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Healthier, but oh so delicious, Salted Tahini Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. These are some of the best cookies…rich and decadent, but slightly healthier too. Made with almond flour and honey and lightly sweetened for a cookie that’s just a touch healthier. Every bite is slightly crisp on the edges, but soft and chewy in the center. So DELICIOUS. Absolutely nothing not to love about these salty, sweet tahini cookies. Bonus? These cookies are easy to make, use simple ingredients, and are gluten-free too.
Cookies to end the first full week of 2021! As I said on Tuesday, I’m a firm believer that January still needs chocolate. And to be very honest, with a world like the one we live in today, we ALL need a dam cookie. We do!
So, here we are. Cookies on Friday. But these cookies are extra special.
Yes, they’re DELICIOUS. And I really mean delicious, but what’s even better? They’re made on the healthier side with very little added sugars and a mix of almond and coconut flour to create a cookie that’s soft, chewy, and like none you’ve ever had before.
And the tahini? That’s the special ingredient that MAKES these cookies. It’s not that you really even know it’s there. But it adds a richness, butteriness, and nuttiness that’s truly something special. I sound like a cheese ball, I know, but my words ring true.
The quick story
Here’s the deal, I am not a health food recipe developer. And I don’t usually seek out to create desserts that would be considered healthy. BUT, with “healthier” really being my focus this month, I wanted to share a cookie that still tastes delicious. So I decided on a sweet chocolate chip cookie, but if possible, one that would be a healthier option. And maybe even gluten-free. Though I will say that a gluten-free cookie wasn’t a must, since I know how tricky that can be.
With all that in mind, I wanted to create a tahini cookie for two reasons. One, I’ve never shared a cookie baked up with tahini inside. Two, I have a recipe I’m working on for a project that also uses tahini. And oh my gosh, it is a dang good recipe.
And that’s how this cookie came to be. But the even cooler thing? I tested out three versions of this cookie, one with added sugar, another with all-purpose flour, and another with a lower amount of sugar and almond flour. And you know which cookie ended up winning everyone over?
The healthiest, low-sugar, and gluten-free cookie. Trust me I was shocked, but these cookies speak for themselves with the very first bite. As I like to say, they’re roll your eyes back GOOD.
The process for baking up the perfect tahini cookie…
Honestly, these cookies are almost too good to be true. They’re healthy AND they’re the easiest to make.
First up, I like to use quality butter in my cookies. I think the butter, along with the tahini and honey, are the elements that really make these cookies GOOD! I use a lightly salted stick of organic European style butter and it makes all the difference.
You’ll cream the butter with the smallest amount of brown sugar and honey to sweeten these cookies. Next, add the tahini. For anyone who is unfamiliar, tahini is simply ground sesame seeds. I know that using tahini to bake with might sound weird, but it’s actually so delicious when baked up in a sweet way. It’s used in a lot of Middle Eastern food, in both savory and sweet recipes.
Now add in a mix of almond flour and coconut flour. The mix of the two flours creates the perfect crispy edge, but soft in the center cookie. However, if you only have almond flour on hand, that can be used to replace the coconut flour in a pinch.
I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill Almond and Coconut flour. You can find both in most major grocery stores, Whole Foods, and I believe Trader Joe’s as well.
Now stir in lots of chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks) and bake away. No chilling required! Simple. Simple.
A couple of notes:
As with a lot of my cookie recipes, this one requires tapping that baking sheet on the counter midway through baking, then continue finish baking. When the cookies have completely finished baking, remove them from the oven, and tap the baking sheet once more. You guys, this step is KEY. It will ensure you have the least cakey tahini cookie. Instead, you’ll get a cookie with crisp edges and a soft, chewy center. Tapping the baking pan on the counter deflates the center of the cookie, pushing the edges out.
I pretty much do this whenever I bake any cookies…because it works.
For the flours, I know some of you love to bake with almond flour, and I know some of you love to bake with good ole’ all-purpose flour. These cookies are actually best with a mix of almond and coconut flour. But if you only bake with all-purpose flour, that will work just fine too. You’ll get a slightly thicker, sturdier cookie and it will be delicious. So use what you love/have on hand.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re easy to make, require no chilling, and take less than thirty minutes. And yes, they are even pretty healthy too!
But my favorite part? These are just perfectly crisp on the edges, but soft and oh so chewy in the center. The best kind of cookie and they’ll stay that way over time too! These don’t get hard once cooled.
My best advice? Bake these tonight…because everyone has thirty minutes to bake up cookies. Then eat a few warm, and welcome in the weekend…couldn’t think of a better way to really welcome in the New Year!
Looking for other healthier dessert recipes? Here are my favorites:
5 Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Healthy…ish Homemade Samoas Cookies
Lastly, if you make these, Salted Tahini Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Salted Tahini Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 106 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup dark or light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour (see note for alternative)
- 1/3 cup coconut flour (or additional almond flour)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, or chunks
- flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar, honey, and tahini until combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla, beating until creamy. Add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, cinnamon (if using), and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips/chunks. 3. Scoop the dough out into rounded 1 tablespoon size balls, the dough will be a little wet. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. 4. Bake 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and tap the baking sheet on the counter 2 times to flatten them down. The cookies will have brown edges at this point, that is OK. Return to the oven and bake another 2-3 minutes, the cookies will be browning, but still doughy in the center. Remove from the oven and gently tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten them down again. 5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They're going to look weird, but as they cool, they'll set nicely. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with flaky salt. Eat warm (highly recommended) or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
Alternate flour: if you prefer, you can bake these cookies using a total of 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour. The cookies will come out a little thicker, but be just as delicious!
Honey Replacement: you can use an equal amount of brown sugar or granulated sugar in place of the honey.
Freezing: the cookie dough balls can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw, then bake as directed.
I love all HBH recipes but I followed this recipe to a T and they turned out horribly ;(
Hi Ally,
So sorry to hear this, please let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
These were amazing! Turned out just like the pictures and tased do good! Question… can I freeze them?
Hey Jessica,
Fantastic! Thank you so much for making this recipe, I am so glad to hear it was enjoyed! Yes, you can freeze. Happy Holidays!? xx
Hi, I make these in double and triple batches, at one point some ended in the freezer. Don’t worry about defrosting they are really good frozen with tea.
Hey Karl,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it. Have the best week! xTieghan
This was my first time making gluten free cookies. My mom makes cookies for her church friends every Christmas and a couple of them are gluten free so we tried this recipe. I thought these turned out very good for gluten free cookies! I think I prefer a traditional cookie myself but delicious for anyone gluten free.
We ended up adding 1/2 cup more flour than the recipe called for because the dough was pretty wet and we baked just 3 cookies as a test and they turned out paper thin and broke apart. Still delicious flavor though and the extra flour made them perfect!
Forgot to mention that I used all almond flour and no coconut flour!
Thanks again Christina!
Hey Christina,
Wonderful! Love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it! Have the best week:) xTieghan
These were so good and easy to put together. The tahini adds such a nice flavor! I did end up using all purpose flour so they were not flat like the photos but still really great and held up well.
Hey Lauren,
Awesome!! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thank you so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
These were so good and easy to put together. The tahini adds such a nice flavor!
Hey Lauren,
Awesome!! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thank you so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
These cookies are delicious!!! I’ve been wanting to make these for a while now and finally tried them…they taste amazing but are super thin and are extremely hard to pick up they just fall apart. They are much thinner than your pictures and my dough was much more watery than your pictures….not sure what I did wrong?
Hey Erin,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Was there anything you adjusted in the recipe? Have a great week:) xTieghan
Absolutely amazing! Made these with my mom who is gluten-free and we are all obsessed! Will be making again 🙂
Hey Madison,
Fantastic!! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it! xTieghan
Made these and they are incredible! I’ve never had tahini before but I am now a believer! Taste even better than most normal chocolate chip cookie recipes. The sea salt on top makes them that much better too!
Hey Katie,
Happy Sunday! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for giving it a try! xTieghan
I just wanna say that these were BOMB. I followed the recipe exactly and it came out delicious and amazing. So much depth of flavors. Only thing was that I measured out exactly 1 tbsp of dough and got like 43 cookies instead of 24 cookies. Doesn’t matter though cause more for me!
Hey Deja,
I really appreciate you giving this recipe a try, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
Since going low-carb, I’ve made this recipe several times. Such a great gluten-free cookie recipe! I don’t know why the ratings are so low – literally every time I’ve made them they turn out great. Most recently I swapped butter for coconut oil and brown sugar for coconut sugar and I actually like them better than the original! It makes the dough stick together better and for some reason is more reminiscent of a “real” cookie. Love these!
Hey Sophie,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I am so glad that it was enjoyed!! Have a great Tuesday. xxTieghan
Hi! I made these for my anniversary dinner with my boo, and I agree – my first batch came out undercooked following the timing and waiting a good 4-5 mins of cooling. So the 2nd batch, i baked for 6 mins, smacked the baking sheet, and left the cookies in for 5 more minutes, smacked the baking sheet a final time and the edges finally got brown (they didn’t the first time).
So i might recommend adjusting the timing but these cookies are the bomb! Thanks for all of your recipes, I live by so many of them! 🙂
Hey Natalie,
Fantastic! Thanks a bunch for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! xTieghan
Any recommendations on how to account for high elevation?
The 8 minute total cook time wasn’t quite long enough.
Hey there,
You should be able to follow the recipe as is with no adjustments needed. Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Did you allow them to fully cool on the baking sheet, because they will continue to finish cooking while doing this. Please let me know how I can help! xTieghan
Hey there! Love everything you do so much. ♥️ I tried making these tonight but mixed them by hand with a whisk instead of our mixer just to see how it would go, and I ended up with cookie soup. I’m wondering if the mixer helps that egg form peaks and hold things together a little better? Would love to know any thoughts/advice you have on this!
Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Heidi,
Hmmm that’s interesting, was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? I do recommend using a mixer if you have one! xTieghan
Best cookie recipe!
Hey Karen,
Happy Monday! I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for making it! xTieghan
Do you have a favorite brand of tahini? I’d never had it before but bought some just for this recipe and it was pretty runny, not sure if that’s normal? They taste amazing but I think the batter was too wet since they spread so much and were super thin.
Thanks!!
Hey Allison,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! I like to get my tahini from Whole Foods or Thrive Market. Here’s the link for something you want to use:
http://l.thrv.me/HBH472-artisana-organics-raw-tahini-sesa
I hope this helps for next time! xTieghan