Tahini Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bold move to mess with a classic. A lot of people would argue that you should just leave classic chocolate chip cookies alone, and I don’t disagree with them. [See our house Chocolate Chip Cookie!] But I feel like this are less of a chocolate chip cookie that got some other stuff added to it, and more of a tahini-honey cookie that happens to contain chocolate chips. Actually, one of the tweaks I made to the original HBH recipe was to decrease the amount of chocolate chips. I really love the depth of flavor the tahini adds to these cookies – adds a deeper dimension to the sweetness and a touch of umami maybe? Anyway – worth the attempt in my opinion! I brought these for our now 2nd annual work cookie competition – I didn’t win, but I did get a couple first place votes! Which is still winning in my opinion.

I did however, forget to take any pictures of these cookies 🤦‍♀️ I like them enough and want to remember the recipe, so here we are: a recipe without any pictures.

Tahini Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Adapted from Half Baked Harvest)

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup tahini, divided
• 1/2 cup honey, divided
• 1 cup salted butter, room temp
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Flaky salt

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup of both tahini and honey. Refrigerate while working on the rest of the dough.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
3. Using a hand or stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugars. Then add the remaining 1/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup honey, egg, and vanilla. Follow with the flour (slowly), baking soda, cinnamon, & salt.
4. Add the chocolate chips, stirring in by hand.
5. Remove the tahini+honey mixture from the fridge. Using a spoon, add the mixture in ribbons and dollops to the dough, folding in gently after each spoonful. Try not to overmix/keep some of the mixture unincorporated from the rest of the dough.
6. Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake in batches, for 7-8 minutes. At this time remove from the over, tap the cookie sheet on the counter, and return for an additional two minutes of baking. (I was today years old when I learned this trick, which was apparently an internet sensation a few years ago, but it seems to work in my limited experience!)
7. Remove, sprinkle with a pinch of flaky salt, and allow to cool on the cookie sheet.

Makes ~24 cookies