Barley flour is quite a new addition in my kitchen pantry. This barley flour cookies recipe is my first experiment with barley flour and I'm happy to tell that it's a huge success. Unlike whole wheat, barley flour did not impart a raw smell and taste in the cookies. It's finely ground so there is no grittiness too. I found Bob's Red Mill Whole Barley flour in the organic aisle of the grocery store.
Like any other whole grain flour, barley flour too should be stored in the freezer. Be sure to bring it to room temperature before baking. Barley flour is less glutenous, so if you want to experiment with it start with cookie recipes first. Since cookies need very less or no rising at all, substituting up to half the quantity of all purpose flour in a cookie recipe should be fine.
The following cookie recipe uses only barley flour and we couldn't tell it at all. Be sure to use whole grain barley flour. Some grocery stores carry a pure white color flour under the name barley flour but it's not whole grain. It's made from pearled barley.
Recipe
Vegan Barley Flour Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Peanut Butter
- ¼ cup Margarine
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 and ½ teaspoons EnerG Egg Replacer
- 3 tablespoons Lukewarm Water
- ¾ cup Whole Barley Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Rolled Oats
- ½ cup Rice Krispies
- ½ cup Walnuts
- ¼ cup Carob Chips
- ¼ cup Dried Cranberries
- 1 teaspoon Water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 375F (190C) for 15 minutes. Grease with non stick spray or line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl add peanut butter, margarine and sugars. Beat together well until smooth and creamy.
- In a blender (I used the small jar of my Magic Bullet), blend together the egg replacer and warm water until it's frothy.
- To the creamed sugar mixture add the egg replacer liquid and vanilla. Beat once again until it's combined well.
- To this add the barley flour, baking soda and salt and stir well.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Spoon the batter onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. I took mine out after 11 minutes.
- Leave the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer it to a cooling rack for the cookies to cool completely. Transfer the cooled cookies to an airtight container.
My Notes
- For the margarine I used Fleischman's Non Hydrogenated no salt added margarine.
- The original recipe mentions to use cornflakes. I used Rice Krispies because I had only that in hand.
- Similarly you could use all nuts, or all chocolate chips or any dried fruits etc. Just be sure to keep the measurements same though.
- At first I thought the quantity of sugar was more in the recipe with ⅓ cup each of brown sugar and granulated sugar, but it was perfect when we tasted the cookies. Maybe it would have been even sweeter, had I used ½ cup of chocolate chips and raisins instead of cranberries.
- The cookies don't spread like the usual chocolate chip cookies. So I think if you flatten it with a fork you may get crispier cookies but you would have to adjust the baking time. Also, I overlooked the 1 teaspoon of water in the recipe. Maybe if I had added that the cookies would have spread a little bit.
- I have mentioned this a couple of times, but writing it once again. If using a dark coated non-stick pan, stay alert and take the sheet out of the oven 2-3 minutes earlier because the bottoms burn quite quickly. The same thing happened in this recipe too. Even after being careful and lining the cookie sheet with parchment paper the bottom of the cookies went black. Maybe double lining the sheet would help. I'm going to try it the next time.
Taste & Texture
- These barley flour cookies taste very much like chocolate chip cookies. It was quite crisp after an hour of baking but became chewy the next day. It still gets a light crunchiness from the Rice Krispies cereal. We didn't feel any difference in taste due to the use of barley flour. I was surprised that it tasted just like cookies made out of all purpose flour.
- I'm not a peanut butter fan, but I used it to just finish it off. So I was very happy because the presence of peanut butter was not at all felt from the 2nd day onwards.
- I bought the very little amount of carob chips and used it in this recipe instead of chocolate chips to make it completely vegan. When tasted it by itself, I found that there was a slight difference in taste when compared to chocolate chips. I didn't like it that much. But I literally couldn't feel any difference (maybe a little or it was just psychological) when I tasted the cookies and my son didn't find it. The original recipe had called for ½ cup of chocolate chips since I was using carob chips I used only ¼ cup of it and I used ¼ cup of dried cranberries. However, I'm not sure if I would substitute carob chips for chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Maybe it would be too much. I think the better bet is to try another dairy free vegan chocolate chips instead.
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Babita says
Hi I can't find the energ egg replacer can I skip that?
Madhuram says
I'm afraid you can't Babita. The cookies might not turn out well.
Supriya says
Cookies look yummy..nice photo too:)
Marly says
Hey, these look really good. We've been wanting to try some alternative flours so we might have to try this out. Thanks!
Thanks Marly. Barley flour is so much better than whole wheat flour. Actually I tried a chocolate cake recently with barley flour and we all loved it.
Bharti says
I haven't experimented with barley at all. Thanks for the insight.....will pick it up the next time I'm shopping.
Bharti, I tried a chocolate cake with barley flour and it's amazing.
KrsnaBhojana says
Hey Madhu,
The picture looks very yummy.Great work..Cooking is really an art and is full of creativity..
Parita says
Delicious and healthy cookies Madhu!
Kay says
The barley cookies sound awesome, Madhu. I have made dosas with barley flour + oat flour and it always tasted great. Cant wait to try the barley flour in cookies.
Hope you are doing great. We just got back from our India trip last weekend and we are still tired and jetlagged.
Thanks Kay. Dosas with barley flour! I have to try that too.
Sweatha says
Wow,they look like normal cookies,can't believe its barley flour only.I am still searching for barley flour here.It seems pearled barley powder is the only thing available.Looks perfect as far as I am concerned. The notes are very helpful.My pan is dark coated. Thanks.
You're welcome Sweatha. I thought that finding whole barley flour in India might be a problem.
puvanes says
Wonderful! So many healthy ingredients. By the way, thanks for your kind reply on the baking powder measurement. That oats & peanut muffin is on my to do list.
No problem Puvanes.
nags says
never even knew there's something called barley flour.. interesting..
sharmilee says
Healthy and perfect cookies to munch!
Sonia says
Oh Madhuram, every other post you always come out with new and healthy nutrition. 🙂 Barley flour cookies look so good just like choco chip cookies. Your notes are really noteworthy. I really appreciate your all efforts! 🙂
Dee says
Great addition to your pantry Madhu. How are you doing ??? Love the cookies .Hope you , S and A are doing good. Hugs! - Dee
Kristen says
I haven't tried barley flour yet, sounds interesting. These cookies look so yum with all that stuff in there. Thanks 😉
Priya says
Cookies looks really very crispy...looks gorgeous...
vrinda says
Gorgeous cookies Madhu...V r doing good,Akku started going Kindergarten,Hows Arjun? Sowmya moved back to India last week,Hope ur enjoying Wilton course....keep in touch
Champa says
Looks yummy and healthy too.