Tahini Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since becoming dairy-free in 2017 it’s been such a challenge to find or develop dairy-free desserts that taste like the real deal. A few months ago, one of my followers suggested tahini as a substitute for butter. I’d made Double Chocolate Tahini Cookies, but I thought it would be difficult to incorporate the ground sesame into regular cookies. Well, after seeing tahini explode onto the dessert scene in the recent months, I finally decided to add tahini to my Dairy-Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe. I started with that recipe as my base and played around until I came up with these perfect chocolate chip cookies. I’m telling you, these cookies are big, chewy, and just the right amount of sweet. I love these cookies.

If you’re wondering if the tahini taste is noticeable, you’ll have to see for yourself! My mom, who didn’t know what tahini was (nor did I until earlier this year), thought these were regular chocolate chip cookies! I used half spelt flour to amp up the cookies’ nuttiness, but this recipe will totally work with just all-purpose flour, too! Aside from the flour, I don’t recommend any substitutes for this recipe as cookies can be quite finicky. The dough will be very sticky, which is why I suggest letting it sit out at room temp for about 30 minutes; it will be much more manageable and less sticky after sitting for a bit. Anyway, I hope you love these cookies as much as I do! Happy baking!

Tahini Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes ~11 cookies

1/2 cup tahini
1 cup coconut sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup spelt flour*
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

1.) Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2.) In a large bowl, stir together the tahini and coconut sugar with a large spoon. Stir in the egg and egg yolk, the vanilla extract, and water, making sure the ingredients are totally combined and the egg is well mixed in; set aside.

3.) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until almost combined (your dough will be thick and sticky). Add the chocolate chips and stir until totally combined. For easier handling, allow your dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (this makes the dough much less sticky and easier to roll).

4.) Roll the dough into balls 2 Tbsp in size, making sure there is chocolate exposed at the top of each dough ball (I don’t recommend using a cookie scoop since the dough is so thick). Place 6 dough balls on your parchment-lined baking sheet, and, if needed, press extra chocolate chips into the tops of your cookies. Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes. Your cookies will look puffy, but as they rest, they will settle.

5.) Allow your cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool. Enjoy your cookies warm or cooled!

*I’ve made these cookies with just all-purpose flour, too. They still came out perfect. The dough seemed a bit more sticky, so keep that in mind.