Crisp autumn air means the start of baking season for me, although I can rationalize a quick baking project on even the warmest summer days.
In our house cookies reign. I saw this recipe in a recent newsletter feed and it got me thinking about adding tahini to our “house cookie”. Our standard is a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie that’s evolved over the years to suit our tastes. It seemed an easy twist to substitute half of the butter for tahini, but a few additional tweaks were needed to get the chewy texture just right.
Adding tahini to chocolate chip cookies has been a fairly recent “thing” in the baking press. It makes perfect sense as sesame seeds are a fixture in many Mediterranean and Asian desserts.
A childhood favorite of mine was sesame candy. These individually wrapped candies were a small bite of brittle-like heaven. The inner wrapper was edible rice paper, which dissolved immediately in my mouth. I think its purpose was to keep the candy from sticking to the wrapper, and it also kept my fingers clean after indulging them!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies
Makes about 50 2-inch cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1-1/ 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/ 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/ 2 teaspoon salt
- 1/ 2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/ 2 cup tahini
- 3/ 4 cup brown sugar
- 1/ 2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, large
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups rolled oats, “old fashioned”, not quick cooking
- 1/ 2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 cups, 12 ounces, coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips
- Salt flakes, such as Maldon flakes for sprinkling on top
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and tahini until light and fluffy; about 1 – 2 minutes. Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat to a light and fluffy consistency, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated into the mixture. Add in the vanilla.
Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. You can use the mixer on its lowest speed or fold it in by hand. Mix only until blended. Add the shredded coconut and oatmeal and mix in by hand until well combined. Add the chocolate chunks/chips and mix again.
Cover the cookie dough and let rest overnight in the refrigerator. Chilling the dough solidifies the butter, minimizing how much the cookies will spread during baking. The chilling time is not essential, so you could bake the cookies immediately, but the result will be less than optimal.
When ready to bake, position an oven rack to the mid-oven position. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a cookie baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and scoop to form rounds of about 1-1/2 inches. The scoop I use is size 40, which holds slightly less than 2 tablespoons. Place them on the lined cookie sheet, evenly spaced about 2 – 3 inches apart. Remember, these cookies do not spread much because of the cold dough.
Bake for about 18 – 20 minutes. Watch them toward the end of the baking time to remove them once they are nicely golden brown. Remove from the oven and add a slight sprinkle to these cookies immediately after you remove them from the oven. Let rest on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to complete cooling.
Bake one pan of cookies at a time if possible. If you must bake more than one at a time, be sure to divide the oven into thirds with the oven racks and rotate the pans toward the middle of the baking time; switching the pans top to bottom and also rotating front to back for even cooking.
These cookies will keep several days in an airtight container. One benefit of chilling the dough is you can also just bake a sheet at a time as needed for fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies as desired. The refrigerated dough will keep in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to one week. It also freezes well for up to 3 months, wrapped tightly. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before baking.
