These cookies are thick, chewy, subtly sesame flavored from tahini, maple syrup sweetened, and totally gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, and can easily be made vegan! Make these for all the chocolate chip cookie lovers in your life!
Let’s kick off 2019 with some cookies, shall we?
But not just any cookies: today we’re making simple, wholesome cookies that are:
- maple syrup sweetened
- grain + gluten free (thanks, almond flour!)
- thick + chewy
- crispy around the edges
- super soft in the middle
- filled with puddles of melty dark chocolate
- subtly tahini flavored, to make everyone ask what’s in these cookies that makes them so dang good?
- and borderline addictive (like, I’ve made 4 batches in the past week soooo)
They might just be THE BEST tahini chocolate chip cookies, ever.
I know that’s a bold statement, but hear me out: these cookies eliminate much of the work of traditional cookie baking since there’s no butter or sugar to beat together until light and fluffy, and no stand mixer required. Instead, everything literally just gets stirred together in a bowl by hand until combined. A quick 10 minute trip in the freezer helps this sticky dough set, then they’re off to the oven to get golden and chewy.
And, like the best cookie recipes, they’re also endlessly customizable. Out of (or not into) tahini? Use any drippy, all-natural nut or seed butter instead. Want to add some fun spices to the mix? Add a few big shakes of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger to the batter. Need to make them vegan/egg-free? Swap in a flax egg! Feel like your life is incomplete without chopped nuts or dried fruit in cookies? Do your thang, girl.
In the end, all roads lead to cookies.
If you try this recipe, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your Tahini Chocolate Chunk Cookies and share it with me on Instagram; I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen!
Tahini Chocolate Chunk Cookies [Grain-Free]
Yields: 10 XL Cookies (or 15-20 smaller ones)
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup tahini (or any drippy, all-natural nut/seed butter)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips of choice
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Place the tahini, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and stir well to completely combine (I find a sturdy wooden spoon gets the job done best!)
- Add all remaining ingredients (including chocolate) and stir well to combine.
- Transfer the bowl of cookie dough to the freezer for 10 minutes (or fridge for 30) to allow batter to set. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP or your cookies will be pancakes. You’ve been warned. The batter will still be sticky after chilling, but will hold it’s shape MUCH better in the oven.
- After allowing the batter to chill, scoop the batter using a 1/4 cup measuring cup (for large cookies) or a small 2-Tablespoon cookie scoop (for smaller cookies), leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. I found 6 large cookies to fit perfectly on a sheet pan, and baked them in two batches. If desired, sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top of each cookie to make look extra pretty.
- Bake large cookies for 10-12 minutes and smaller ones for 7-9 minutes, or until cookies look just barely done and slightly golden around the edges. Allow to cool on the sheet pan until ready to eat. Leftovers keep at room temperature for up to 4 days, though these cookies loose their crispy edges after day 1 and become suuuuper soft (not in a bad way, it’s just the reality of making a cookie primarily out of nut/seed butter).
Notes:
Make them VEGAN/EGG-FREE: use a flax egg in place of the egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T water, mixed well and allowed to sit for 10 minutes before using).
Make them NUT-FREE: The almond flour can be swapped for oat, wheat, or spelt flour, with a slightly different flavor profile but otherwise similar results.