Make these deliciously chewy chocolate chip tahini cookies, and you may never go back to plain chocolate chip cookies again!
Tahini chocolate chip cookies
If you have a jar of tahini sitting in your pantry with no ideas how to use it up, these fancy homemade cookies are the perfect excuse.
They are super soft and pillow-like, with absolutely NO butter or oil.
The cookies are naturally egg free and dairy free, and the recipe can be both vegan and gluten free as well. If you like soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, definitely give these tahini cookies a try!
Also make these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
What is tahini?
Tahini, or tahina, is a Middle Eastern condiment made from ground hulled toasted sesame seeds. People describe it as tasting earthy, slightly bitter, and nutty.
It is often used to make salad dressings, dips, or recipes such as hummus, halva, and baba ghanoush. But tahini is also wonderful in cookies!
Sesame has a strong flavor that people usually either love or hate. If you fall into the latter category, do not make these cookies, because the bold sesame flavor absolutely does come through. These are chocolate chip cookies for sesame lovers.
One tablespoon of this healthy sesame spread contains 90 calories and 3 grams of protein, as well as antioxidants and vitamins like calcium, iron, fiber, selenium, manganese, copper, zinc, phosphorus, thiamine, and vitamin B6.
Try adding tahini to these Sweet Potato Brownies
Tahini cookie ingredients
This healthy cookie recipe calls for seven ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, milk of choice, and sesame seed paste.
For the flour: You can use spelt flour, white all purpose flour, or oat flour for the cookie recipe. We have not tried the tahini cookies with gluten free flour, whole wheat flour, or rice flour, so feel free to experiment, and be sure to report back if you do.
To make paleo and keto tahini cookies with almond flour, follow the chocolate chip keto cookie option mentioned below. Substitute three tablespoons of tahini for the two tablespoons of coconut oil.
For the sweetener: This can be white sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, or evaporated cane juice. We cannot vouch for substituting a liquid sweetener, such as honey or maple syrup, or erythritol since we have not baked the cookie recipe using any of these options. As with the flour substitutions, report back if you experiment.
Peanut butter variation: Turn them into peanut butter cookies by substituting an equal amount of peanut butter for the tahini. Especially if using natural nut butter from the refrigerator, gently heat the peanut butter until it is runny and easy to stir.
Readers also love these Snowball Cookies
How do you thin out tahini that is too thick?
If you’ve ever bought tahini before, you may have noticed it’s usually pretty thin when you first open the jar or bottle.
Get down closer to the bottom, and the remaining tahini is much thicker. Sometimes it is not spreadable at all.
Many cookbooks will tell you to thin out tahini with water, but that will not work for this cookie recipe because water dilutes the richness and the bold sesame flavor.
Instead, you can thin it out with a neutral oil. My preference is untoasted sesame oil. If you prefer not to use oil, stick to using the tahini at the top of the jar for these tahini cookies and use up the thicker tahini for another purpose.
How to make tahini cookies
Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease a baking tray, or line it with parchment paper. Set this tray aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients, and stir to form a chocolate chip cookie dough texture.
Press the dough into one large ball, then break off cookie sized pieces. Roll the small pieces of tahini cookie dough into tight balls with your hands or a cookie scoop.
You can press in a few extra chips or roll the balls in sesame seeds if you wish.
Place the balls on the prepared cookie tray, and press them down into cookie shapes if desired, because they do not spread much on their own.
Bake on the oven’s center rack for eleven minutes, then remove the tray from the oven when the cookies still look under-baked.
Let the tray cool for at least ten minutes, during which time the tahini cookies will firm up considerably.
I like to transfer leftover cookies to a lidded container. Or place leftovers on a plate and enclose the entire plate in a large ziploc bag. The chocolate chip tahini cookies are soft and chewy the next day.
Watch the tahini cookie recipe video above
Tahini Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white, spelt, or oat flour (for low carb, make these Keto Cookies)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar, unrefined if desired
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 2 1/2 tbsp milk of choice
Instructions
- *Flour should be very loosely packed. Measure one cup, then remove and discard one tablespoon. (If you have a food scale, use 110 grams.) If your tahini is not liquidy, see above for how to soften it.Preheat oven to 325 F. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients to form a cookie dough – it will be dry at first, so keep stirring for at least a minute or two, when it will suddenly turn into a cookie dough texture. Form one big ball, then break off smaller pieces and roll into smaller balls. Place on a greased or lined baking tray, and press into cookie shapes. Bake 11 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before handling, as they will firm up considerably while cooling. Once the cookies are fully cooled, I like to put them on a plate and enclose the entire plate inside a large ziploc. The cookies are super soft and chewy the next day!View Nutrition Facts
Notes
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Jenn says
These were delicious! I followed the recipe to a T except for adding a handful of dried cranberries (craisins). There are barely any left!
Fran says
I love tahini and can’t wait to make these. There are 2 companies that make great, really great, tahini. Soom and Seed and Mill. Their tahini is fresh, unlike what you’ll find at the supermarket. I highly recommend them. You won’t be disappointed.
I have no relationship to either of these companies, but I am a regular customer.
Robyn says
wow, thank you for recommending these brands. Want to try their tahini. And they’re both women owned companies too!
Jamie Green says
In the video, you pour a dark liquid in the bowl. Is that vanilla? I don’t see it in the ingredient list. They were delish. Dough was dry so I had to add more liquid.
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for making them! And sorry for the confusion – we did add vanilla for the cookies in the video and forgot to remove that frame when publishing the final recipe video. But you can definitely add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract if you wish!
Jason says
I just made these and they were delicious!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you for trying them 🙂
Jenn says
These are a DELIGHT! Not all of the chocolate chips mixed in, so I pressed some into the tops of the cookie dough balls, while others somehow made it into my mouth 🤔 (very mysterious). Regardless, the cookies turned out perfectly soft, chewy, and delicious! Will def be making again!
Jennifer says
😂
Isabel says
Wow, this was so good!!
TM Bell says
So quick and easy recipe. These were soft and chewy, we loved them.
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for trying them 🙂
Elisabeth says
Well these are amazing! Perfect after school treat. I used oat flour and 1/4 cane sugar 1/4 cup coconut sugar. I added 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a splash of vanilla. 16 2TB cookies baked 10 minutes. I was so tempted to add an egg but they didn’t need it, they were perfect. Thank you for the great recipe!
*I always find the Trader Joe’s tahini tasty, reliable and easy to use*
Alexander says
Trader Joe’s carries tahini?
Fran says
I’ve now made this recipe twice. It’s really good and easy. I decided to try something a little untraditional with the 2nd batch. I added about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a 1/2 tsp of Cobanero chili. Both are subtle but really good.
thanks for the great recipe. I will be making these on a regular basis.
CCK Media Team says
Your version sounds fantastic!
Susan B. says
I just made this recipe and I love it! It’s easy to assemble (no electric mixer required) and the cookies taste great. I can taste the tahini but I like it. It offsets the sweetness of the sweetener (I used powered Swerve). I will make them again!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for trying them!
David says
This recipe was great but I changed a few things, I used 1 : 1 gluten free flour, about 1/4 cup of almond milk maybe a little less, I just added it until the consistency was right(my Tahini was very thick). I used monk fruit sugar and monk fruit chocolate chips. They turned out great!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for trying them 🙂
Annabelle says
These were delicious! I’d never had the sesame-chocolate flavour combination before, and it was great! They were soft and chewy, although they took almost twice as long to cook in my oven as the recipe stated. I used oat flour and was very happy with the outcome.
SJ says
These were amazing! A family favourite.
They were slightly dry both times i made them but still turned out good.
I pressed the dough into a loaf tin and cut the final product into little bars which i prefer.
Caroline says
These tahini cookies were so soft and chewy!
Andrea says
Delicious! It took a bit more milk in my case because the dough was super dry but they turned out great! Thank you!
BEK says
Absolutely delicious!! New favorite cc recipie. Everyone really enjoyed. Tysm
Robin Grace says
Skeptical, I carried on, measured my flour on a scale, mixed the exact ingredients and measurements – the dough was too dry and so I melted a tablespoon of coconut oil and poured in another glug of oat milk, and I was thrilled to see the dough come together. On the cookie sheet I sprinkled the cookies with sesame seeds. I needed to increase baking time to 25 minutes – the cookies are spectacular! Better than butter and dairy in a cookie, though my husband couldn’t tell. Thanks for this great recipe!
Rachel says
These are so good! I used oat flour (made one batch grinding my own from old fashioned oats, and another using store-bought oat flour…both turned out good…the self-ground one a bit more textured) and followed the recipe exactly. Just wow!! Delish. For me, the “dough” was not like cookie dough but very crumbly, but i just formed it into balls and it worked great still. 11 minutes is the perfect cooking time. They were a hit at the dinner party i brought them to!
Amy says
I constantly look up and try new recipes online (and also always sleuth the comments) but don’t think I have ever actually written a comment. These cookies are so unique and delicious, and I kind of haven’t been able to stop thinking about them since I made them. Also, so incredibly easy and fast (a major perk), and a great way to use up some of the open jar of tahini that can be sitting around if you made hummus recently. Thank you for this recipe!
CCK Media Team says
This makes us so happy, thank you for making them 🙂
Kim says
I consider myself a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur, and these were simply excellent. I can’t wait to make them again and have recommended them to all my friends.
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for making them and also for sharing the recipe with friends!