If you love tahini desserts, say hello to your new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! These butterless cookies are bursting with flavors of real tahini, toasted sesame seeds, and dark chocolate.
I originally created this recipe a few years ago, but have given it a makeover to make them even more delicious, and they're now made without vegan butter! The added touch of miso and sea salt gives an umami salty finish to balance the rich sweetness of the cookie.
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📖 Recipe Overview
- Quick & Easy - Besides the incredible taste and texture, the best part about these tahini chocolate chunk cookies is that they are ready in around 30 minutes!
- Soft & Chewy - The edges are chewy and golden brown with a tender soft cookie center.
- Made without Butter - Vegan butter is usually a prominent ingredient in dairy-free cookies. But I designed this recipe to rely solely on tahini rather than having to add butter for the base.
If you're looking for more ways to use up a jar of tahini, try my vegan recipes for tahini bread, tahini caramel bars and tahini cheesecake next!
🛒 Ingredients Needed
Other than a few specialty items, the rest are pretty common ingredients you may already have in your pantry. Here's everything you need to grab to make these chocolate chip tahini cookies from scratch:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Light Tahini - Make sure you use light runny tahini which is made from hulled sesame seeds. Dark tahini uses the whole sesame seed and tastes slightly more bitter. Go for a good tahini made from pure sesame paste, without added oil or ingredients.
- Vegan Yogurt - I recommend thick Greek-style yogurt like Alpro, You can swap this for vegan sour cream, coconut cream, or the thick part from the top of a can of coconut milk if preferred.
- Light Brown Sugar - Soft brown sugar such as light muscovado is best for these cookies. I haven't tried it, but I reckon you could also use coconut sugar.
- White Miso - This is also known as shiro miso or sweet miso. It gives a slightly savory and almost salted caramel flavor to desserts!
- Sesame Seeds - While optional, these are a lovely addition to the tops of your cookie and will become golden and toasty in the oven, enhancing the tahini flavor.
- Chocolate - We're using both dark chocolate chips and roughly chopped dark chocolate pieces. The chunks of bittersweet chocolate melt into pools of chocolatey goodness, whereas the chocolate chips tend to stay firm and intact. This makes for an interesting and super chocolatey combination of textures.
🥣 Step-By-Step Images
Here's a visual of how to make tahini chocolate chip cookies:
Note: I recommend an electric hand mixer for these cookies as the thickness of the tahini will make it more difficult just using a whisk. You can also use a stand mixer and paddle attachment.
Step 1: To a large bowl, add the brown sugar, tahini paste, dairy-free yogurt, vanilla extract, and miso shiro. Whisk the wet ingredients until combined.
Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl (all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt). Fold using a rubber spatula until mixed about halfway.
Step 3: Add in the dark chocolate chunks and chocolate chips (reserving some for topping) and fold them into the cookie dough until evenly mixed.
Step 4: Use a cookie scoop to measure 14 cookies, then roll them into balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Stud them with more chocolate and sesame seeds before baking.
Use a large cookie cutter to scoot around the edges of the baked cookies while still warm. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool further.
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🍫 Variations
Here are some fun additions and variations in case you'd like to put your own spin on these cookies:
- Peanuts - Add a ¼ cup of roasted salted peanuts to the cookie dough for some crunch and a nutty flavor twist.
- Switch The Chocolate - You could add some vegan white chocolate or vegan milk chocolate chunks on top of the cookies in place of or in addition to dark chocolate!
- Giant Bakery-Style Cookies - Size up to a larger cookie scoop or ice cream scoop (around 2.5" is good) and bake the cookies for an additional 1-3 minutes as needed.
💡Recipe Tips
Blend your tahini. If your tahini has separated, there is a layer of oil on top, or it's a little on the thicker side, run it through your high-speed blender or food processor for a few minutes until smooth.
Use room temperature ingredients. If any of your ingredients are chilled (such as the milk and yogurt), take these out of the fridge about 30 minutes to an hour ahead. Room temp ingredients emulsify together more easily.
Roll the cookies into balls using your hands. I use a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to measure them out but because the cookie dough is quite sticky, it's better to roll them into balls as well. You might need to wash and dry your hands between batches to make them easier to shape.
Chill the dough. If you're finding it hard to scoop the cookie dough, pop it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up.
Chocolate puddles. Enjoy the cookies while they're still slightly warm for gooey puddles of melted chocolate!
Finish with fancy salt. A sprinkle of flaky salt is the perfect way to take these cookies to yet another level. Add the salt sparingly while the cookies are still warm to help it stick to them.
💬 FAQs
Once cool, transfer the cookies to an airtight container or ziplock bag. They'll stay fresh at room temperature for about 5 days. To extend their life, keep them in the freezer for up to a month and defrost for a couple of hours before serving.
Yes! First, chill the cookie dough balls on a tray lined with parchment paper for an hour to allow them to firm up. Then transfer them to an airtight container, separating each layer with parchment and freeze.
Bake as directed, tacking on an extra 2-3 minutes of baking time.
Quite honestly, it depends! I tried to make these with peanut butter but the texture was a little dry. Because all nut butter has a pretty intense flavor and differing consistencies it's not as easy as a direct swap.
I recommend trying my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies or olive oil chocolate chip cookies instead.
Absolutely! This recipe makes 14 cookies, so you could easily half the recipe and make 7. One for each day of the week 😉.
🍪 More Vegan Cookies
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (No Butter)
Ingredients
- 240 g (1 cup) runny light tahini room temperature *see note 1
- 200 g (¾ cup + 3 tablespoons) light brown sugar *see note 2
- 80 g (⅓ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt room temperature *see note 3
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk oat, soy, or almond
- 4 teaspoons white miso shiro miso/sweet miso *see note 4
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt plus extra for garnish
- 100 g (3.53 oz) bittersweet dark chocolate cut into chunks
- 100 g (½ cup) vegan chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 160°C/320°F or conventional 180°C/356°F.
- Mix wet ingredients: Add the tahini, brown sugar, yogurt, vanilla extract, milk, and miso to a large mixing bowl. Whisk with an electric hand mixer for 1-2 minutes until combined.
- Add dry ingredients: Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Fold using a rubber spatula until almost mixed through.
- Add chocolate: Add around ¾ of the chocolate chunks and chocolate chips (reserving the rest for the tops of the cookies). Continue to fold the chocolate into the dough until evenly mixed. If your dough is very sticky, refrigerate it for 15 minutes before the next step.
- Shape: Use a cookie scoop to divide out 14 cookies. I recommend rolling the into balls with your hands as this is quite a sticky dough. Wash your hands every so often to make the dough easier to handle. As you roll them, place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper., leaving around 2 inches between each cookie.
- Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top of the cookies and stud them with the remaining chocolate chunks, and chocolate chips.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes until golden, then remove them from the oven and if needed, round off the edges using a large cookie cutter. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking tray to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Storage: Once cool, transfer the cookies to an airtight container or ziplock bag. They'll stay fresh at room temperature for about 5 days. To extend their life, keep them in the freezer for up to a month and defrost for a couple of hours before serving.
Notes
- Tahini: Go for good quality runny light tahini, dark tahini is too bitter. If your tahini is separated, run it through a high-speed blender first until smooth.
- Brown Sugar: Soft brown sugar such as light muscovado is best. You can also use regular brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- Greek-Style Yogurt: Sub for vegan sour cream, coconut cream, or the thick part from the top of a can of coconut milk.
- Miso: Reduce to 2 teaspoons for a more subtle flavor, or swap for extra tahini.
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*This recipe was originally published in November 2021. The recipe has since been improved and updated to simplify the instructions and ingredients.
