat yourself to a better-for-you dessert that you'll want to eat!
Is there a dessert more perfect than classic chocolate chip cookies? They are a timeless treat that can be enjoyed anytime by anyone, with no special occasion necessary. One of the best things about chocolate chip cookies, besides their taste, is how easy they are to adapt. Flour, sugar, and mix-ins can change, and that comforting chocolatey bite is delicious just the same.
For these rye flour chocolate chip cookies, I used dark rye flour to give these cookies a nutty bite. The rye flour gives the cookies a deeper flavor that is perfectly rounded out by the salt and dark chocolate.
Let me share a couple of other cookies you will love also. Spelt cookies with browned butter are one of my favorites! Brown butter pecan cookies are also great. If you like ancient grains, how about Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies?
What Makes This Recipe Work?
Classic taste- This recipe is everything a good chocolate chip cookie should be. These cookies are slightly crispy on the outside, chewy in the center, and loaded with delicious dark chocolate all the way through!
Make-ahead friendly-You can easily make this batter ahead of time. I like to scoop the cookies and place them on a baking sheet. They will hold in the fridge for up to 2 days and in the freezer for up to a month!
What is Rye Flour?
Rye flour is a type of flour that's made from milled rye kernels (sometimes called rye berries). It has a warm flavor that is excellent to use in baked goods. You'll often see it used in breads, scones, and crackers. Treats baked using rye flour have a darker color and a more earthy flavor than wheat flour. Rye flour tastes naturally nutty, which makes it an easy complement to baked goods containing fruit or chocolate.
There are a few different types of rye flour you can buy; light, medium, and dark rye flour. The difference comes from how much rye kernel is in the flour. Dark rye has all of the endosperm and germ, whereas light rye flour only includes the center endosperm, giving it a light color and less robust flavor.
Interested in trying other recipes with rye flour? Check out my rye pretzel buns, rye scones with cheddar and herbs, and my simple rye shortbread!
Ingredients
Rye flour- I like to grind my grains in my Nutrimill grain mill. I buy the grains from Azure Standard. You can also buy the flour locally, or I like to use Bluebird Grain Farms.
Baking powder- This is my favorite leavener to use in cookies. It works quickly and doesn't require an acidic element such as lemon juice for activation. If you don't bake often, be sure your baking powder is fresh. Baking powder loses potency over time.
Salt- I used kosher salt in the cookie dough, then flake salt on the top. Salt in the batter gives the flour flavor, and the flaky salt on top gives every bite the perfect balance to the sweet chocolate.
Butter- Use room-temperature butter for this recipe. It will be easier to incorporate and help you avoid over-mixing. If you've forgotten to take the butter out of the fridge, don't try to melt it. Melted butter has a different effect on baked goods. Instead, use a quick method technique for softening butter.
Granulated Sugar and Dark brown sugar- A blend of both granulated sugar and brown sugar is my favorite way to make these cookies! The white sugar provides a bit of lift and adds concentrated sweetness. The dark brown sugar gives the cookie more complex notes and a deep caramel flavor. If all you have on hand is light brown sugar, you can use that instead; the flavor will just be a bit more mellow.
Egg- Be sure to use a room-temperature egg. Eggs add stability to the dough, and the yolk adds a rich flavor as well.
Vanilla Extract- It doesn't take much, but the cookies are not the same without it. Vanilla is a must in chocolate chip cookie recipes.
Chocolate- I chopped a dark chocolate baking bar for this recipe. You can also use chocolate chips if you like, but I LOVE chocolate chunks.
How to make rye chocolate chip cookies
These salted chocolate chip cookies come together in no time! To make the baking experience even better, I always suggest that you prepare all your ingredients and tools before beginning.
Measure out your ingredients, preheat the oven, and prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the Dry Ingredients
Start by mixing the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set it aside.
Mix the Wet Ingredients
Next, in a large bowl, cream your butter and sugar together until they are light and fluffy. Mine took about 2 minutes. Add in the egg and vanilla, and mix those as well.
Combine
Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
Scoop and Bake
Scoop the cookies onto your prepared baking sheets, giving the cookie dough balls space to spread as they bake.
Bake until the edges are golden brown. In my oven, the cookies took 12 minutes, but it's always a good idea to keep an eye on them and adjust the cooking time as needed.
Remove the cookies from the oven and sprinkle them with flake salt.
The Secret to Perfectly Round Cookies
Who doesn't love perfectly round cookies? Even if you scoop and roll them evenly, sometimes, during baking, the cookies get a mind of their own. I have an easy fix for this- a biscuit cutter!
Start with a large biscuit cutter; mine was 3.5 inches. You can also use a large cup. Whatever you choose should be able to fit completely over the cookie, not cut into the sides.
While the cookies are still warm, place the biscuit cutter gently over each cookie and move it in a small circular motion, shaping the cookie into a perfect circle.
This isn't necessary, but it makes the cookies really pretty and perfect. Maybe it is the food photographer in me? I do recommend you let the cookies cool completely before trying to handle them. They will be very soft and easy to break apart when they are hot.
Tips and Substitutions
- Mix the dough until all the ingredients are just combined. Overmixing results in tough cookies.
- I LOVE dark chocolate. If you don't, you can always use semi-sweet or even milk chocolate chips. This is a personal preference.
- This step isn't necessary, but I like the texture of the cookies better if they have chilled for an hour or so before baking. Scoop them onto the baking sheet and let them chill like this in the refrigerator.
- These cookies will spread. I don't bake more than 5-6 on a pan at a time.
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For more inspiration
I love a rich cookie like this paired with a mug of hot cocoa. If you have a Keurig, let me show you how to level it up and make a delicious mug of hot cocoa.
Salted Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cup rye flour if you aren't grinding your own flour, make sure to mix the bagged flour with a fork to loosen it up. The flour compacts during shipping.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons softened butter
- ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ¼ cup chocolate chunks or chips
- flake salt for topping I used about 1 ½ tablespoons on all my cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- In your mixing bowl, cream the butter, granulated, and brown sugar until they are light and creamy. This will take about 2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla. This time only mix to combine. You don't want to overmix once the eggs are added in. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix just barely again.
- Next are the dry ingredients. Add these in and mix, again, only mixing to combine.
- Last in are the chocolate chunks. Mix them only until they come are dispersed.
- Scoop onto your baking sheet. These will really spread, so I only bake 5-6 per sheet pan.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven. You will notice they have spread quite a bit and are wonky shaped. I like to use a large biscuit cutter to round them. Set it over the cookie and in a circular motion, swirl the edges of the cookie until it is rounded. Let them cool for about 7-10-minutes before moving them to the cooling rack.
- Continue baking all the cookies.
- That is it!! You are done.
Notes
- There are a few different types of rye flour you can buy. I prefer the dark rye, as this is the whole grain flour. The medium and light right is sifted for a lighter color and milder flavor. I will say though, if this is your first time baking with rye flour, medium and light may be a good place to start. They are much easier for someone to get used to.
- Do not overmix your cookie dough once you have added it to the flour mixture. This will result in tougher cookies, instead of chewy ones.
- I LOVE dark chocolate. If you don't, you can always use semi-sweet or even milk chocolate chips. This is a personal preference.
- This step isn't necessary, but I like the texture of the cookies better if they have chilled for an hour or so before baking. I will scoop them onto my baking sheet and let them chill like this.
- Just as a reminder, these cookies will spread. I don't bake more than 5-6 on a pan at a time.
- These cookies can be held in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for a month. I like to scoop them into balls before chilling or freezing as the soft dough is so much easier to work with.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!