Seeded Buckwheat Butter Cookies

I was hesitant to post this cookie recipe at Christmas time when everyone is making over-the-top sugar coated confections. These little cookies are extraordinarily tasty, but they're a bit plain jane to look at. They're like a shortbread cookie in texture, but they are headily scented with vanilla and have a lovely crunch from a scattering of sesame and poppy seeds. In the rush of Christmas cookie tins, these cookies might not look like much, but their flavor should win them a legion of fans.



The recipe is adapted from the quite-famous-on-the-internet Alice Medrich buckwheat and cocoa nibs cookies. Needless to say, that recipe is beloved because it's pretty darn good. I didn't have cocoa nibs, so I originally thought to substitute walnuts, but I worried that their large size would make the delicate cookie crumble. Plus, with my tendency to make late night Amazon orders of random health foods (hello spirulina!), we have a pantry burdened with a variety of seeds.



The cookies are very easy to make and, though the dough is a bit delicate, you could also roll them out and cut them into shapes for the holidays. Just make sure to keep your dough well-chilled if you do that. You can choose any kind of seeds you like - I used a mix of poppy seed, chia seeds, and sesame seeds. Sadly, it didn't make much of a dent in our over-burdened pantry, but it made some very tasty cookies.

Seeded Buckwheat Butter Cookies

I haven't tried this, but I would imagine these cookies could be made gluten-free by substituting a GF-flour mix in for the half cup of regular flour.

1/2 cup (4 oz) butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mixed seeds (for example, 2 tbl sesame, 1 tbl chia, and 1 tbl poppy seeds)
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup flour

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add in the salt and vanilla. Add both the flours to the bowl and the seeds and stir until just mixed in, do not overbeat.
2. Form the dough into a log, wrap the log in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3-4 hours, until chilled and firm.
3. Preheat oven to 325F. Slice cookies 1/4 inch thick and arrange on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 16-18 minutes, until edges are just barely golden (do not let cookies brown). Let cool on a rack.