Blueberry Wild Rice Shortbread

Northwoods Kitchen Vol. 1. No. 2 - Sharing techniques for working with wild rice and a cookie recipe that puts them to delicious use

From the Northwoods

While there isn’t much to report on from the past few weeks- always a good way to start a newsletter, yesterday the trees and grasses of the northwoods finally received what they had long been craving- a day full of life giving rain. It wasn’t just the greenery celebrating though as I love a good thunderstorm, and yesterday’s left me happily tucked away in my studio, finishing up several orders of my handmade leather journals. While our yard is still brown and dead thanks to life under the cover of several large pine trees, waking up to see the other lawns in the neighborhood greening up gave me my own little boost of life. Even though it is a brisk feels like temperature of 21 degrees outside this morning, the robins are giving reassuring chirps that indeed, Spring is finally here in the Minnesota northwoods. It won’t be long now until the fiddleheads and spruce tips are ready to be picked!

From the Kitchen

I recently went down a baking rabbit hole I’ve long had on my to-do list- making and baking with wild rice flour. Living in an area where manoomin, or wild rice, grows and is harvested means I have access to many variations of this popular Minnesota ingredient. Some stores sell the flour itself, but I decided to try my hand at making it at home using cultivated wild rice from the Red Lake Nation.

This process, while extremely gratifying and relatively easy, is not for the faint of heart. Unless you are lucky enough to own a home mill, you will be relying on a high powered blender or food processor and unless you want to have irritated eyes for a couple days after making your flour, I highly suggest wearing eye protection. I’ve only used it in a couple recipes so far, but I absolutely love the subtle earthiness and nuttiness it brings to a bake in even small quantities. So while I want to be realistic about the process, hopefully I haven’t scared you off.

How to make wild rice flour:

To make wild rice flour at home, if you don’t own a mill, place 1/2-1 cup of uncooked wild rice at a time in either a high powered blender or food processor. Process the rice on high for a minute at a time, scraping around the edges and bottom between each minute. This can easily take 10-15 minutes so be patient and keep at it. Eventually you will end up with a lovely fine and fluffy flour. Once it appears to be fully processed, sift out remaining chunks through a fine mess strainer and store in an air tight container.

How to make puffed wild rice:

Another technique I like to use when working with wild rice, and something that will also be used in the recipe below, is making puffed wild rice. To do this, I heat about 2” of oil in a small pot to 400-415 degrees. Then, I place about 2 tablespoons of uncooked wild rice into a fine mesh strainer and lower it into the oil. It only take 5-10 seconds for the rice to puff up so be ready to work quickly. Once puffed, lift the strainer out of the oil and turn rice out onto a paper towel lined plate to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Now, let’s combine these two techniques to make the cookies below!

Happy Baking from The Land of 10,000 Bakes,

Nicole

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Blueberry Wild Rice Shortbread

As cliche as it is to say, these cookies truly are a symphony of textures and flavors. The buttery and sandy shortbread is studded with crisp puffed wild rice that gives a toasty, almost popcorn like flavor that is further enhanced by the use of wild rice flour. The blueberries lend bright a fruity notes to this earthy cookie as well as a bit of chew and crispness, depending on the bite. These cookies were devoured by my family and I hope you love them too!

Ingredients

• 50 grams wild rice flour

• 260 grams all purpose flour (I use sunrise flour heritage white flour)

• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

• 226 grams unsalted butter, room temperature

• 165 grams light brown sugar

• 60 grams powdered sugar

• 1 large egg yolk, room temperate

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I use vanilla bean project because it’s simply amazing and a Minnesota company)

• 30 grams puffed wild rice

• 55 grams freeze dried blueberries, crushed

Method

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the wild rice flour, all purpose flour and salt until combined. Set aside

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, scraping bowl occasionally. This will take 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla bean paste. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds and scrape the bowl when finished.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined. Add the puffed wild rice and blueberries, mixing on low until combined and no dry flour pockets remain.

5. Divide your dough into two portions. Form each portion into a log shape appoximately 1.5” in diameter and 10” long. Wrap in tightly in plastic wrap and chill the logs of dough for at least two hours or overnight.

6. When your dough is well chilled, heat your oven to 350 degrees.

7. Using a sharp knife, cut your cookies into 1/4” slices and place on a parchment lined baking sheet approximately 2” apart.

8. Bake your cookies one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are slightly browned.

9. Cool on the cookie sheet for five minutes before removing the cookies and placing them on a rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an art tight container for up to a week or freeze for longer storage.