Khorasan is a beautiful ancient grain, with a buttery, almost maize-like flavour. The ingredients list is purposefully very simple to allow the flavour of the wholemeal Khorasan flour to shine through, which is complemented by some good quality dried vanilla bean grated into the mix.
As they’re in season at the moment, I decorated the cookies with spicy fresh nasturtium petals just for a bit of fun, but they are also delicious plain. For a variation, you can also scatter them with freeze-dried raspberry chunks before baking. Enjoy them warm from the oven with a glass of milk or a cup of tea.
Makes 10 cookies
Beat together the butter and sugars using an electric hand whisk until creamy. Add the beaten egg and vanilla and beat thoroughly for about eight minutes.
Add the flour (don’t sift it, you want to keep all the flavoursome flakes of bran), the baking powder, the baking soda, and a pinch of sea salt flakes, and combine. Do this reasonably quickly, to avoid over-working the dough.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Take a tablespoon of dough for each cookie and roll it into a ball using your hands. Place them on the tray, cover to prevent them from drying out, and chill in the fridge for an hour (or overnight).
When you are ready to bake your cookies, preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an additional baking tray with baking parchment, and spread the cookies out between the two trays, leaving them room to expand. (You may need to do them in batches depending on the size of your oven.)
Bake for 13-15 minutes, and remove when the edges are golden but the centres are still soft – they will firm up a little as they cool, so don’t be tempted to overdo them.
These are at their best while still warm from the oven, so enjoy them as soon as they are cool enough to handle! Alternatively you can store them in an airtight container for up to four days.