Chewy Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free & Grain-Free)

If you make any cookie from this blog, let it be this one. I might regret saying that later, but it's how I feel now and what's a blog if not in-the-moment. 

While I've used a lot of nut and seed butters in baking before, tahini is something special in a cookie. 

First let me say that I love thin, chewy, fresh-out-of-the-oven-soft cookies. Gooey. Warm. Indulgence. That what makes tahini ideal: its consistency and fat content allows it to spread out into a thin cookie, and even as the cookies cool they never get crispy. They maintain that soft, chewy bite for days. 

Coconut sugar is also necessary here -- it's not something I usually use, opting for maple syrup or honey in most of my baking - but a crystalized sugar helps to glue the cookies together, so that everything doesn't just fall apart when you pick them up. So you can dip your cookie in a shot of espresso, or a glass of milk or cup of tea. 

Chewy Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published May 17, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 20   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup tahini (stirred well)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate bar (about 2 ounces)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk briefly.
3. Add tahini, vanilla, and egg to bowl, and use a spatula to stir until a stiff, sticky batter forms. Fold in chopped chocolate.
4. Optional: place bowl of batter in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow dough to stiffen a bit more.
5. Using your hands, roll dough into spheres by the heaping tablespoonful. Place spheres 2 inches apart of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatted slightly with your fingers.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies have spread and are golden. Cookies will still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling wrack or a plate.