Tahini & Chocolate Chip Cookies [vegan]

As-Salaamu Alaykum

These cookies are the best 'vegan' recipe I’ve ever tried, you do not miss the butter or eggs at all.

Made using Tahini; a paste made from ground hulled sesame seeds and popularly used in middle eastern dishes such as hummus, tahini has 10 main health benefits:

1.       It’s rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron. 

2.       It's a good source of Methionine, which aids in liver detoxification.

3.       It’s one of the best sources of calcium out there. 

4.       It’s high in vitamin E and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15. 

5.       Helps to promote healthy cell growth. 

6.       Prevent anemia. 

7.       Helps to maintain healthy skin and muscle tone. 

8.       It has 20% complete protein, making it a higher protein source than most nuts. 

9.       It's easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content, which is great for assisting in weight loss. 

10.   It is high in unsaturated fat (good fat!)

Source http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6997/10-Reasons-to-Eat-Tahini.html

Tahini is an acquired taste but throw in sugar and you can pretty much get everyone loving it, hence why Turkish halwa/halva is so popular but wow throw in chocolate chips and you have something your taste buds won’t be able to resist hence, I advise you make a double batch and share them with your friends/family immediately.

To give these cookies a true taste of north Africa I added a tablespoon of orange blossom water which worked well with the bitter dark chocolate and offset the sweet caramel taste from the unrefined brown sugar but if you want to sure you can leave it out, you can use some vanilla as per the original recipe or even rose water would still work but just remember with flavoured waters a little goes a long way by no means do you have to use a tablespoon it’s all down to personal preference and as most flavourings out there they are of different strengths so experiment.

You will adore these soft, dense and satisfyingly chewy cookies, they can even be slightly crisp on the edges if you bake them long enough.

I don’t know about you but I prefer cookies just a tad under baked (cookie= scant 1/4 cup bake 8-9 minutes) and with no egg in the recipe no worries of giving anyone food poisoning, big +

As I bake to please all my family, husband gets his with golden edges (cookie = scant 1/4 cup bake 10 minutes)

 I even made slightly smaller ones for the kids ( cookie = 2 tbsp bake 7-8minutes) not that they are happier having smaller ones...

I used 53% dark chocolate chips  in my cookies which I purchased from Chocolate Trading Company, it’s a great site for everyone with lots of details and ingredients list you are bound to find a chocolate or 2 to suit you. Of course, being Muslim I advise you choose those containing no alcohol.

What is your favourite type of cookie/biscuit?

Tahini & Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted slightly from here

Makes around 12-18 (depending on size, see below)

1cup =250ml (British Standard)

 Ingredients

¼  cup caster sugar

¾ cup unrefined light brown sugar (I used muscovado), packed.

⅔ cup tahini (stir well before measuring)

¼ cup vegan margarine 

¼ cup made up of 1/2 tablespoon orange blossom water and  1/2 water.

1½ cup plain flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 375F/190C/170C Fan





Line a cookie sheet with foil.





In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugars, tahini, margarine.





Beat in water and any flavourings you wish to add.





In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.





Add dry mixture to wet; beat to combine. Dough will be stiff but not dry.





Fold in chocolate chips.





Using an ice cream scoop (about a scant ¼ cup), place 6 balls of dough on a cookie sheet or using 2 tablespoons  of dough per cookie, place 8-10 balls of dough on a cookie sheet.





Flatten balls to desired cookie thickness, mine were about 1/4-1/2cm thick.





Bake between 7-10 minutes (see post for more details)





Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.





Store in sealed container or cookie jar. Best eaten within 3days.

*Disclosure: I wasn't asked or paid to advertise any company in this post, all opinions are my own.

Please note, after a friend tried this recipe using butter (instead of margarine) she found the cookies to be too dry. this might be due to a number of things i.e. the tahini being too thick, measuring inaccurately etc, therefore if you want to make this recipe non vegan please by all means go ahead use butter but if you find the mixture too dry you can add/beat in 1 egg or add more water to get the consistency right.