Welcome to the only cookie you need in your life, my Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, a recipe with “Life Changing” in its title for very good reason. These cookies are truly life changing!
They are paleo-friendly, gluten-free, grain-free, and they can be made vegan and nut-free too, which means that people with various food aversions, allergies, and what not, will likely have their lives changed too. And that texture? They are lightly crispy on the outside, perfectly soft and chewy on the inside, and they melt in your mouth.
How the Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie was born
This recipe was created by mistake! We were returning home from a family vacation, and during the car ride home, I was craving tahini and chocolate, two of my favorite things. When we got home, I threw my luggage down and ran straight to the kitchen to make my quick and easy Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Tahini Truffles.
But as I started mixing the dough, I wasn’t that excited anymore – I wanted cookies! So I tossed the bowl of dough in the fridge and came back about 30 minutes later, and decided to experiment by adding an egg and baking soda to the already freezing cold dough. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I formed cookies and baked them.
But you guys…the result was magic. The exact proportion of the dough ingredients, plus my new technique of adding the dough and baking soda to the hard (cold) dough, led to a thick cookie with the perfect crisp on the outside and soft, chewiness on the inside.
And depending on what chocolate chips you use, dare I say that this recipe gives Levain Bakery a run for its money, but even if you don’t agree, the one thing we can all agree on, is that the ingredients are healthier for you, and these cookies make you feel good!
What ingredients do you need to make these Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies?
That’s a great question and I’m glad you asked. I am going to list them all out for you here, along with substitutions that I know work as well. If I haven’t covered anything, feel free to scroll through the comments left by others readers, who have kindly shared their substitutions! And if you still have a question, just send me a message on Instagram, that’s always the quickest way to get a hold of me!
Almond Flour
I created this recipe with almond flour, and that’s because I love sneaking in extra protein from the almonds as well as those healthy fats — think of these as cookies that keep you full instead of leaving you hungrier! If you are nut-free or can’t find almond flour (and also, I get that almond flour is expensive), you can substitute for oat flour, regular flour, coconut flour, all in the same ratio – 1 cup!
Tahini
For people that are new to tahini, tahini is ground up sesame seeds, that becomes a paste. The consistency is like a nut butter that looks like peanut butter, and the best way I can describe the taste, is that it tastes nutty.
But it’s nut-free. I know, not too helpful – ha! So many people have reached out to tell me that they weren’t big fans of tahini before discovering this recipe, and that this recipe has completely changed their mind about it!
My recommendation is to find a liquidy tahini for the best result. I always recommend Soom Foods Tahini, which I purchase on Amazon, but Whole Foods also makes a decent one! And so does Trader Joe’s!
If tahini just isn’t your thing, you can substitute the tahini for any nut butter you like: almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, and even sunflower seed butter. Just know that if you use sunflower seed butter, the cookies will be green inside! Why? Because of the reaction between baking soda and sunflower seeds! It’s kind of cool…think of doing that to impress your friends on St. Patrick’s Day!
Maple Syrup
Now, you guys! This recipe makes 16 cookies and only calls for 1/2 cup of maple syrup, which I think is pretty damn impressive. I love using maple syrup because I love that maple taste, but others have used liquid sweeteners with success! I also know that honey works, as does coconut sugar. If you are using coconut sugar, just make sure that your tahini is nice and liquidy, since you aren’t getting the extra moisture from the liquid sweetener.
Egg
This recipe calls for one egg! And you can definitely substitute the egg for a flax egg. To make a flax egg, all you do is get out a small bowl, and whisk together 1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal with 3 tablespoons water, and let it sit for about 5 minutes to thicken. And yes, you treat it like the regular egg, and add it to the dough batter after the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, along with the baking soda.
Baking Soda
You need it. This is what make the cookies rise and creates that magical texture I talked about above!
Chocolate Chips
To keep this recipe refined sugar free, I used dairy free chocolate chips. But you can feel free to use any chocolate chips you want, or even chop up a chocolate bar and toss it in. And when it comes to the amount, I always go for the full cup of chocolate chips, because when it comes to chocolate, we measure from the heart!
Collagen Peptides
This ingredient is optional. It doesn’t change the cookie texture whether you use it at all. I love adding a scoop of collagen peptides simply to get in some extra protein, and it has no flavor, so why the heck not. If you are vegan or don’t have any, just omit it and you’ll be A-okay!
Sea Salt Flakes
You don’t need these, but I personally think the addition of the sea salt flakes adds the best touch, for that perfect combination of sweet and savory!
How to Store Your Perfectly-Baked, Life Changing Cookies
This question comes up a lot, and it’s very important that you follow my storage instructions. Why? Because these cookies don’t contain any preservatives that would allow you to keep them on your kitchen counter for two weeks, you need to store them properly 🙂
They can stay out for 1 day, but then I recommend transferring them to a glass storage container and keeping them in the refrigerator. They will last for up to one week. But you guys – if you are anything like me, the entire batch will be gone in a matter of a few days! To warm them, you can place them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp up or just let them get room temp and enjoy!
You can also freeze the dough if you don’t want to make an entire batch of cookies, and dough will stay fresh in the freezer for up to three months.
Want more variations on my Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Once you’ve made my Life Changing Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, you can then branch out and make my variations on the OG recipe, including my Pumpkin Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Espresso Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, and even my Gingerbread Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies.
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a review and rating below! To see more recipes and behind the scenes, follow along on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube! I’m also now on Pinterest, so stop by and take a look at what’s new.
** Photography by Gayle McLeod
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup tahini, I recommend Soom Foods tahini, but any liquid-y tahini will work!
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 heaping cup of chocolate chips
- 1 scoop collagen peptides, optional
- sea salt flakes for topping
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, mix together the almond flour, tahini, maple syrup, collagen peptides (if using), and chocolate chips!
- The dough should be thick. If it's not, add a little bit more almond flour.
- Mix to ensure everything is coated well, and place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP, THIS IS THE MAGIC!
- While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350 F.
- Remove bowl from the refrigerator, and add the egg and baking soda, and mix together until fully incorporated.
- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop dough and form 16 cookies.
- Bake for 10-11 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies settle before eating!
- The key with these cookies is to slightly undercook them, so that they are nice and crispy on the outside and SUPER CHEWY on the inside.
- Sprinkle sea salt flakes on top.
- Enjoy!
Rate & review
SELECT A RATING and tell me what you think!
What others are saying
I made these the other night and they are delicious — the tahini taste is not what you would expect in a chocolate chip cookie, but it melds nicely with the chocolate. They were indeed ‘life-changing’ 10-20 minutes after coming out of the oven, but after being stored in a plastic bag overnight had lost that crispy outside-chewy inside gestalt that made them so extraordinary and were merely a good tasting cookie. Don’t get me wrong, for a cookie made without butter, white sugar and flour they’re still AMAZE — I just wonder if anyone has any ideas on retaining the just-out-of-the-oven heavenliness.
Yes! I recommend storing them in the fridge in an air tight container. If you want to recrisp them, heat oven to 275 and put them in for about 2 minutes! They do get softer because they don’t contain butter, flour, etc.!
Does anyone have trouble making the batter into balls because its so sticky? It seems like a lot got stuck behind in the bowl and just in general was so hard to make into a cookie ball because of the consistency?
Put some non stick spray on your hands or oil.
I use a cookie scoop to form the cookies and plop them on the baking sheet!
Hello Nicole. Thank you for this recipe. These are fabulous. I followed the recipe exactly. But the cookies I baked don’t come out crispy. I under baked the first time I made these. And last night’s batch I added a few more minutes to see if I could get them to crisp. Unfortunately they didn’t. I still think the flavor is phenomenal.
Hey Karen! Maybe try increasing the oven temp to 375? Cook them for 8 mins and see how they are. If they aren’t done, keep checking every 2 mins to see if you get them to crisp.
Hi Karen! I would do exactly what Bri suggested below. It’s possible that your oven isn’t calibrated right and the heat needs to increase a little!
Would love to know the nutritional breakdown of these!! I made them exactly as the recipe ( with exception to bitter sweet chocolate chips) and my kids loved them. Thank you😍
Hi Kelley! You can plug the ingredients into My Fitness Pal or a similar app and calculate the nutritional information! I think that’s the easiest way! 🙂
If i substitute swerve for the maple syrup, how much would you suggest i use?
I’m actually not familiar with Swerve!
These were so good! It’s refreshing finding a good healthy recipe that actually tastes good! So many expensive ingredients wasted in the past… but not with these cookies! They got huge! Crispy on the outside and chewy inside. I baked them for 15min as I live in high altitude and worked great! Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear, Ana!!! And there is nothing worse than spending money on ingredients and having the recipe flop! I’ve got you covered 🙂
I made these over the weekend and they were a hit! Delicious and easy to make. My question is what is the best way to store these cookies?
I’m so happy to hear this! I store them in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one week! If they get soft, just crisp them up in the oven at 275 for about 2 min!
I made these last night and O-M-G!!! Simply the best cookie I have ever eaten!!! I used all purpose flour because I didn’t have the almond kind and I also added a little bit of vanilla. Not sure if it’s a good thing I found this recipe or a bad thing haha
YAY! and pretty soon you will have the recipe memorized! I make them all the time in our house!
These are outrageously delicious!
I’m so happy to hear this!!!
Used 85% cacao chips and these ar to die for
WOO HOO that sounds delish!
My son (13) said these cookies were definitely NOT healthy because they are too good (he hates when I make paleo desserts). Now I’m struggling to get some for myself.
YAY! I am so happy to hear this!
Just made these and they are yummy! They were even devoured by my hubby and three daughters. 😊 Only problem is that mine came out flat. I am in CO at high altitude. What can I do next time to change this? Thanks! I learned about you and these via RadioAmy’s podcast 4 Things! So great!
Hi! I think it’s definitely the altitude! I would try adding 1/4 cup more almond flour to the batter to ensure that it is SUPER thick before baking. See if that helps!