Soft & Chewy Chocolate Brown Rice Cookies
It occurred to me that leftover chewy, nutty short grain brown rice would do well in a cookie, with a taste and texture similar to oats. Funny how we have it in our collective heads to use grains like oats in cookies, but not rice? These are dark and chewy and not too sweet – and it’s not a typo, they don’t contain eggs. The brown rice is wonderfully chewy, like steel-cut oats. Dried cherries would be fab, but I only had dried cranberries.
These are best eaten the day they’re made – after a day or so the rice tends to get a little chewy and nubbin-like. If you like, start with 1/2 cup short grain brown rice and cook in a pot of boiling water for 40-45 minutes, until soft, drain well and cool before proceeding with the recipe.
These are perfect to pack for a trip to the wading pool, by the way.
Soft & Chewy Chocolate Brown Rice Cookies
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup cooked short grain brown rice, cooled
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberriesPreheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir until almost blended. Add the rice, chocolate and cherries or cranberries and stir just until combined.
Drop spoonfuls onto a sprayed or parchment-lined baking sheet and if you like, flatten them a little with dampened hands. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Makes 1 1/2 – 2 dozen.
True Story: Chocolate Chip cookies create family bonding!
These sound delicious. What happens when you freeze them?
I made these the other day – also couldn’t find dried cherries so used Cranberries instead.
I have to say, I had my reservations about this biscuit. Mostly texture wise, I couldn’t see it holding together very well.
I ate these as soon as they came out of oven and were cooled to a level where they didn’t turn my mouth to Lava.
They were… delicious. A little crumbly, I found they were very soft biscuits. I ate them the day after (as they came out of the oven at about 7pm) and I have to say, I enjoyed them more then! The biscuit was a bit firmer, it held together better, and the rice was chewy but still soft. I wouldn’t leave it past the day after being made though, I noticed towards the end of the day that the rice was getting noticeably harder and chewy. Might have something to do with not being in an airtight container though – I wrapped them up in cellofane and handed them out to friends.
Coupled with the tingly sweet pockets of the cranberries and the occasional burst of chocolate chip (I used dark) these are an absolute winner, in my opinion!