If you’re a fan of tahini, you will LOVE these chewy vegan tahini cookies. I knew from the first bite that this recipe was a winner, but I couldn’t decide which version of these cookies I liked best: classic, coated in sesame seeds, or with chocolate chunks. So I figured why not share all three?
Option 1 – Classic Chewy Tahini Cookies
Made with just 6 simple ingredients: tahini, brown sugar, vanilla, flour, baking soda and salt. They’re chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, and caramelized. What more could you want in a cookie?
Option 2 – Coated in Sesame Seeds
Since tahini is just sesame seed butter, I figured I’d take it one step further and coat the cookies in more sesame. The result? AMAZING. They taste like sesame snaps in cookie form.
Option 3 – With Dark Chocolate Chunks
Simply because chocolate makes everything better! You may already know from my Salted Dark Chocolate Tahini Caramels that I love tahini combined with dark chocolate. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend you give it a go!
Can’t decide which option to go with? Try all three! Whenever I bake these, I leave some plain, roll a few in sesame seeds, and then chop up a bit of my favourite dark chocolate block to add to the rest!
Chewy Tahini Cookies – 3 Ways!
These vegan tahini cookies are made with just 6 simple ingredients. They’re chewy, melt-in-your-mouth, and caramelized. Try them plain, rolled in sesame seeds, or with dark chocolate chunks!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup room temperature tahini* (see notes)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup flour (white or whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1-1.5 Tbsp water
- sesame seeds (optional)
- dark chocolate (optional)
Method
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Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Line two baking sheets with parchement paper.
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To a medium sized mixing bowl, add tahini, packed brown sugar and vanilla. Cream together until smooth.
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Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir everything together until the dough is uniform but very crumbly. Add 1 tablespoon of water and mix well. If the dough is still too crumbly to roll into balls, add 1/2 tablespoon of water and mix again. (Optional: fold in dark chocolate into the dough).
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Scoop the dough using a 1/2 tablespoon and gently roll into balls approximately 2 centimeters in diameter. Place the cookies dough balls onto the two lined baking sheets, making sure to leave plenty of space around each cookie as they spread quite a lot while baking. You do not need to flatten or shape them. (Optional: roll the cookie dough balls in sesame seeds before placing onto the baking tray).
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Bake for 7-9 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden. It is okay if they look underdone in the middle. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to set on the baking trays for at least 5 minutes before very gently transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- * For best results, make sure the tahini you’re using is creamy, runny and pourable. Certain brands of tahini, or tahini left at the bottom of a jar, can be dry and lacking the fats/oils needed to help these cookies spread.
- Nutritional information is approximate, and does not include the optional sesame seeds and dark chocolate.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Comment, share it with your friends, and don’t forget to snap a picture for Instagram and tag #plantifuleating so I can see your creations!
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I’ve never tried tahini cookies before so I was a little apprehensive to make these but it adds a lovely chewy texture. Will defo be making again!
So happy to hear that Oliver 🙂 I completely understand why you would be skeptical of adding tahini to cookies, but glad you gave it a try. Enjoy!
I want to attempt to make this gluten free with an all purpose gf flour!!
Let me know how you go!
I have made this recipe twice and the first time they stayed in balls and never flattened! The 2nd time, I got a brand new jar of organic tahini and added the full 1.5 tbsp of water and they still didn’t spread!!! They taste amazing, I just want them to spread like yours! Send help!!! I’m ready to try a third time!!
Oh no, sorry to hear these aren’t spreading for you Gabrielle, but I’m glad you’re loving the taste! I make these cookies regularly and have never experienced this issue, but my guess is it has to do with the consistency of the tahini you’re using. If it’s not pourable it probably doesn’t have enough fat/oil in it to help these spread. You could try mixing a neutral oil in with your tahini until it’s smooth and runny and then follow the recipe as usual. Let me know how it goes!
Thanks for responding! So I realized I was using all purpose flour and not pastry flour!! (Which I don’t have) So, I copied your recipe exactly again, except I subbed the pastry flour for 2 tbsp of gluten free all purpose flour and it worked!! They flattened like yours and they’re just as yummy as the first two times! Thank you so much for your recipe, it’s a keeper!
I made these tonight, we are new to an extremely restrictive diet for my hubby. No dairy, grain, soy, eggs, fish, nuts, rice, corn, potato, chickpeas, avocado and a couple random fruit that are triggers. This throws out grain flours, nut milks, nut flours, etc! This was almost perfect for him, I subbed the flour with cavassa flour and they were delicious! They definitely did not flatten but still so so good! His first treat in over a month, thank you, thank you!
So glad that these cookies were suitable for your husband’s dietary restrictions and that you’re enjoying them!
I just can’t get mine to flatten! I have tried using spelt flour, rice flour, I’ve tried changing the sugar to coconut, caster etc. I’ve tried baking it at a slightly higher temperature. I’ve used three different types of tahini, all of which are runny. They are always tasty, but not the right consistency to turn out flat. I saw that someone said they uswd gluten-free flour, which I haven’t tried yet, but they also said they used 2 Tbs?!? Might try using less flour? Any other suggestions?
I admire your dedication to these cookies Jo! I would suggest sticking with all-purpose flour and brown sugar. You could try reducing the flour to 1/4 cup, and increasing the water to 2 Tbsp. Although I haven’t tested this out myself with gluten-free flour, 2 Tbsp seemed to work for another reader, so it’s worth a shot! Please let us know what ends up working for you if you give these another try!
Sooooooo yummy, thanks for the unique and super easy recipe!
Do you put your tahini in the fridge? The recipe worked for me before I put it in the fridge (it was brand new when I used it). Now that its been in the fridge the cookies won’t spread. I am wondering if I need to leave the tahini out of the fridge to be room temp to work..
I keep my tahini at room temperature, so maybe that’s the trick to getting them to spread like mine! Hope they work out for you again next time!