I love tahini. I find myself reaching for it far more often than any nut butter to slather on toast and to make a quick dressing or dip. When the craving for chocolate chip cookies struck and I was low on butter, the jar of tahini in the fridge immediately caught my eye. I decided to sub out some of the butter for tahini much like you would in a peanut butter cookie. Now I could still make my chocolate chip cookie dreams come true without going to the store.
To play up the Mediterranean theme I added a touch of orange flower water. More so than flavoring these cookies, the orange flower water adds a delightful floral fragrance when baked and is experienced more through smell as the cookies bake and come out of the oven. You get just a whisp of the floral citrus flavor in the cookie itself.
For these cookies I used our Ecuadorian Camino Verde Chocolate. This chocolate has an earthy almond note that complements the tahini. You can use any high quality chocolate that you like. I would recommend using one that has a cacao content of over 70% to cut down on sweetness. I also wouldn’t recommend a highly fruity chocolate as that would overshadow the delicate flavor of the orange flower water. These orange flower water tahini chocolate chip cookies seem fancy and difficult but are easily made ahead.
More recipes from the Match Maker.
I love to make these cookies when I want to make something simple yet elegant. The tahini and orange flower water add an unexpected elegant twist to the classic chocolate chip cookie. They are sure to impress.
- 113 grams (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- 120 grams tahini well stirred, room temperature
- 200 grams dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons orange flower water
- 175 grams all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 100 grams chopped chocolate more or less to taste
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In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter, tahini and sugar together with the paddle attachment until it is light and fluffy. It will look looser than when you are creaming just butter for cookies due to the tahini.
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Add the eggs and orange flower water and continue to mix until completely combined.
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Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl to fluff and combine with a whisk rather than sifting them.
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Add all of the dry ingredients to the tahini egg mixture and mix on low just until combined without over mixing. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any unmixed butter and stir in the chocolate with a rubber spatula.
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Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat and scoop the cookie dough with a 2 ounce ice cream disher onto the parchment. Don’t worry about spreading them out, we will chill the dough before baking. Freeze or refrigerate over night.
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At this point you can bake all of the cookies now or place the frozen dough balls in a zip top bag and store them in the freezer for easy baking later. I like my cookies to be crisp on the outside and a little gooey on the inside, so I find that I like them when they are baked from frozen best.
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When you are ready to bake the cookies place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet at least 3 inches apart and bake in a preheated 350 oven for approximately 8-10 minutes rotating half way through. Remember that cookies continue to bake on the cookie sheet after you pull them out so pull them from the oven a just before you think they are ready and keep a close eye on them.
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