Okay, I know it sounds unusual, but these tahini cookies are out of this world! The slight bitterness of the tahini and dark chocolate together with the caramelised sugars, is honestly a heavenly pairing. Give them a try for yourself- they’re unbelievably easy! With minimal ingredients, and such a strong, nutty and wholesome flavour, these tahini cookies are sure to impress- my whole batch was finished within 48h!!
You can substitute the egg for a flax egg. Whilst your tahini cookies will still taste delicious, the flax egg will not allow the cookie to melt and settle as well in the oven. You may also find that the texture of the cookies will be denser and more cake-like, but the rich tastes of sugar caramelisation and tahini will still be there! Another substitution you could make is swapping out the dark brown sugar for maple syrup. I understand that the molasses in the dark brown sugar may upset some cases of IBS. So, you are more than welcome to take out the brown sugar and add in a 1/4 cup of maple syrup here instead.
The cinnamon gives that extra depth of flavour to these cookies, and almost gives off an autumnal and homely vibe. There are only subtle hints of cinnamon flavour in the finished results, because the prominent tahini and caramelised sugars take the foreground. But if you want to make these tahini cookies more autumnal, feel free to:
- Increase the cinnamon to 1 tsp
- Add 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- Add 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- Add 1/4 tsp ground cloves
If you’re looking for more autumnal recipes, check out my pumpkin spice pancakes, pumpkin spice porridge or my sweet potato chocolate chunk cookies! They’re just as delicious and hit that sweet craving!
What you could have with your tahini cookies:
- A sprinkle of sesame seeds
- A drizzle of maple syrup
- Dunked into a cup of tea
- Warmed up with a scoop of ice-cream on top
- With a drizzle of fresh tahini
- A sprinkle of flaky salt on top
- A drizzle of warm peanut butter
- Crumble the cookie over a bowl of porridge or yoghurt
Because this dough is so thick (due to the tahini), you may need to get in there with your hands and combine all the ingredients yourself. My wooden spoon was just not doing the job, and I think that the warmth from my hands was helping to combine everything. Alternatively, I believe you could use a stand mixer to make this dough (I have not tested this myself yet, but I have a lot of faith in stand mixers!). I also recommend putting the mix into the fridge for a while before forming the dough on your trays. This is because it lets the fats (tahini) cool, meaning that once put in the oven, the cookies will spread out slower and hold their shape better. It basically ensures that the cookies will not all merge into one giant cookie blob- which now come to think of it, wouldn’t actually be so disastrous!
I use a very dark chocolate for these cookies. An 85% does really well here, because it compliments the bitterness of the tahini, but also nicely balances out the sweetness from the caramelised sugar. Feel free to use a flavoured chocolate for example a chocolate orange bar (if you love chocolate orange, I recommend you try my chocolate orange brownies). I used plain dark chocolate to enhance the other flavours within the cookies and keep the core flavours original to their ingredients.
To get flatter cookies, that are crispier and less chunky, I recommend flattening the cookie dough balls with your hand or the back of a spoon. This is because the cookies do not spread and flatten like standard chocolate chip cookies. Because of the lack of ingredients like butter, milk and other high FODMAP items, these cookies are firmer and will need a bit of TLC to look like your standard cookie. If you don’t mind a domed cookie (these are amazing by the way- the ultimate crunchy exterior and soft interior), then feel free to put them into the oven as they are. If you want a crispier cookie with a more standard cookie appearance, I recommend shaping them more before cooking them.
Ingredients: (makes 10)
- 1/2 cup gluten free flour
- 2/3 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/4 cup brown/dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla essence
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup low FODMAP chopped dark chocolate
Method:
Step 1: preheat your oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Step 2: mix together your wet ingredients along with the sugars and vanilla sugar (if using).
Step 3: in a separate bowl, mix the rest of your dry ingredients.
Step 4: add your dry ingredients to the wet (I recommend sieving them in to remove any lumps). You may need to use your hands here as this is a very stiff dough.
Step 5: stir in your chocolate chunks. Place your cookie mix in the fridge for a couple hours, or in the freezer for 10 mins.
Step 6: scoop your cookie dough onto your sheet of paper. I usually use an ice-cream scoop to make sure they’re all the right size. (You can press on them slightly to flatten them before they go into the oven if you like).
Step 7: bake for 12-15 mins in the oven. Remove and allow to fully cool before removing them from the tray.
These cookies will keep in an air-tight container for 1 week.
Send me images of your sweet tahini chocolate chunk cookies! My Instagram page is TheLazyLowFODMAP, DM me your pictures or tag me in them so that I see them!
