Paleo Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies Recipe – Chewy Gluten Free Dessert

Damn Good Paleo Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies

Say hello to paleo chocolate chunk tahini cookies, a gluten free, dairy free, and grain free dessert that mixes up in one bowl and bakes into crisp edges, chewy centers, and puddles of dark chocolate. Monique Volz of Ambitious Kitchen created this recipe, and it joins her other tahini favorites: tahini brownies, tahini blondies, and salted tahini caramel millionaire bars.

Tahini is the quiet star of the batch. It brings a toasty sesame flavor and enough fat to keep the cookies tender, and it does the job that nut butter usually does without taking over.

Coconut sugar keeps the sweetness unrefined, while chopped dark chocolate melts into pools instead of holding a chip shape, which is exactly why the finished cookies look so good.

Recipe at a glance: prep time 10 minutes, cook time 10 minutes, total time 20 minutes, and the batch makes 10 to 12 cookies, listed as 12 servings of one cookie each.

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Here is how the dough comes together:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix the egg, coconut sugar, tahini, melted and cooled coconut oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
3. Add the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until a cookie dough consistency forms, then fold in the chocolate chunks.
4. Grab about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on the baking sheet and flatten the top slightly with the palm of your hand.
5. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are just slightly golden. Slightly underbaking keeps the centers gooey. Sprinkle immediately with Maldon salt, then cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing.

Pull the cookies when the edges are barely golden. That is the cue for a chewy center.

Source nutrition, per cookie: 202 calories, 16.7 grams of carbohydrates, 4.4 grams of protein, 14.7 grams of fat, 5.2 grams of saturated fat, 3.5 grams of fiber, and 10.5 grams of sugar.

This recipe is adapted from Monique’s paleo chocolate chunk tahini cookies at Ambitious Kitchen. For another take on the same idea, this paleo tahini chocolate chip cookies recipe is worth a look. If you want a classic chocolate chip cookie to bake alongside these, try these Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies, which follow a similar one bowl rhythm.

Ingredients in these tahini chocolate chip cookies

Tahini is simply ground sesame seeds, which is why it behaves so well in a cookie dough. It is creamy, nutty, and it carries sweetness without any dairy at all. The whole batch needs just 1 egg.

Coconut sugar is the sweetener here. It is an unrefined option that keeps the cookies paleo and stands in for brown or regular sugar, and it adds a soft, caramel leaning flavor. A couple of tablespoons of virgin coconut oil keep the dough dairy free. Melted butter or melted ghee will also work if dairy is not a concern.

Wet ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (77 grams)
• 1/4 cup tahini (58 grams)
• 2 tablespoons melted and cooled coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry ingredients

• 3/4 cup fine packed almond flour (84 grams)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour (28 grams)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (3 ounce) dark chocolate bar, at least 72%, coarsely chopped
• Fancy Maldon salt, for sprinkling on top

The flour blend matters more than anything else. Fine blanched almond flour gives the cookies their soft, slightly chewy crumb, and a small amount of coconut flour soaks up moisture so the dough does not spread into a flat puddle. Pack the almond flour firmly into the measuring cup, the same way you would pack brown sugar.

For the chocolate, a coarsely chopped bar is the move. A 3 ounce bar at 72% or higher melts into ribbons and pools that chips cannot match. If you only have chips on hand, 1/2 cup of chocolate chips is the tested substitute.

Baking soda, vanilla extract, and salt round out the list. Salt is doing real work in this dough, and the sprinkle of flaky Maldon salt right after baking is the finishing touch that makes the tahini and the chocolate taste louder.

Give the tahini jar a good stir before you measure. Natural tahini separates as it sits, and a well stirred jar gives you a smooth, even dough.

Everything then comes together in one large bowl, wet ingredients first, then the dry, with no stand mixer and no second bowl for the flour mixture. A sturdy spatula or a wooden spoon is enough.

Simple ingredient swaps

The author recommends following this recipe as written, especially when it comes to the flours, because grain free baking is far less forgiving than stovetop cooking. That said, a few swaps are listed and they do work.

• Brown sugar instead of coconut sugar. The cookies will no longer be paleo, but the chew and the texture stay close.
• Cashew butter instead of tahini. Same creamy fat, with a sweeter and milder flavor.
• Melted butter, vegan butter, or ghee instead of coconut oil. Any of the three keeps the dough working the same way.
• Oat flour instead of coconut flour. This one might work, but it has not been tested, so treat it as an experiment.

For the chocolate, a coarsely chopped bar is preferred, and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips is the tested alternative. The author also warns against any swap that is not listed in the recipe or the notes, and that advice is worth taking seriously when you are baking with almond flour and coconut flour.

Keep in mind that swaps change more than flavor. Brown sugar brings extra moisture, cashew butter brings a different fat content, and butter or ghee brings milk solids, so the cookies will taste a little different every time you trade one ingredient for another.

Can I make them vegan?

Yes. Make these cookies vegan by using 1 flax egg in place of the regular egg, and be sure the chocolate you chop is dairy free. Everything else is already plant based, from the tahini and the coconut sugar to the coconut oil, almond flour, and coconut flour.

Keep the same oven temperature and the same visual cue, edges barely golden with soft centers. A flax egg holds moisture a little differently than a chicken egg, so keep an eye on the first batch and pull it at the early end of the bake range if the cookies already look set at the edges.

For a fully dairy free version, check the label on your chocolate bar, since some dark chocolate is made on shared equipment or contains milk solids.

Don’t forget these cookie baking tips

Three habits separate a good batch from a great one.

Do not swap the almond flour. Almond flour is not interchangeable with other flours in this recipe. Use fine blanched almond flour and save the substitution experiments for another day.

Pack the almond flour like brown sugar. Spoon it into the measuring cup and press it down firmly. A loose, airy cup of almond flour changes the dough and the finished texture more than most bakers expect.

Use a room temperature egg. This is the tip that saves the dough. A cold egg can make the melted coconut oil firm up and turn the mixture lumpy instead of smooth.

If your egg is straight from the refrigerator, place it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, or run warm water over it for about a minute.

Room temperature egg, firmly packed almond flour, and no flour swaps. Those three habits carry most of the recipe’s success.

One more note on the coconut oil. Melt it first, then let it cool slightly before it goes into the bowl. Very hot oil plus a room temperature egg can still push the dough toward lumpy, and you want the wet ingredients to blend into a smooth, glossy base before the dry ingredients go in.

Storing & freezing tips

Baked cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. After that, move them to the refrigerator or the freezer so they stay fresh and chewy.

Both the cookie dough and the baked cookies can be frozen. That means you can roll the dough into balls, freeze them, and bake a small batch whenever a craving hits, or freeze the finished cookies and let them come back to room temperature before serving.

If you bake the dough straight from the freezer, give the cookies a little extra room on the baking sheet and watch the edges closely, since the edges are still your best signal for doneness.

More paleo friendly desserts

Tahini and chocolate are only the beginning. Other paleo friendly desserts from the same kitchen include:

• Grain free tahini brownies
• Almond flour chocolate chip cookies
• Paleo lemon poppy seed cookies
• Fudgy almond butter blondies
• Vegan paleo salted tahini caramel millionaire bars

There is also a full roundup of paleo dessert recipes if you would rather browse the whole collection in one place.

Every one of these follows the same paleo friendly approach, so if one batch disappears quickly, there is another waiting in a similar style.

This recipe is by Monique of Ambitious Kitchen, with photography by Eat Love Eats. If you want a caramel twist on a chocolate chip cookie, these Chewy Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies are a fun next bake.

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Damn Good Paleo Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies Say hello to paleo chocolate chunk tahini cookies, a gluten free, dairy free, and grain free dessert that mixes up in one bowl and bakes into crisp edges, chewy centers, and puddles of dark chocolate. Monique Volz of Ambitious Kitchen created this recipe, and it joins her other tahini favorites: tahini brownies, tahini blondies, and salted tahini caramel millionaire bars.

• Total Time: 20 min
• Yield: 10–12 cookies 1x

Ingredients

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Wet Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients
3/4 cup fine packed almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 dark chocolate bar (at least 72%), coarsely chopped
Fancy Maldon Salt, for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2-In a large bowl, mix together the: In a large bowl, mix together the following: egg, coconut sugar, tahini, melted and cooled coconut oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
3-Next add the dry ingredients: Next add the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until a cookie dough consistency forms, then fold in the chocolate chunks.
4-Grab about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough: Grab about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough with your hands and roll into a ball. Place ball on cookie sheet and flatten the top of dough a bit with the palm of your hand.
5-Bake for 9-11 minutes until edges are: Bake for 9-11 minutes until edges are just slightly golden. We want to slightly underbake these so they stay gooey. Once done baking, immediately sprinkle with Maldon salt. Cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 10-12 cookies.

• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 10 min
• Method: bake

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1cookie
• Calories: 202cal
• Sugar: 10.5g
• Fat: 14.7g
• Saturated Fat: 5.2g
• Carbohydrates: 16.7g
• Fiber: 3.5g
• Protein: 4.4g