Tahini and almond flour come together really well to create a chocolate chip cookie with a chewy texture and subtle caramel flavor. A nice finishing touch is a sprinkle of flakey sea salt over each cookie just they go into the oven or as they come out of the oven. Salting is optional but adds depth to the flavor and contrasts well with the tahini and dark chocolate chips.
You might be thinking there's a ton of tahini chocolate chip cookies out there. But here's the difference: these don't use any butter or oil, they're grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, plant-based, and there's no need for any starches or processed or granulated sugar.
I'm going to plant an idea that you may or may not agree with, but you can have a good cookie without sweetened chocolate chips. I tested a batch of cookies with unsweetened chocolate chips made of only cocoa beans instead of sweetened. I also mixed them in with the some sweetened homemade chocolate chips. Adding a few non-sweetened chocolate chips gives the cookies a deeper flavor of chocolate and the cookie was sweet enough to carry it. You can also chop up an unsweetened chocolate bar that has no other ingredients and get the same results. These cookies are also great without any chips at all so if you're not doing chocolate, no problem.
For texture you have two options: bake them just as they're starting to brown a bit on the top and bottom for a soft, chewy cookie. For a crunch on the outside, bake for another few minutes or leave in the oven for a few minutes after turning it off. Storing them in the refrigerator will also impart a crunch.
If you're curious about more baking recipes using tahini, try Tahini Banana Bread or my grain-free Tahini Cookies. Enjoy!
Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt fine salt for baking, apart from the finishing salt
- ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup chocolate chips homemade or store-bought
- flakey sea salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk the almond flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend together with a spatula or fork until you have a ball of dough.
- Fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.
- At this point you can place the dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so to firm it up, or just keep going. Cooling the dough will make it easier to shape and scoop out but either way works.
- Scoop about a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until all the dough is formed into cookies across the baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between cookies because they'll spread as they bake. Optionally, sprinkle a bit of finishing salt on each cookie, or just after they come out of the oven.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned.
- As soon as the cookies come out the oven, sprinkle with a bit of salt. Cool the cookies for at least 15 minutes.
- Store sealed at room temperature for a week or in the refrigerator for a few weeks. Seal and freeze for a few months.
Lila says
I made these tahini chocolate chip cookies twice already as they are so good!! My son said that they are the best chocolate chip cookies he has ever had :). They are also very quick and easy to make. Thanks Erica for this great recipe!
Yay! So good to hear. Thanks, Lila.