I love Cookies, the perfect breakfast is dipping cookies into cappuccino, could I resist Braided Cookies with Buckwheat? So if the answer is obvious and apparent for you too, you can’t help but read and then prepare this recipe with me. I also recorded the video recipe step by step to help you through all the preparation steps of the Two-tone Braided Cookies. You have no excuses now!!!
I must say that from Christmas onwards, I continued experimenting with cookie recipes, I also took the opportunity to change the oven, and now I’m satisfied both with the cookies and their baking. After the Christmas Cookies, I didn’t stop, from Ginger Bread to Nutellotti and first trying the Pumpkin Cookies I presented for Halloween. Slowly but surely, progress is being made.
I thought of trying this recipe because honestly, the price of such a cookie package seems really exaggerated; for less than 500 grams of cookies, you can’t spend almost 3 euros. So I thought: if I take the buckwheat flour (which I already use for bread and cakes) and some butter, I’ll make them myself. Of course, we could also prepare them with seed oil, but for the first time, I chose to use butter to test this recipe. Then maybe I’ll make the variant with oil in the dough while keeping the buckwheat flour, which I believe gives that extra push to these two-tone braided cookies.
I won’t drag on with the chatter because the recipe to read is already quite lengthy, which is why I’ve also prepared the video recipe to help you with steps that may seem unclear when reading.
For any questions, as always, I am at your complete disposal in the comments or on social channels. You’ll find all the links in the box below the recipe. I also remind you that I await you every morning in the Facebook group and fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day, a fixed appointment with all the followers!!! Below, you will find the links to the cookie and small pastry recipes I have recently prepared; each link will take you directly to the recipe you wish to read simply by clicking on the corresponding blue text.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: About 20 cookies
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 133.80 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 13.95 (g) of which sugars 5.33 (g)
- Proteins 2.61 (g)
- Fat 7.99 (g) of which saturated 4.70 (g)of which unsaturated 3.23 (g)
- Fibers 1.00 (g)
- Sodium 42.92 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 25 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Two-tone Braided Cookies
- 5 tbsp butter (softened at room temperature, in my case lactose-free)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/5 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (in my case not vanilla-flavored but vanilla-flavored is fine if you skip the pinch of vanilla extract powder)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch vanilla extract (in powder form)
- 5 tbsp butter (softened at room temperature, in my case lactose-free)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/5 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 egg yolk (at room temperature)
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar (preferably not vanilla-flavored)
- 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (sweetened is also fine)
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp milk
Remember to take out both doses of butter from the refrigerator and let them soften at room temperature. Eggs should always be kept out of the refrigerator for any sweet preparation.
Tools for Two-tone Braided Cookies
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Mixer
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Dough Scraper
- 1 Scale
- 1 Oven
- 2 Baking Trays
- 2 Parchment Papers
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Knife
- 1 Brush
- 1 Plastic Wrap
- 1 Cooling Rack
Steps of the Recipe Braided Cookies with Buckwheat Flour
Note that you will need to wait for two hours of rest after preparing the two shortcrust doughs; the recipe is very simple, smooth, and easy to follow. Just remember to wait this time because it is essential for the success of the cookies to make them truly good.
Start by preparing everything you need for this recipe by placing all the ingredients in front of you near the work surface. Take the two doses of butter of 5 tablespoons each in advance and leave them at room temperature in two small bowls. Then weigh all the other ingredients. The two all-purpose flours and place them in two bowls. In one, we will add only the buckwheat flour and the vanilla extract powder. In the other bowl, we will add the cocoa powder and the other dose of buckwheat flour. You will find all the doses indicated in the ingredient list divided by dough. Then weigh the powdered sugar and crack the eggs, keeping the yolks aside, separated, which we will use for this recipe, while with the egg whites, you can make fantastic pancakes with my recipe: high protein pancakes for two people.
Then place the wooden board on the work surface along with the mixer or food processor, which will be used to sand the butter with the powdered sugar. Take a nice large bowl, preferably with high sides like the one in my video. We are ready to start. Work on one dough at a time so as not to confuse ingredients and doses. This step is very well shown in the video recipe found just above.
Cut the first dose of butter, 5 tablespoons, into cubes and place it in the mixer’s bowl. Add the dose of powdered sugar and turn it on. When the dough stops on the side of the bowl, we will be ready to proceed. Transfer the sanded butter with the sugar into the large bowl and pour in the all-purpose flour to which we have added the buckwheat flour. Add an egg yolk and a pinch of salt. First, work with a spoon and then with your hands until you form a nice firm dough. Then wrap it with a sheet of plastic wrap for food and place it in the refrigerator to rest for two hours.
Now prepare the cocoa dough. Start by sanding the butter with the powdered sugar as before, using the mixer. Then pour everything into the bowl you previously used. Now pour in the all-purpose flour where we added the buckwheat flour and the unsweetened cocoa. A pinch of salt and the egg yolk always at room temperature. First, work with the spoon and then with your hands until you get a smooth dough. Wrap it also in a sheet of food plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for two hours.
Now we just have to wait; I took the dog for a walk, tidied up the kitchen, and shared the Recipe of the Day with you on my Facebook fan page and in the Recipes by Bea group.
After this time has passed, we will finally be ready to proceed. Place two baking trays or cookie sheets next to us and place a sheet of parchment paper on each. Turn on the oven with the static mode at 350°F so that it has time to heat up well.
Take the two shortcrust doughs out of the refrigerator. Work one dough at a time. I started with the white one, cut it in half with the scraper, and placed it on the wooden board. No flour will be needed; remember, we should not stiffen the dough. Begin creating dough strips as if we were preparing homemade gnocchi. Try to create strips of the same size and roughly the same length. Also, in this case, I recommend watching the steps in the video recipe of the braided cocoa and buckwheat cookies.
Once we have created the light dough strips, we can proceed with the cocoa dough. Do the same thing, create the strips, and then we can proceed with the cookie braiding. I don’t want to be repetitive, but if you can’t understand what I’m about to write, watch the video; sometimes recipes are much easier to see than to explain in words.
Take two strips of dough, one light and one dark, join only one of the two ends by applying light pressure. Then start braiding the doughs, as if making braids with only two strands; the more you manage to tighten them together, without breaking the dough, the more they will resemble mine and the famous cookies found in the supermarket snack aisle. Below, I’ll show you how they should be before placing them on the trays.
When you have finished both doughs and created about 20 cookies, give or take if you make them as small as mine, you should get around twenty, we can brush them with a food brush and milk.
I chose to bake one tray at a time to control the baking. I indeed positioned the tray in the center of the oven, visible through the glass. Baking takes 12 to 14 minutes maximum. Don’t lose sight of the oven and the cookies inside after 10 minutes to monitor them.
Then place the cookies to cool at room temperature on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, we can proceed with baking the second tray of braided cocoa cookies. Once the second baking is complete, you just have to enjoy your cookies. I held out until the next day’s breakfast, while my father, grandmother, and aunt did not; they enjoyed them as soon as they saw them.
I just have to wish you a good appetite and a good breakfast or snack; I remind you that I await you here every day with new easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one.
I remind you that you can subscribe to the YouTube channel and activate the notification bell so as not to miss any new video recipes that will be released. See you soon!!!
Storage and Variations
You can store the braided cookies with buckwheat and cocoa in a tin container; do you remember those of grandmothers? They will remain nice and crispy like freshly baked for several days, but I doubt they will last that long.
Variations: you can eliminate the buckwheat flour if you don’t like it or find it too expensive, thus using only all-purpose flour.
You can then replace the butter with seed oil, reducing it from 5 to 4 tablespoons.
You may not use the vanilla extract but instead use vanilla-flavored powdered sugar.
If you have further questions or doubts, you can write anything you want in the comments of this recipe or on the blog’s social channels, and I’ll be happy to answer!
