Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies (Paleo, Keto, Vegan Option)

Recipe by Brenna May @culturedbite

It would be modest to say I have a tahini addiction. It is probably on par with my love of chocolate and coffee. Or coffee and chocolate. No matter. I have been looking to make my very own tahini cookie for ages now… and this is an evolution of my tahini freezer bites. An evolution because they are much more of a cookie. Chewy, subtly sweet and chocolatey.

I love how they have hints of the middle east in their flavor, which can be enhanced by adding cardamom, or by taking out the and chocolate chips and adding dried cranberries or chopped dates in their place.

You can make these vegan by making a flax egg (1 Tbsp flax meal + 3 Tbsp water) Be sure to mix it and pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes or you will have a pile of crumbles. Replace the collagen with a quarter the amount of Maca, Pea Protein or a blend of the two. I would not recommend a chia meal egg because it messes with the color and flavor too much, but I have not tried a whole chia egg.

EDIT* I now use a konjac egg for the vegan option.  It is flavorless and bakes just as well.  (1/2 tsp glucomannan/konjac powder in 1/4 cup water)

One of my kids had a clear preference for the pea protein version while the other two favor the Maca. I use a blend of Red and Black Maca but yellow will work here as well. Maca lends a lovely malted flavor to the cookie and we often sub out the collagen in favor of it. My children are unabashedly disapproving of tahini except in hummus but they don’t really notice in the maca version.

I tried these out on a hoard of “normal children” who are accustomed to eating store bought cookies and they gobbled them up and verbalized their approval so we will just consider that a win.

I use a medium melon baller out of the Jenaluca set to get them perfect but you can roll them out as well if you chill them first.  

Tahini chocolate chip cookies

Mini Batch: makes 4-6 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 scoops collagen peptides /4Tbsp (sub with 1 Tbsp Maca or pea protein)
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp pink salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• A pinch to 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp pure monk extract powder (slightly heaping)
• 12 drops liquid stevia drops or 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia powder (optional, but leave in for vegan version)
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda

Standard Batch: makes 12-24 cookies

• 3/4 cup mixed tahini
• 3 humane free range hen eggs
• 1 level teaspoon monkfruit powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pink salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or paste
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup (6 scoops) collagen peptides powder
• 1/2 cup Lily’s dark chocolate chips

Method:

1. Mix tahini and egg/flax egg with monkfruit and stevia
2. Add baking soda, pink salt, vanilla and mix
3. Add collagen or maca/pea protien and mix
4. Add coconut flour and mix.
5. Fold in Lily’s chocolate chips or fresh cranberries
6. Form into balls and flatten
7. Bake in preheated oven at 325°F for 10 min

*If using a food processor just add all ingredients except for the coconut flour and chocolate chips and blend until smooth, then blend in the coconut flour and fold in the chips.

Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Keto, Paleo, Egg-Free, Vegan Option)

Brenna May

A soft & chewy keto chocolate chip tahini cookie recipe. I have been developing this recipe for a couple years now and I love it. It is not for the uber sweet tooth folks. When you have been no sugar for years your taste buds change. These are a clean cookie with no gut disrupting sweeteners, no eggs (but you can sub them in just fine), no nuts and no flour. I use collagen for flour and it yields a chewy texture and allows the tahini to shine, but for the vegan option I have found that straight maca powder bakes into a lovely malt flavor. I will sometimes do a blend of sacha inchi, maca and pea protein as I've found everyone's preferences are different. Depending on the size of scoop you use it will yield 12-16 cookies.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine egg free, keto, nut free, paleo, Vegan

Servings 12 cookies

Equipment

• Medium Sized Bowl
• Whisk
• Spoon
• Oven or toaster oven

Ingredients

  

Keto Version

• 3/4 cup tahini
• 3/4 cup collagen peptides Vital Proteins
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 1.5 tsp konjac powder (in 1 cup water = 3 konjac eggs)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp pink salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
• 1 tsp pure monk extract powder
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup keto/paleo chocolate chips I use Pasha 100% cacao chips or Lily's dark chocolate chips depending on who is eating them.

Vegan Version

• 3/4 cup tahini
• 3 tbsp maca powder (or blend of sacha inchi, pea protein & maca)
• 1/3 cup coconut flour
• 3 konjac eggs (1.5 tsp konjac powder in 1 cup water | 1/2 tsp in 1/3 cup water = 1 egg)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp pink salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp ceylon cinnamon
• 1 tsp pure monkfruit extract powder
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup keto or paleo chocolate chips I use Pasha 100% cacao chips or Lily's dark chocolate chips depending on who is eating them.

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325°F
• In a medium bowl, pour 1 cup water, sprinkle the konjac root powder and whisk. let sit for 2 minutes to thicken.
• Add tahini and whisk together with the konjac eggs.
• Add monkfruit, baking soda, pink salt, vanilla, cinnamon and stevia (if using) and whisk until creamy.
• Add coconut flour and either collagen peptides OR maca powder/maca blend and fold together with a spoon.
• Add paleo/keto chocolate chips or organic raisins/cranberries/dates of choice.
• Use cookie scoops or an ice cream scoop with a bit of coconut oil to form balls on the cookie sheet, and then with coconut oiled hands press them down a bit with your palms to flatten them. They do not flatten on their own.
• Bake at 325°F for 10-13 minutes. 10 min for the bite sized cookie scoops and 12-13 for the medium scoops. If you make bigger cookies you may need to bake them for longer, depending on your oven.

Notes

Now, some people can handle the flavor of stevia and some cannot.  I find it makes little difference in the sweetness when baking but on occasion (such as when serving these to children) I will add a couple tiny scoops of the vegan concentrated stevia powder from Trader Joe's.  But know your audience.  My husband and another friend seem to be able to taste it from a mile off and my own personal preference is to leave it to the monkfruit powder to work it's magic.  And the monk is a concentrated powder rather than something like Lakanto which has erythritol in it.

Keyword chocolate chip cookies, cookies, keto, paleo, tahini, vegan