Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12 to 18 cookies
Ingredients: 8 tablespoons/113 grams unsalted butter at room temperature; 1/2 cup/120 milliliters tahini, well stirred; 1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1 egg yolk; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/150 grams all-purpose flour, or matzo cake meal (See tip); 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 3/4 cups/230 grams chocolate chips or chunks, bittersweet or semisweet; Flaky salt, like fleur de sel or Maldon

Recipe from Danielle Oron

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Updated Aug. 5, 2024

Salted Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies — Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.

Total Time: 45 minutes, plus 12 hours' refrigeration
Rating: 5(6,348)
Comments: Read comments

When the chef Danielle Oron was growing up in the New Jersey suburbs, she knew that her Israeli family’s habits of dousing vanilla ice cream with tahini and spreading halvah on toast would be considered odd. Sesame has long been shunned in American desserts, but its addition to a confection can add a nutty, salty undertone, and sesame desserts are now popping up all over the place. These chocolate chip cookies, developed by Ms. Oron, are a great place to start for the home baker seeking more sesame. Rich, savory and sweet, they are one of the rare variations that are just as good as the original. —Julia Moskin

Featured in: Sesame Extends Its Sweet Reach Beyond the Middle East

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Ingredients

Yield:12 to 18 cookies

8tablespoons/113 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
½cup/120 milliliters tahini, well stirred
1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
1large egg
1egg yolk
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1cup plus 2 tablespoons/150 grams all-purpose flour, or matzo cake meal (See tip)
½teaspoon baking soda
½teaspoon baking powder
1teaspoon kosher salt
1¾cups/230 grams chocolate chips or chunks, bittersweet or semisweet
Flaky salt, like fleur de sel or Maldon

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

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Step 1
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, tahini and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla and continue mixing at medium speed for another 5 minutes.
Step 2
Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt into a large bowl and mix with a fork. Add flour mixture to butter mixture at low speed until just combined. Use a rubber spatula to fold in chocolate chips. Dough will be soft, not stiff. Refrigerate at least 12 hours; this ensures tender cookies.
Step 3
When ready to bake, heat oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat. Use a large ice cream scoop or spoon to form dough into 12 to 18 balls.
Step 4
Place the cookies on the baking sheet at least 3 inches apart to allow them to spread. Bake 13 to 16 minutes until just golden brown around the edges but still pale in the middle to make thick, soft cookies. As cookies come out of the oven, sprinkle sparsely with salt. Let cool at least 20 minutes on a rack.

Tip

To make this recipe kosher for Passover, substitute matzo cake meal for the all-purpose flour.

Ratings

5 out of 5

6,348 user ratings

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Comments

Shaila M7 years ago

Second time w/the following tweaks. Turned out much better:
+ Upped tahini to 3/4 cup (same browned butter)
+ Used 2 whole eggs
+ Used whole bag of Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (srsly, NY Times, why skimp on chocolate in these dire days?)
+ Used small cookie scoop and got 3 dozen out of batch
+ Pressed dough scoops flat and sprinkled unbaked tops with mix of black sesame seeds and fleur de sel
+ Baked at 350 convection for 15 mins

Not quite chewy but crisp and rich - more of a halva flavor

Roni Jordan7 years ago

The best part of this recipe is not adjusting the ingredients.

Roni Jordan7 years ago

These are like chocolate halvah cookies - simply scrumptious. I used Roland Sesame Tahini and TJ's 70% bittersweet chocolate broken into small chunks. Used a 2 tbsp measuring spoon to portion out 17 cookies. Baked for 16 minutes and allowed to cool about an hour before partaking. Important to allow them room to spread. 12 fit nicely on a cookie sheet, and then baked 2nd batch of 5. Sprinkled a bit of kosher salt over all. A real winner - could be my favorite cookie ever.

Sheyla C3 days ago

We made a little twist and instead of regular flour we used almond flour, and the result was amazingly good. Depending of your oven the baking time may need to be adjusted.

Auralee3 days ago

These were the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. The chewy texture, the unexpected nutty, but not peanut butter nutty, flavor. The sprinkle of salt was perfect. I could not stop eating them. I used Ghiardelli semisweet chips and they stay gooey after the cookies cool. I was thinking about them after going to bed the other night, feeling wistful and sad that they were all gone! There is an upside to being a household of only two people when you make a batch of cookies like this!

Jessica B1 week ago

I have made these several times, and we love them! This last time was the best - I was making a double batch and I ran out of tahini, so I substituted with some mixed nut butter. This provided slightly more subdued sesame flavor. I also used chocolate chunks instead of chips, and I found the chocolate did not stick to the parchment paper this way!

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