Vegan Tahini, Sea Salt and Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, Gluten-free option, Nut-free option, Soya-free option)

Crisp and chewy, sweet, buttery, and salty cookies, with chunky pockets of dark chocolate and a lovely nutty undertone from the tahini. Though I’m not always concerned with replicating non-vegan food, I would defy anyone to guess that they are vegan. Regardless of your dietary leanings, these are just excellent cookies.

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This is a relatively brief post this week, not because this recipe is worth fewer lines than any other, but because this has been a week of illness and puppies, neither of which is conducive to baking or writing. I have been mulling over this recipe for a while, without finding the time to actually make it, but somehow this week, which has been a combination of being off my feet and then constantly on my feet, was the week I managed to squeeze it in, and I have to say, was pretty pleased with the results.

Cookies are a firm favourite of mine; the combination of crisp edges and chewy centres, studded with delicious extras, is perennially appealing. That said, there are many bad cookies out there, that are too sweet, too cakey, crisp all the way through, or just not quite as delicious as they should be. To my mind, this cookie recipe hits all the right spots – they spread beautifully to allow for optimum crisp to chew ratio, the sea salt balances the sweetness, and the addition of tahini provides an intriguing nutty dimension. I like to replace some of the flour with ground oats, which I think really enhances the flavour and adds a little binding power. Chocolate is obviously the best added extra for any cookie and this has it in spades – you could use a vegan milk chocolate but I love the hint of bitterness in dark, and its pairing with sea salt is divine.

How To Make Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

For these cookies, it’s really useful to have an electric hand whisk or a stand mixer. You can mix by hand but it involves a little elbow grease. First whisk the tahini and vegan butter or spread (I use Naturli Vegan Block but you could use vegan spread or coconut oil) together with the sugar. You’ll need to make sure that the butter or coconut oil is soft (a few seconds in the microwave should do it). To add a little caramel dimension I use a combination of caster sugar and soft light brown sugar, or caster sugar and a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup.

Once the fat and sugar is light in colour and slightly aerated, add the vanilla essence and a few tablespoons of non-dairy milk. Whisk for minute or two until everything is incorporated.

Next, whizz the oats until they have a flour-like texture, and mix together with the flour, raising agents and salt. You could use all flour instead of the oats, but I think the oaty addition really enhances the flavour of the cookies. For a gluten-free version, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour and ensure the oats are gluten-free. I wouldn’t replace the oats with all gluten-free flour, as the oats offer some binding capacity in the absence of gluten.

Roughly chop the chocolate, then mix everything together. First, tip the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture and whisk until just combined. Then stir in the chocolate chunks until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

You can shape and bake these straight away, but they work a little better after half an hour in the fridge. Heat the oven and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper. Take small spoonful of mixture, and roll into a rough ball – about the size of a walnut. Place on the baking sheet, at least a 5 or 6 cm gap between, then bake for 12–13 minutes until turning golden brown at the edges.

Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for 5 minutes or so, to give a chance for the cookies to firm up a little, before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with a final flourish of flakey sea salt and try not to eat them all immediately.

If you give these a try, I would love to hear how you get on! You can comment below or tag me on Instagram or Twitter @greedybearbakes.

Vegan Tahini, Sea Salt and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 18–20 cookies
Time: 1hr15
Difficulty: Easy
Print

Crisp and chewy, sweet, buttery, and salty cookies, with chunky pockets of dark chocolate and a lovely nutty undertone from the addition of tahini

Vegan, Gluten-free option, Nut-free option, Soya-free option

Ingredients

100g tahini
75g vegan butter, softened (I use Naturli Vegan Block, but vegan spread or coconut oil is fine)
50g caster sugar
70g soft light brown sugar*
2 tbsp non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla
50g oats (gf if necessary)
100g plain flour (sub gluten-free flour)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¾ tsp salt
150g dark chocolate (I use 70%)
flaky sea salt for sprinkling

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, use an electric whisk or stand mixer to whisk together 100g tahini, 75g vegan butter, 50g caster sugar and 70g soft light brown sugar. After 3–4 minutes, when the mixture is light in colour, add 2 tbsp non-dairy milk and 1 tsp vanilla essence. Whisk for another minute or two then set aside.
In a food processor or high-speed blender, grind 50g oats to a fine flour-like texture. Transfer to a separate mixing bowl, and sieve in 100g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda, and ¾ tsp fine salt. Mix until incorporated.
Roughly chop 150g dark chocolate into chunks. Tip the flour mixture into the butter mixture and whisk until everything is just combined and you have a soft dough. Stir in the chocolate chunks and place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes (you can skip this step if you’re in a rush).
Pre-heat the oven to 175C fan and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. After 30 mins, remove the cookie dough from the fridge and scoop out small blobs of dough, and form into a rough ball, about the size of a walnut. Place on the baking sheets with at least 5–6 cm between each. Bake for 12–13 minutes until the cookies are golden brown at the edges. For crispier cookies leave in the oven for another minute.
Cool the cookies on the tray for 5–10 minutes so they firm up a little before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle with a little flakey sea salt and enjoy.

Notes

*If you don’t have any soft light brown sugar you can use 100g caster sugar and 2 tbsp of maple syrup, so you still get a little more depth of flavour.