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Day With Mei

Chinese-American pantry recipes

Recipes, Sweet · March 17, 2025

Buckwheat Black Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chocolate chip cookies get an upgrade with the addition of buckwheat flour and black sugar, creating a perfectly balanced treat that’s rich, nutty, and deeply satisfying. Whether you’re looking for a more nutrient-dense cookie or simply want to experiment with new flavors, this recipe delivers both.

Ingredients & Substitutions

  • Black sugar: An unrefined sugar used in Chinese traditional medicine and boba tea alike. It has a slightly bitter molasses-like flavor and is packed with iron and trace minerals. It enhances the cookies with a caramelized depth that pairs beautifully with chocolate. Look for it at Asian grocery stores or online.
    • Substitute with jaggery, piloncillo, or dark brown sugar.
  • Granulated Sugar: This helps balance the black sugar’s strong notes while contributing to the cookie’s crisp edges.
  • Melted Butter: Melted butter creates a chewier texture. Make sure the butter is melted then cooled so the sugars do not entirely dissolve into the butter.
  • Egg & Egg Yolk: The egg provides structure, while the extra yolk adds richness and chewiness.
  • Vanilla Extract: A classic flavor enhancer that complements the nuttiness of buckwheat and the sweetness of the sugars. Essentially dessert MSG.
  • All-Purpose Flour: This provides structure, ensuring the cookies hold their shape.
    • Make it gluten-free by substituting with a gluten-free flour blend like Cup4Cup or King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour.
  • Buckwheat Flour: Buckwheat flour brings a toasty, nutty flavor to the cookies. It’s also high in fiber and magnesium. Find it in health food markets or speciality grocery stores like Whole Foods. Also available online linked here.
  • Kosher Salt: Enhances all the flavors, especially balancing the sweetness of the sugars and chocolate. I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If using Morton Kosher Salt reduce to 1/3 tsp and if using fine sea salt or table salt use 1/4 tsp.
  • Baking Soda: A little goes a long way to give just enough lift to keep the cookies from becoming too dense. They also help the cookies achieve that perfect golden brown color.
  • Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate brings richness and a slight bitterness that balances the sweetness. I used 70% dark chocolate when developing this recipe, but feel free to substitute any dark chocolate or milk chocolate.

Looking for more cookie recipes? Check out my Earl Grey Marshmallow Cookies.

Buckwheat Black Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time:30 minutes mins
Cook Time:15 minutes mins
Resting Time:2 hours hrs
Total Time:2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
Servings: 12 cookies

Ingredients

  • 100 g black sugar, packed 0.5 cup
  • 100 g granulated sugar 0.5 cup
  • 113 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 1 stick
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 150 g all purpose flour 1.25 cups
  • 60 g buckwheat flour 0.5 cup
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 140 g dark chocolate, chopped 5oz

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together 60 g buckwheat flour, 150 g all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine 100 g black sugar, 100 g granulated sugar, and 113 g unsalted butter. Once mixed, add the large egg, egg yolk, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix until thoroughly combined.
  • Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix until most flour streaks disappear. Fold in 140 g dark chocolate, chopped
  • Portion the dough into 12 cookies on a baking sheet (about 55g each). Cover and rest for at least 1 hour in the fridge. You can also freeze the balls of cookie dough and transfer them to a zip bag once frozen.
  • When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cookie dough balls at least 2 inches apart.
  • Bake at 350F for 12-14 mins. Once done baking, transfer the baking sheet onto a wire rack to cool. Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.
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Posted In: Recipes, Sweet · Tagged: baking, Chinese-American, dessert

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Barbora says

    May 9, 2025 at 5:20 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much Mei, I loved these! Being Slavic, buckwheat is such a comforting childhood taste for me, my grandmother used to make it for me boiled in milk topped with butter and cacao when I was a little girl 🙂 I couldn’t find black sugar here so I used dark cane sugar (lowered total sugars to 150g), topped them with a sprinkle of Maldon, turned out so lovely! I have a question about the flour ratios, is there a reason why not use more buckwheat flour? I’ve made 100% buckwheat cookies before and they were great, so I’m tempted to use a higher ratio here too 🙂 Thanks again and much love to you & your gorgeous, inspiring, and deeply comforting work!!!

    • Mei says

      May 23, 2025 at 3:18 pm

      I found the cookies didn’t hold their shape and chewy texture as well with a higher ratio of buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour doesn’t contain gluten, so it would require some adjustments if you wanted to increase to 100% using this recipe.

5 from 1 vote
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Hi! I'm Mei, a Chinese-American recipe developer seeing familiar foods from a new perspective.

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