Soft & Chewy Flourless Ginger Tahini Cookies

In January, well after holiday season was over, a client sent a big box of Tate's Cookies to the office, where they filled the kitchen counter for half a week. It was the worst (but also the best) kind of way to kick off January. I had been wanted to make a gingery version of these tahini chocolate chip cookies for some time -- I even had made a batch over the holidays that didn't quite work out. Despite it being peak resolution season, that counter full of cookies was just the push I needed to dive back into recipe development. 

The dream: a chewy, rich, flourless ginger cookie with chunks of crystallized ginger. 

I knew that tahini would be the perfect base, but my first attempt used far too much molasses and the cookies were WAY too soft. I learned, on that attempt, that coconut sugar really imparts enough molasses-y flavor anyhow, as it's unrefined so still carries all of the minerals that are stripped from refined sugars when molasses is made. 

Tips for making these chewy tahini ginger cookies: 

• STIR THAT TAHINI. This is in all caps because it's no joke. Tahini separates fast and if your tahini is all oil or all solids you're batter won't work. Last time I published a tahini cookie recipe someone asked about how to best stir tahini, which is a really good question because it's not the easiest to stir. But don't worry! Just scrape the entire jar into a blender, and let it rip. OR, carefully put your immersion blender into your tahini container (this is what I do, but also can foresee what a mess this might make in the wrong circumstances) 

• Let them cool. Really! I too like hot-out-of-the-oven cookies, but these cookies need a minute to set up. More like 5-10. They'll still be warm, and they'll stay soft for a week at room temperature. BUT, if you try to pick one up while it's still piping hot it will just collapse and melt in your hand (if you can even get it into your hand). 

Ok, "mom" warnings over. Now, the recipe! 

Soft & Chewy Flourless Ginger Tahini Cookies

Published February 21, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yields: 16   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 cup coconut sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/16 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup tahini (stirred very well - try blending it with your blender if it is separated)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1-1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated on a microplane

Optional: 1/3 cup ginger chips or finely chopped crystallized ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine coconut sugar, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves. Whisk briefly.
3. Add tahini, vanilla, egg, and fresh ginger to bowl, and use a spatula to stir until a stiff, sticky batter forms.
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 at least 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.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Bars with Hemp & Cacao Nibs

Home! It is a good place to be. Home baking — even better. Especially during cookie season! Just four days out of the house over Thanksgiving break refilled my creative energy… if only I had time to cook every idea that comes to mind!

We visited Roy, New Mexico for Thanksgiving, so instead of your traditional holiday dinner we cooked with a camp stove among friends (including some camping recipes that I’m definitely going to share here come summer: black bean and kale skillet enchiladas, an iteration of these chorizo and egg breakfast tacos, and plenty of cocoa). Not your traditional holiday, but it was perfect for me. A way to unplug, relax, and enjoy the beautiful dessert!

Besides, I have been craving a trip to New Mexico since last Christmas when I tried to convince Oliver to go on a last minute road trip to Santa Fe (instead we spent it at home doing not much of anything).

In anticipation of some upcoming trips, I had made these bars ahead of time, and they were the perfect mid-day snack while we were out climbing, and delicious enough to be a treat around the campfire.

After baking them, I sliced them up and kept them in the freezer, and then packed them into the cooler with the rest of our supplies.

Chocolate and peanut butter is a classic (the best!!) so when I went to make something akin to a snacking bar but more luxurious, it felt like the perfect fit. Something hearty and filling for long days outside, but something that still tastes basically like dessert (happy sweet tooth = happy me).

Adding in hemp hearts and cacao nibs also walks this line of snack gone dessert… hemp hearts make me think granola bar, cacao nibs feel more like a treat. What you get is a treat you feel good about — and a snack for those moments when you really want a treat (and I always want my snacks to feel like treats).

These bars also are a GREAT better-for-you option for holiday cookies. Like blondie meets oatmeal cookie meets peanut butter cup with more good stuff packed in. Which is why I’m sharing it with you now!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Bars with Hemp & Cacao Nibs

Published November 29, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 12   |    Active Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients:

1 cup smooth, unsalted peanut butter (stirred and at room temperature)

1 egg

1/2 cup honey (you can also try maple syrup)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup almond flour OR all purpose flour

1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped, plus 2 tablespoons for topping

1/2 cup hemp hearts

1/4 cup cacao nibs

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon of flake sea salt for topping

1 cup semi sweet or bitter sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 9x9 glass baking dish with parchment paper.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, egg, honey and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add salt, oats, almond flour, peanuts, hemp hearts, and cacao nibs and fold to create a thick, sticky, crumbly batter.
3. Press mixture into prepared baking dish in an even layer, and bake in middle rack of oven for 15 minutes.
4. Allow base to cool completely before adding chocolate topping. While base cools, melt chocolate and coconut oil by placing bowl in a microwave-safe bowl, and heating at 30-second intervals, stirring between each round. (You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler).
5. Spread chocolate in an even layer over oat base. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons chopped peanuts and 1/2 teaspoon flake sea salt. Allow chocolate to set completely.
6. Once chocolate is set, lift the bars from the dish (pull out the parchment paper with the bars to get them out more easily) and slice into 12 equal pieces.
7. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge or freezer.

Honey Nut Coconut Clusters

Covered in dirt from the soles of my shoes to the tips of my hair, I made my way up our driveway, which was now blanketed in the shade of the night. The sunlight was up and on this day, like every day this week, that meant it was time to put down the shovel and go find something to eat.

When we moved to a new house a year and a half ago, we inherited a front and back yard, both of which were covered in some patchy grass and a lot of bindweed (my nemesis). We knew we would never put out a sprinkler to keep our grass green; it's something that feels like a waste of water in this naturally semi-arid landscape. 

So, a woman on a mission, little has passed through my mind this month other than how to build our garden boxes, which native plants to buy, and where to acquire a copious amount of mulch. It seems everything — even stopping for lunch - has taken a back seat as I rush home to put in a few hours of labor before the sun sets. Rather than planning recipes, I wander in around 8:30pm and make something that requires no thinking… an usually no cooking. 

Like all house projects, I probably under estimated the amount of work it would take to get it all done, but I'm a keep-your-head-down and get-her-done type of person. Besides, I found that even in the heat of day I would be smiling as I dug in the dirt. It's satisfying. So, I just keep digging. 

Snacks that are ready to eat whenever have been necessary this week. Crackers and cheese, fresh fruit, hummus. And of course, these Honey Nut Coconut Clusters, which sit somewhere between granola and trail mix (and they call for only five ingredients: coconut, sesame seeds, cashews, honey and salt). 

Thanks to the honey and the sesame seeds, they taste a bit like Honey Nut Cheerios -- hence the name. But, of course, made with coconut and real nuts and seeds, they are far more satisfying. These would be perfect as a trail mix while hiking, or as a a topping to yogurt, but I mostly just ate them as an afternoon snack. 😋

Honey Nut Coconut Clusters

Published May 8, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 6   |    Total Time: 20 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup cashew pieces
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/3 cup honey
• Generous sprinkle of salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine coconut, cashew, and sesame seeds. Pour in honey and toss until everything is coated and sticky. Sprinkle with salt, and stir a bit more until salt is incorporated.
3. Spread mixture out on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake 8-10 minutes, stirring at the 5 minute mark to ensure even cooking. After 10 minutes, coconut should be toasted. Allow to cool 5 minutes. Store in airtight container.