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Tahini chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. Instead of using only butter to make the cookies, swap half the amount for tahini – a sesame seed paste popular in Middle Eastern cooking. It adds a slight savory taste to your chocolate chip cookies, similar to adding sea salt, tahini makes them flavorful and irresistible.
Sesame seed paste has a slightly salty taste to it, which is a wonderful complement to the sweet buttery taste of chocolate chip cookies. It does give these tahini chocolate chip cookies a small hint of savory flavor.
“Since I grew up in the Middle East, this recipe is so close to the heart. They’re so delicious that you can’t stop at just one! Love love love them!” – Maneka
Table of Contents
- Recipe at a glance
- Ingredients to make tahini chocolate chip cookies
- Popular substitutions & additions
- RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL
- How to make tahini chocolate chip cookies
- Tips for making the best chocolate chip tahini cookies
- What to serve with your cookies
- How to store
- Frequently asked questions
- More cookie recipes:
- Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Recipe at a glance
Cuisine Inspiration: American
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Vegetarian
Key Flavor: Chocolate
Skill Level: Intermediate
Summary
- Unique Flavor Fusion: A blend of delicious flavors – rich butter, nutty tahini, and sweet chocolate chips truly make these cookies a unique treat.
- Balanced Sweetness: This recipe strikes a balance between sweet and savory, making it perfect for those who enjoy a diverse flavor profile.
- One Of A Kind: The effort and patience that goes into making, chilling, and then baking is well worth the wait for this unique tahini cookie.
Ingredients to make tahini chocolate chip cookies
- Butter: Use unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Tahini: Tahini is a sesame seed paste and it adds a wonderful flavor to these chocolate chip cookies.
- Cane sugar: I prefer to use cane sugar, which is less processed, but you can use granulated.
- Light brown sugar: The molasses in the brown sugar adds a rich sweetness to each bite.
- Egg: To bind the ingredients together.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor and sweetness.
- Flour: Use all purpose flour in this recipe.
- Baking soda: To allow your cookies to rise when they are baked.
- Chocolate chips: I love the flavor of bittersweet chocolate chips, but you can use semi-sweet or milk if you prefer.
Popular substitutions & additions
- Nut Butter: While tahini is a prominent ingredient in this cookie, you could replace it with a creamy almond butter, peanut butter, or another nut butter of your choice.
- Nutty Crunch: Chop and add your favorite nuts like pecans, walnuts, or almonds for extra crunch.
- Warm Spices: Bring these cookies with you to the cooler seasons by adding warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or a premade pumpkin or apple pie spice.
- Chocolate: Dark, milk, or white chocolate chips would all be equally delicious. Bittersweet chocolate is a happy medium between milk and dark chocolates.
- Flaky Salt: Once baked, top your cookies with a pinch of flaky salt for a delicious sweet and salty bite.
RECIPE VIDEO TUTORIAL
How to make tahini chocolate chip cookies
- Beat together the tahini, butter, and sugars until fluffy. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Then add the dry ingredients on top and continue mixing until well combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and then cover and refrigerate for best results.
- When you’re ready to bake, place balls of the cookie mixture onto a baking sheet, keeping space between them.
- Bake until the edges are golden brown and allow them to rest before tasting one!
“These are so tasty! I was a little apprehensive at first, but followed the recipe exactly, and they turned out great! Leave them in a bit longer if you want it less gooey in the center!” – Carol
Tips for making the best chocolate chip tahini cookies
- Store the cookie batter in the fridge for 24 hours before baking. If you’re impatient, give it at least 2 hours. This helps the fat in the butter and tahini to solidify so they make a more moist cookie
- Use less tahini if you are skeptical of it in these cookies or unsure if you’ll like it. Try just 2 or 4 tablespoons and substitute the rest with softened butter.
- Don’t over mix the cookie batter when you add the flour. The dry ingredients should be just combined. Over mixing can cause the gluten to develop and your cookies will turn out tough and chewy.
- Buy high quality tahini. Make sure the sesame seed paste is the only ingredient in the tahini and look for lighter colored tahini when possible. The ones imported from the Middle East like this tahini brand tend to have great taste and consistency.
What to serve with your cookies
- Try a classic No Churn Ice Cream or an easy Mason Jar Ice Cream.
- Cold Brew Coffee Or Iced Matcha Latte
- Hot Matcha Latte Or Vegan Hot Chocolate
- Fruit & Yogurt Parfait
How to store
How long will tahini chocolate chip cookies last in the fridge? Once your cookies have cooled, place them into an airtight container. They will keep well for 3 to 4 days at room temperature and up to a week in the fridge.
Can I freeze tahini cookies? Yes, these freeze really well. Place them into a freezer-safe container with the layers separated by parchment. They will keep well for up to 3 months and can be thawed at room temperature on a cooling rack.
Frequently asked questions
Tahini is essentially sesame seed butter. It’s an oily paste, similar to natural peanut butter in texture, so its a great way to add moisture to your baked goods. It’s nutty and creamy and so good!
Overbaking or using too much flour can result in dry and crumbly cookies. Ensure you follow the recommended baking time, keeping an eye on them towards the end. Take care to measure the flour correctly. The smallest amount of extra flour can result in dry cookies.
The best tahini for baking is one that is made with just two ingredients. Your best bet is to go with a tahini that you’re familiar with and that you like. If you’re unsure, feel free to test out a few different brands. Keep in mind that tahini is slightly bitter, so think about how that flavor is going to mesh with your tahini chocolate chip cookies.
These tahini chocolate chip cookies are slightly crunchy on the outside, super chewy on the inside, and totally chocolatey all over. You’re going to be obsessed! Sweet enough to kick that craving, and delicious enough to want to share. It’s the unique cookie combination you never knew you needed!
More cookie recipes:
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Pistachio Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Date Cookies
If you make this feel good Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ½ cup tahini well stirred
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, tahini, cane sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until fluffy.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat for 1-2 minutes, until the eggs are incorporated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough into 1 ½ tablespoon-sized balls using a spring-loaded scoop. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are firm and slightly golden brown at the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
They turned out great.
So happy to hear that you liked it!
Could you make these GF with almond flour? Or would it ruin the consistency of the dough/cookie?
I have yet to try that, so let me know how it turns out if you give it a try!
Yes. 1 to 1 sub for almond flour worked perfectly.
That is perfect! Great to note!
What are the quantities for the tahini cookies?
Thank you🌹, Louise
All the ingredients and measurements can be found on the recipe card at the bottom!
Just made these! Wonderful. They are on the top of my list.
Wow, thank you so much! That’s such an honor!
I was very happy with the taste of these cookies using tahini in place of half the butter. It did not have the strong taste I was worried about and the texture was perfectly chewy (used a bit less tahini and a bit less vanilla). Ate 4 cookies in one day!!!
The only suggestion is to delete the instruction to preheat the oven at the beginning of the recipe to match the preparation notes. I put oven on preheat then realized once done mixing the ingredients that the recipe reads “cover the dough and refrigerate overnight.” 4.5 stars.
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely take a look over that.
Thank you for the recipe for the tahini chocolate chips cookies! It is delicious and so soft ☺️
You’re so welcome!!
could I make my own tahini in my home? Could you bring us the recipe?
Yes, you could! There are some great options if you search “homemade tahini recipe”.
I want to know if the dough, with baking soda resting all night, will not spoil or the effect of the baking soda will disappear.
It should be fine if the dough is covered and refrigerated overnight.
Tried these and they worked a treat!
That’s perfect! Yay!!
Can you share the metric measurement? In grams
Hello, I would like to have the full recipe in metric measurements, please!
Thank you in advance,
Eliseo
This website is helpful for converting measurements to metric units: https://www.thespruceeats.com/metric-conversions-for-cooking-2355731
Love it, my kids loved it.
Win win recipe for the family!
I’m so happy you all enjoyed it! Yay!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! My kids absolutely loved these cookies! Will definitely be trying some of your other recipes!!
I’m so glad they enjoyed it too! Hope you love the other recipes!
Dear Yumna,
Do you think I could replace the butter with sunflower oil ? Or put more thina instead? Or coconut oil? Vegan problems… 😅😁
Yes, I think that would work or even vegan butter like Califia Farms
Since I grew up in the Middle East, this recipe is so close to the heart. They’re so delicious that you can’t stop at just one! Love love love them!
Thank you so much for sharing that!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Is it possible to make these without a mixer?
Yup, it’s possible to do it without a mixer. Just make sure the batter is well mixed. 🙂
These are so tasty! I was a little apprehensive at first, but followed the recipe exactly and they turned out great! Leave them in a bit longer if you want it less gooey in the centre!
Yay! So happy you liked the cookies. Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
We made these and loved them. I never thought to use tahini in cookies before.