Tahini Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These tahini chocolate chunk cookies are one of my favorite things to bake lately. They’re rich, nutty, and have that perfect balance of sweet and salty.

Tahini adds this amazing depth of flavor that you don’t get from regular cookies. If you’ve never baked with it before, this is a great place to start.

The texture is soft and slightly chewy in the middle with golden edges. And the flaky sea salt on top really ties the whole thing together.

They come together quickly with simple ingredients, and the only extra step is chilling the dough for a bit. Totally worth the wait though.

If you’re looking for a cookie recipe that feels a little different but still hits all the right notes, give these a try.

Why You’ll Love It

Tahini Makes Them Incredibly Rich – The tahini adds a nutty and creamy depth that regular butter-only cookies just cannot match.

Perfectly Chewy Texture – The combo of tahini and melted butter creates soft and dense cookies with chewy centers every single time.

Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Is a Winning Combo – The bittersweet chocolate chunks with flaky sea salt on top hit every flavor note at once.

Recipe Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Tahini, well stirred
• 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
• 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 4 oz Dark Chocolate, roughly chopped
• Flaky Sea Salt for topping

Directions

Step 1

In a large bowl, whisk together the tahini, melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth and combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk vigorously until the mixture is thick and slightly glossy.

Step 2

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Fold with a spatula until just combined with no dry streaks remaining. Fold in the chopped dark chocolate.

Step 3

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. This step firms up the dough and develops the flavors, making a huge difference in the final cookie.

Step 4

Preheat your oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop the dough into balls of about 2 tablespoons each and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheet. Press a few extra chocolate chunks into the tops if desired.

Step 5

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.

Step 6

Immediately sprinkle flaky sea salt over the warm cookies. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

My Tips

Stir Your Tahini Before Measuring

Tahini separates in the jar with the oil floating to the top and the thick paste sinking to the bottom. If you scoop from an unstirred jar, you’ll get the wrong ratio of oil to paste and your cookies will either be too dry or too greasy.

Stir the entire jar really well until it looks smooth and pourable, almost like peanut butter that’s been sitting in the sun. Then measure out your half cup.

If your tahini has been in the fridge and is super stiff, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before stirring. It’ll be way easier to mix.

Don’t Skip Chilling the Dough

This dough is softer than most cookie doughs because of the tahini and melted butter. If you bake it right away, the cookies will spread out too thin and the edges will get crispy before the centers set up properly.

Thirty minutes in the fridge is the minimum, but an hour is even better. The dough will firm up enough that the cookies hold their shape in the oven and you get that thick, chewy center.

If you’re short on time, you can scoop the dough into balls first and then chill them on a plate. They’ll firm up faster that way since there’s more surface area exposed to the cold air.

Chop the Chocolate Yourself

Don’t use chocolate chips here. Chips are designed to hold their shape when baked, so they don’t melt and spread the same way. Chopping a chocolate bar gives you uneven pieces – some big chunks and some small shards – and that variety is what makes these cookies so good.

The small shards melt into the dough and create pockets of chocolate throughout, while the bigger chunks stay gooey and visible. Use a sharp knife and don’t worry about making the pieces uniform.

More Recipes

• Matcha White Chocolate Cookies
• Crispy Baklava Rolls
• Ube Crinkle Cookies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a different nut or seed butter instead of tahini?

You can, but the flavor and texture will change quite a bit. Tahini has a unique slightly bitter, nutty taste that pairs really well with dark chocolate and brown sugar, so the cookie won’t taste the same with peanut butter or almond butter.

If you do swap, use a natural, runny-style butter with a similar consistency to well-stirred tahini. Cashew butter is probably the closest substitute in terms of texture and mildness.