Russian 100% Rye Cakes (Korzhiki)

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tpassin on 29 Apr 2025 at 10:23
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These rye cakes use rye starter discard and are taken right from this page:

https://www.beetsandbones.com/russian-whole-grain-rye-cakes-korzhiki/

My try at reproducing them came out almost exactly like them (I made a half recipe, or 4 cakes). I did increase the baking powder by about 50%, which is intermediate between what I would use for scones (UK)/biscuits (US) and the recipe. Mine seem to have risen more, and maybe that was the reason.

My flour is stone-ground, 100% whole grain rye, milled at a local water mill.

The recipe is basically just the same as for a standard scone except of course the rye flour and starter discard. The result had a similar texture too. You do knead them more than you would with wheat flour, but still not very much.  I like them, and I think they could grow on me if I make more (and why wouldn't I?).

I found some other recipes for Korzhikis, and they varied all over the map.  This recipe was posted by someone who grew up on them from childhood, so I imagine it's pretty "authentic", whatever that might mean. At any rate, they are tasty and easy to make.  Give them a try!

khorzhiki fresh from the oven

They are good. I think I'd like it a little sweeter but some apple butter on top takes care of that. 

My dough wasn't sticky at all; very easy to shape. I added cinnamon. I also increased the baking powder as you suggested. 

They are substantial! Next time I will make them smaller.

Thanks for bringing these up.

Gary

I milled 250 grams of rye berries yesterday. I used 50g to make the "discard" and let it ferment overnight. Then I assembled the scones this morning. 

I have never had hazelnut flour. I would love to try it but it is really expensive on Amazon.

Gary

Gary, as someone who didn't grow up around dense rye bread, don't understand them, and don't have any pantry staple that would go with them hence don't know what to do with them, I would love to eat those cookies! looks good too!

Jay

Sounds nice, Tom! Would like to try sometime!

And speaking of scones... I'm about to build a formula based on angel biscuits! My starter just settled down with new ratio of 1:1:1:1 bran:skim milk:water:butter :D

Jay

I have this terrible habbit of not reading a post thoroughly before commenting. I will refer them as scones, as Tom and Gary suggested! Pardon my short attention-span!

Jay

Thanks for sharing.  Always nice to see some different rye recipes.

Best,

Ian

for 100% wholegrain rye! It does sound like a convenient recipe with a nice flavour profile to boot.

These are great Tom.  Wonderful that they are 100% whole grain scones which I’ve never seen before.

Benny