Nigella Lawson Triple Chocolate Cookies

Nigella Lawson’s triple chocolate buckwheat cookies are rich, gluten-free chocolate cookies made with nutty buckwheat flour, cocoa, melted dark chocolate and chocolate chips. The batch makes about 25, from her book Simply Nigella.

She calls them a prime example of “procrastibaking”, a term she credits to Aya Reina: she first made them during the Simply Nigella photo shoot, gripped by an urgent need to bake while putting off typing up recipe changes. The practice, she feels, deserves wider circulation.

The star is the buckwheat. It makes the cookies gluten-free, but mainly, she says, it brings its own nutty flavour and unique texture, giving a cookie with softness, a shortbready bite and a subtle smokiness.

Nigella Lawson Triple Chocolate Cookies

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

25

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Calories

130

kcal

Total time

30

minutes

Nigella’s gluten-free triple chocolate buckwheat cookies from Simply Nigella: nutty buckwheat and cocoa dough loaded with melted dark chocolate and chocolate chips, soft with a shortbready bite. Makes about 25.

Ingredients

• 150g dark chocolate chips

• 125g dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)

• 125g buckwheat flour

• 25g cocoa (sieved)

• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

• 60g soft unsalted butter

• 125g soft dark brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)

• 2 large eggs (fridge-cold)

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Directions

• Chill the chips:Clatter the chocolate chips into a flattish dish and put in the fridge (or freezer) while you make the batter, so they don’t melt too much and stay as nuggets of intense chocolate.
• Melt and mix dry:Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F and line a couple of baking sheets. Roughly chop and melt the dark chocolate (microwave or over simmering water) and set aside to cool a little. In another bowl, fork together the buckwheat flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
• Cream and combine:Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until a dark caramel colour and fluffy, scraping down. Beat in the cooled melted chocolate, then the fridge-cold eggs one by one (this avoids having to chill the dough). Scrape down, turn the speed low and carefully beat in the dry ingredients.
• Shape:Fold in the cold chocolate chips. Dollop rounded tablespoons of dough onto a lined sheet, 6cm apart. Put the remaining dough in the fridge while the first batch bakes.
• Bake:Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until just set at the edges but otherwise seeming undercooked. Leave on the warm tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Repeat with the chilled dough on a cool, lined tray.

Notes

• (gluten-free caveat): Buckwheat flour is naturally gluten-free, but (like oats) it’s often contaminated with gluten depending on where it’s milled. If you need them gluten-free, make sure the packet is labelled as such.
• (texture): Those who like a truly chewy cookie might find these a little cakey; Nigella likes the chewiness and finds constant excuses to make them.
• (make ahead): The dough keeps, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days. If too firm to scoop, let it stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• (store): Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days.
• (freeze): Freeze dough mounds on a lined sheet until solid, then bag and freeze for up to 3 months; bake from frozen with 1 extra minute. Baked cookies also freeze for up to 3 months; defrost on a wire rack for about an hour.

FAQs

Why buckwheat flour, and are they gluten-free?

Buckwheat is the star of the recipe for two reasons. It makes the cookies naturally gluten-free (despite its name, buckwheat isn’t wheat and contains no gluten), but Nigella chooses it mainly for flavour: it gives a nutty taste, a unique texture, a shortbready bite and a subtle smokiness you don’t get from plain flour.

One important caveat: while buckwheat is gluten-free in itself, it’s often milled in factories that also handle wheat, so it can be cross-contaminated, just like oats. If you’re baking these specifically for someone who needs them gluten-free, Nigella says to check the packet is labelled gluten-free before you start.

Why “triple chocolate”?

Because there are three hits of chocolate in every cookie. First, cocoa powder in the dry mix gives a deep chocolate base; second, melted dark chocolate (70% cocoa) is beaten into the batter for rich, fudgy chocolatiness throughout; and third, dark chocolate chips are folded through for pockets of intense chocolate in the finished cookie.

Together they make a seriously chocolatey, grown-up cookie. The better quality your chocolate and cocoa, the better the cookies, since they’re the main flavour. You can vary the chips, with a mix of dark, milk or white, if you like a little sweetness against the dark cocoa.

Why chill the chocolate chips first?

This is Nigella’s neat trick for better texture. Chilling (or even freezing) the chocolate chips before folding them in means they don’t melt away completely in the oven’s heat, so instead of dissolving into the dough you get distinct nuggets of intense, gooey chocolate in the baked cookie.

It takes seconds and makes a real difference to how chocolatey each bite is. Do it right at the start, so they’re properly cold by the time they go in. Using fridge-cold eggs in the dough serves a similar purpose: it keeps the dough cool enough that you don’t need to chill the whole batch before baking.

They looked underbaked when I took them out. Is that right?

Yes, completely. Nigella tells you to bake them for just 9 to 10 minutes, until only just set at the edges but otherwise seeming undercooked, and then take them out. They firm up as they cool, which is why you leave them on the warm tray for a full 10 minutes before moving them.

That brief bake and tray-rest is exactly what gives them their soft, slightly fudgy, shortbready texture rather than a hard, dry cookie. Baking until they look done all over would make them crisp and lose that softness. Trust the timing and let them finish setting out of the oven, similar to her salty chocolate cookies.

What texture should I expect, and can I make them chewier?

Nigella describes them as soft with a shortbready bite and a subtle smokiness, rather than a classic chewy American-style cookie. She even notes that people who like a truly chewy cookie might find these a little cakey, though she loves them as they are.

If you prefer a chewier result, you can experiment slightly, but the buckwheat and the method naturally lean towards soft-and-tender. Don’t overbake them, as that makes them dry rather than chewy. They’re rich and quite delicate, lovely with coffee or a glass of milk. For a bigger, gooier bake, her chocolate cake is the one. There’s more on the Nigella Lawson recipes page.

Can I make the dough ahead, store or freeze them?

Yes to all, which makes them very convenient. The dough keeps, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days; if it’s too firm to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes first. Baked cookies keep in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 5 days.

Best of all, you can freeze the raw dough: shape it into mounds, freeze them solid on a lined sheet, then bag them and freeze for up to 3 months, baking straight from frozen with 1 extra minute. So you can have fresh-baked cookies on demand. Baked cookies freeze for up to 3 months too, defrosted on a rack for about an hour.