COOKIE ANYONE

I don’t know about you, but throughout our time during lockdown I’ve felt the need to remain busy and productive, but also I wanted to experiment and try new things as I had now found myself with much more time than usual. I’ve poured myself into creating more of my furniture pieces, but I’ve also dived into some new recipes, and this one that I want to share with you today has proved so popular since I started making it.

A friend sent me a recipe for Tahini cookies at the beginning of lockdown, and having only ever used tahini to make babganoush, I was intrigued. All I can say is ‘oh my goodness!!!’. They are delicious!!! If, like me, you have a weakness for a sweet treat, then you have to try these. They are gluten free, and also don’t contain any refined sugars, (aside from any that may be in the chocolate you use) so you can indulge in a sweet treat without feeling too guilty. May I add that they are also super quick & easy to make, which, lets be honest, is always ideal, whether we’re running around in our normal day to day life, or taking on a slower pace.

I have made this recipe a number of times now, tweaking it each time to get it as close to perfect as I can. I’ve also played with adding different ingredients so you can try a few different options. Have a read below….

Ingredients :

1/2 cup tahini (raw & the only ingredient should be sesame seeds. Be sure to mix your tahini well as the oil often separates).
4 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips/chunks (Secret top tip! I chopped up some Lindt Dark Sea Salt chocolate instead of plain chocolate!!! Amazing is all I have to say about that! Thank me later!)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
Sea salt or Himalayan salt for sprinkling afterwards

Option to make cinnamon & raisin tahini cookies. All the same ingredients except remove the chocolate & sea salt, replace with

1/2 cup raisins or sultanas
1 1/2 tbsp cinamon

Method :

Pre-heat your oven to 175 degrees C. I have a fan oven, so perhaps a few degrees more if your oven is not a fan oven.
Line a baking tray with some grease proof paper.
In a large bowl put all your ingredients, except for the chocolate or raisins.
Whisk them all for approximately 2 minutes. I like to whisk them really well to ensure the ingredients are all really well blended and also to get some air into the mixture.
Once blended add your chocolate or raisins and fold them in using a large spoon.
Pour your mixture onto your greaseproof lined tray. I usually pour mine into a long round shape to cut up after cooking, however, if you prefer to make round individual cookies, then go for it!!! It will seem really flat but the mixture will rise.
Pop in the oven for 10mins and let the magic happen!!!
After 10mins, your cookies should look light brown and yummy, remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate version with some sea salt, extra chocolate chips too if you fancy, and then turn your oven off and put the cookies back in the oven for a few more minutes.
After about 5-10mins, bring them out and slice them into long sticks. If you can resist, allow them to cool, if not, dig in!!!