It’s been almost a year since I made any kind of cookies – except my recent oat and raisin cookies (although I actually shot that recipe in early Spring) – so I had a massive hankering for some flour-fat-sugar induced magic and this is how these vegan choc chip cookies with tahini were born.
These vegan choc chip cookies with tahini are simple to make yet delightful to eat. Their crispy edges give way to a moist and decadently chewy interior. The background flavour of tahini contrasts beautifully with pools of dark chocolate on top and chunks of the very same chocolate embedded deeper in. It’s heaven! And while I know that some of you may be clutching your stomachs following your Thanksgiving feast this week, many of us haven’t started our festive period yet so I think deserve a conciliatory cookie, right?
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
GROUND FLAX: I use ground flax (in combination with soy milk) to replace an egg in this recipe, but instead of just activating the flax and adding it to the batter, I whip it with an electric whisk until thick and gooey, a bit like an egg white. It works a treat!
SOY MILK: I use protein rich soy milk (in combination with ground flax) to mimic an egg. You can use a different plan milk if you are allergic or if that’s your preference – I am pretty sure all of them will work.
VEGAN BUTTER: I used melted vegan butter as the main source of fat in this recipe. I used the vegan butter block by Violife, but any vegan butter (that comes in a block, not the one in a tub) will work well. You could try coconut oil too although I have not tried it in this particular recipes myself.
SUGAR: I used a couple of sugars in this recipe. Caster sugar, which is simply superfine white sugar as it melts quickly and doesn’t leave that grittiness behind and the same about of muscovado sugar. Muscovado sugar contributes a lot of flavour and also helps with the chewy interior of these cookies. I used light muscovado, but the dark version will work well too.
TAHINI: I added some light tahini to these cookies to give these cookies a lovely sesame background flavour. I love the combination of tahini and dark chocolate so that was a no brainer.
BAKING AGENTS: A touch of baking soda and baking powder give these cookies a gentle lift.
FLOUR: all purpose (also known as plain) flour is what I used to make these and this GF flour mix is what I recommend for the gluten-free version.
DARK CHOCOLATE: I chopped a whole bar of dark chocolate into small and a few medium-sized chunks and embedded them in the dough. They make a great addition flavour and texture-wise, plus they are appetising to look at too.
Combine ground flax and soy milk in a large size mixing bowl. Let them stand until thickened, about 15 minutes. Add both sugars.
Whip with an electric whisk until thick and foamy – see photo on the right.
Add cooled melted butter, tahini and vanilla. Stir well to combine.
Next add in flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir gently until well combined and no flour streaks remain. Finally stir in most of the chocolate.
Form same size cookies using an ice-cream scoop or a spoon and kitchen scales. Coat them in sesame seeds and stick a chunk of chocolate into each cookie. Arrange on a prepared baking tray and refrigerate overnight or freeze for one hour before baking.
- 8 g / 4 tsp ground flax (I use golden flax)
- 60 ml / ¼ cup soy milk (or other plant milk)
- 140 g / 5 oz vegan butter block (I use Violife)
- 100 g / packed ½ cup dark muscovado sugar
- 100g / ½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
- 60 g / ¼ cup light tahini
- 10 ml / 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g / 2 cups plain flour (or a good GF flour mix)
- scant ½ tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 100 g / 3.5 oz vegan chocolate
- sesame seeds, to coat
METHOD
- Combine ground flax and soy milk in a large mixing bowl, let it stand until thickened (about 15 minutes).
- Melt butter gently and let it cool a little.
- Add both sugars to the thickened flax mixture.
- Using electric whisk, whip thickened flax and both sugars for about 3 minutes – until thickened and bubbly – see process shots in the post.
- Next, pour in cooled melted butter, tahini and vanilla. Stir gently to combine.
- Fold in flour, salt and both baking agents. Stir well to combine.
- Chop chocolate into smallish cubed and add most of it to the cake batter – keep a few chunks for decoration. Stir until well distributed.
- Using an ice-cream scoop (or a spoon and scales), shape cookie batter into balls. I used a large cookie scoop (4 tbsp / ¼ cup scoop). Roll each cookie in sesame seeds and pop a chunk of chocolate on top.
- Arrange shaped cookies on paper lined baking trays leaving a lot of room around each cookie – you don’t want more than 6 cookies per tray.
- Place prepped cookies in the fridge overnight or in the freezer for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° and once ready, bake each tray for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, bang the tray against the countertop a few times, rotate the tray and return to the oven for another 7 minutes. Bang a few times again.
- Allow the cookies to set for 10 minutes, then transfer to a drying rack to cool completely.
- Store in an air-tight container away from moisture, they should keep for at least a week. You can also freeze them in an air-tight container, before or after baking.
