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Whenever I mention “Chocolate Chip Cookies,” this recipe seems to come up in the conversation. I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies all of my life, and am always happy to add new ones to my repertoire. I’ve made them with various kinds of flours, different types (and sizes) of chocolate, some with nuts (or cocoa nibs), and others without. In some cases, the salt in the chocolate chip cookies may be in the butter, or sprinkled on top. Or there might be a double-dose of chocolate in them.

But I haven’t done too much tinkering with the butter, because to me, that’s one thing that’s non-negotiable in chocolate chip cookies. But when I heard about tahini, my loyalty to butter was put into question.

You (and I) can relax, because these chocolate chip cookies do use butter, but get an underlying richness from sesame paste, a common ingredient in Middle Eastern cooking that I always keep on hand. So although I thought I’d done everything possible that a man could do to a chocolate chip cookie, and then some, I was finally ready to tackle a batch of these chocolate chip cookies.

The recipe is adapted from Modern Israeli Cooking by Danielle Oron, that also was in the New York Times. In addition to having everything on hand, they were easy to mix up, and the soft sesame paste made a dough that was hard not to snack on before the cookies went into the oven.

I prefer to chop chocolate for chocolate chip cookies, rather than use conventional chocolate chips. I have nothing against chocolate chips, but most are made of what’s called baking-resistant chocolate, which is designed to hold their shape once baked. I like big, oozing chunks of chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies, and I don’t care so much what they look like, so much as how they taste.

So I took a knife to a block of chocolate and made my own. Some makers are now producing what are called chocolate “chunks” which may or may not have similar qualities, but chopping a block of chocolate, while a bit messy, puts me in one of my happy places. And I’m happy to make my own chips, or chunks, I should say.

These cookies were some of the best chocolate chip cookies that have ever come out of my oven, and I don’t say that lightly. The tahini gives them a gentle savory taste, with a faint musky flavor that pairs remarkably well with dark chocolate and a touch of salt, so don’t be afraid to use a very strongly flavored chocolate. I futzed with the original recipe a little, to make them chewier, and couldn’t resist adding even more chocolate. But can you blame me?

Salted Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies

Adapted from Modern Israeli Cooking: 100 New Recipes for Traditional Classics by Danielle Oron. I used chopped chocolate, rather than chocolate chips, for these cookies since I wanted large chunks of oozing chocolate rather than little bits of chocolate here and there. (But feel free to use chips if you'd like.) Normally when I chop chocolate for cookies, I add any small bits and pieces on the cutting board along with the bigger chunks. But for these, I wanted distinct, more assertive pieces of chocolate, so I sorted through and just used large chunks, saving the smaller bits for another baking project. I baked these cookies in a larger size, then tried them in smaller portions, and give baking times for each. Whichever size you bake them in, since everyone's oven is different, it's important to use visual clues rather than rely on precise minutes and numbers to tell when they're done. Keep an eye on them during the final minutes of baking; the cookies are done when quite pale in the center and browned around the edges. Note that the dough is best when it rests in the refrigerator overnight. You could bake them sooner, if you just can't wait.
Servings 18
  • 8 tablespoons (115g, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) tahini, well stirred
  • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (90g) packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (150g) flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 2 cups (280g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chunks, or chocolate chips
  • flaky sea salt, such as Maldon or fleur de sel
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, tahini, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy. (The dough can also be made in a large mixing bowl, stirred with a spatula.)
  • Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Add the egg, the yolk, and vanilla, and continue to mix for another minute, stopping the mixer to scrape down the sides of the bowl during mixing, to make sure the eggs are getting incorporated.
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and kosher or sea salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just combined, then add the chocolate chips. Do not overmix. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 325ºF (160ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  • Form the cookies into rounds using an ice cream scoop, or your hands. For small cookies make each 1 1/2-inch (3,5cm), for larger cookies, make them 2-inches (5cm) round. Place them evenly spaced on the baking sheets, 3-inches (8cm) apart). Bake one sheet at a time, so you can keep an eye on them, in the middle rack of the oven.
  • Bake the cookies, turning the baking sheet in the oven midway during baking, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but still pale in the center. For small cookies, about 12 minutes, for larger cookies, about 14 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle cookies with a bit of flaky sea salt, and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. Bake the remaining cookies the same way.

Notes

Storage: These cookies will keep for two or three days at room temperature, but are definitely better the same day they're baked. The unbaked dough can be refrigerated for up to one week, and frozen for up to two months.
Notes: Nut and seeds butters, such as peanut and almond, have different oil content than tahini, and I don't think they could be swapped out. (If you do try it with another nut or seed butter, let us know how they come out in the comments.) For those looking for a chocolate chip cookie without tahini, check out these Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies or my recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies in Ready for Dessert.
 
 

Related Posts and Recipes

Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tahini and Almond Cookies

Baking Ingredients and Substitutions

How to Make Tahini

Ingredients for American Baking in Paris

Soom Tahini (Amazon)

Gluten-free baking and Substitutions

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122 comments

    • Monica

    Hi David – these cookies look amazing! I just made a batch of choc chip cookies this week that had a mix of butter & olive oil in them…they were wonderfully chewy. I wonder if the tahini kind of does a similar thing as the oil and adds that extra chewiness. The olive oil added a fruitiness that I wasn’t sure I would like but it turned out to be mild since it was half and half with butter. Flavor-wise, I’m thinking tahini would be delicious. So now I have sufficient motivation to re-stock tahini (also saw a good banana bread recipe from Cooking Light recently). : )

      • Linda

      Hi Monica, I love to use olive oil in baking! I assume you replaced some of the butter with olive oil and if so, was it 1:1 e.g., 1 tablespoon butter for 1 tablespoon olive oil? Thanks, Linda

        • Monica

        Hi Linda – the recipe came from DisplacedHousewife and it’s called olive oil cookies but there’s butter and olive oil in equal measure in the recipe. Hope you check it out. The texture was amazingly chewy.

    • Kristyn Kay

    I’ve been craving tahini AND chocolate chip cookies all week, so I think I should take this post as a sign that the universe wants me to be happy. These are going to the top of my bake list!

    • Fran Fruit

    I’m lazy, so I prefer to make bars more than cookies. I suspect these will make dandy bars, perhaps even chewier than the cookie version. I’ll let you know how they come out.

      • Bree

      Please do!

      • Gene S.

      Do yourself a favor and get different size cookie scoops. They’re indispensable and will last forever. They’ll cut your time in half.

    • Lisa Ernst

    Oh, my kind of cookies. I must try these. And so generous with chips! A major pet peeve of mine is how many recipes (and bakeries) skimp on the chips. I consider a reasonable ratio of at least 1 to 1 chips to flour but more recipes than not go below that. Yours goes in the other direction. Perfection!

      • Beverly

      A bakery owner once told me the secret of their incredible Chocolate Chip Cookies was to weigh the dough and add that same weight of chocolate chips. This is a lot of chocolate but so good!

    • Cynthia A.

    When Ruth Wakefield (the inventor of the Toll House chocolate chip cookie) first made her iconic THCCC she chopped up a bar of chocolate into chunks, just like you like to do. After the Nestle company purchased her recipe they came to the conclusion Americans were too lazy to chop up chocolate bars which is how we ended up with “chocolate chips” in a bag. Glad to see you’re going retro David!

      • Hil M

      “busy”, “efficient”, “stressed”, but definitely not “lazy” ;)

    • Erica

    Hi, David! Love reading your recipes/commentary about life. I’ve tried the version from the NYtimes before and enjoyed it, so I’m eager to try your take! I think you might have missed the measurement for vanilla, though?

    • Mrs. Gibson

    Asparagus time in France? Cream soup recipe, before it gets summery hot!

      • Kay

      There’s a lovely one online, with no cream, just the puréed asparagus and onion, with lemon. My husband, who is something of a soup connoisseur and orders it regularly in fine restaurants, said it is one of the best soups he has ever eaten. My only changes were to sub a leek for one onion and to throw in a branch of thyme while the veggies simmered. If you have a Vitamix, it purées the soup perfectly.

    • witloof

    Can you please recommend your favorite brand of tahini? These look great, and I would love to make them. But I haven’t had much luck finding a brand of tahini that isn’t excessively bitter. Thank you!

      • Judy

      Try Soom tahini. It is wonderful -doesn’t have that bitter after taste common to American brands. Available on Amazon or check out soonfoods.com for retailers that carry it.

        • Quinn

        I second this recommendation for Soom tahini, which I buy online because I live in a small mountain town 70 miles from a stoplight. I made these cookies when I found the recipe in the NYTimes. Absolutely delicious!

    • David
    David Lebovitz

    witloof: I get my tahini when I’m in the Middle East (or have friends bring it back for me) – you can see the containers/labels here. In the U.S., Soom is a really good brand. I linked to it after the post.

    Erica: I added it. Thanks ~

    Cynthia: Yes, they didn’t have chocolate chips back then. Although they are easier, it’s nice to see some good-quality brands of chocolate coming out with their own chips and chunks, although I don’t mind chopping my own.

      • witloof

      Great, thank you so much!

    • Dina M Mansour

    I swear to God, you are the best dessert baker out there!

    • Taste of France

    Tahini!?!?! Who knew! Must try this one asap.
    I tried the NYT method of letting the dough rest for up to three days, and it is great. The only problem is whether any dough is left to bake.
    I almost never find chocolate chips here, and when I do they are pathetic little sachets of about 20 minichips and cost a fortune. So I always chop my own.

    • Liz W

    I made these cookies awhile back when the recipe came out in the NY Times. They were FABULOUS. The tahini added a wonderful nutty flavor to them . I did figure out after the first batch that it was really important to chill the dough thoroughly so that they stayed light and crispy and held their shape when baked.

    • Maria Galletti-Basch

    Hi David
    I added 2 tbs of halva (cut up in a small dice) and removed 1 tbs of chocolate. They turned out nice and I wanted to save them for Mother’s Day but they were eaten before they were plated. Thank you! Great idea and great way to use all the gifts of halva!
    Loyal reader- Maria

      • rainey

      Adding halva is a nice thought as we didn’t really detect much of the tahini flavor.

      How did the halva effect the texture? Was there a more pronounced sesame flavor?

    • Kelli @ Hungry Hobby

    Hello cookies! I love that you picked through the batch of chocolate for the large pieces, when I read that I thought #foodbloggerlife can’t wait to eat all the cookies!

    • Dana

    Ok…. these were some of the worst cookies I’ve ever made. I’m sorry! I hated the tahini in there. I tried them when they were published in the NYT and I don’t know why I couldn’t even eat these cookies. I’m sorry! I love everything else I’ve tried that you recommend! This was the first instance that I had a bad reaction to a cookie recipe.

      • TahiniLover

      Check the brand of tahini you used. It can really matter.

      • TahiniLover

      I would not use the recommended brand. Generally, any tahini with Arabic writing on it is the best bet…or Turkish. Don’t trust anything else! I have one from a supermarket in Turkey, I think it’s Kostra or something, and Ziad is wonderful. Have had great desserts with both. And not with Whole Foods 365 brand; it’s gross. I don’t like this brand recommended, either, and it’s the same taste.
      You can keep it in the fridge if you do not plan to use it often, a tad harder to stir than if in pantry. It is also good with lemon juice (to a semi-runny consistency) over roasted veggies like cauliflower or beets, and as part of a vinaigrette on salads.

    • Fwei

    Hi may I know if I could just use one type of sugar instead? This recipe looks divine.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Sure. The original recipe used all granulated sugar but I like the flavor of brown sugar (which helps also with the chewy texture) but you could use all granulated. I haven’t tried them with 100% brown sugar, but if you do, let us know how they turn out.

    • Debbie C

    Oh my goodness, these look incredible! And if they are some of the best chocolate chip cookies to come out of YOUR oven then I absolutely want to make them. Thank you!

    • CORI

    I am such a cookie lover! David I can hardly wait to make a batch of these cookies. The addition of tahini makes so much sense to me, however, why did I not ever think to do this! I always look forward to your blog postings. You are such a delight!

    • Sally

    quick question – what made you eliminate the baking powder (and increase the baking soda)? THANKS!

    • Dan Desmarais

    Thank you David. You just turned my rained out day right around!

    • Sandra

    Thanks a lot! I better make these early this coming week before I’m going on a hiatus of a good 6 weeks from anything in the kitchen ( crutches coming).

      • Sandra

      I just made the cookies. They are insanely good. I skipped the sea salt topping because we aren’t fans and it doesn’t help one’s BP. The recipe made about 40 cookies. I have a double wall oven so I was able to put two sheets in at a time, 7 minutes to turn at 14 minutes per sheet time. It worked out to 3 sheets, with the pre-cut parchment paper saving my energy. Thanks. We will have some thing yummy for a bit while I recuperate.

    • Dido

    Ah, I do love your recipes David. But this time I’m ticked. I read through the ingredients, made the batch, then read the part REFRIGERATE DOUGH OVERNIGHT. How dare you leave a single woman alone with a preheated oven and a batch of this dough?!? I doubt they will see the sunrise. If the baked cookie is half as good as the dough, these may be a game changer for me. (my bad for not reading the recipe through…)

      • Heather

      Same thing happened to me! A batch of dough is now in the fridge calling my name….note to self to read top to bottom next time :) Can’t wait though, the dough is GOOD

      • Taylor

      I bake a few when I first make the dough, the refrigerate the rest. Best of both worlds!

      • Rachel

      I made these yesterday and they were amazing! I used a combination of coconut oil and olive oil in place of the butter to make the recipe dairy free. To account for the ratio of water to fat in butter I use a slightly smaller amount of oil (measured in grams) than the amount of butter. It worked wonderfully!

    • robyn holland

    These sound absolutely fabulous. I’ve been wanting to get more creative with tahini! We’ll see if the dough can last long enough to be made into cookies! ;)

    • Rosa

    Hi, these cookies seems terrific!
    My daughter has been recently diagnosed allergic to eggs and I wonder what can I use instead. Any ideas?
    Thanks!

      • Cadry

      Rosa, you could replace the eggs by using ground flaxseed & water. Stir a Tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 Tablespoons of water until it becomes gelatinous. That will replace one egg. (So for this recipe, you’d probably want to double it.) Or you can use the liquid from a can of beans. For one egg, use 3 Tablespoons of bean liquid.

      I love tahini and chocolate, and so I’m excited to veganize this recipe too. It sounds right up my alley!

      • GFY

      Whip up (literally – use the mixer) some aquafaba: liquid from a can of chickpeas. It makes the best egg replacer I’ve come across. I use the whisk attachment to fluff it up into a meringue then fold it into the batter. Not sure about ratio’s yet so I just add 1 cup fluff per egg or if using it straight, it’s measure for measure. It will not be the same as an egg, but it will be good enough to enjoy!

    • Angela

    These look and sound amazing. Can’t wait to try it out!

    • Marisa

    These look delicious! But I think you’ve forgotten the vanilla in the ingredients list – how much do you use?

    It’s in the ingredient list (you may need to refresh your browser if you can’t see it?) – but it’s 1 teaspoon. – dl

    • Susan Ribbons

    Unhulled tahini is very bitter. I threw mine out and I love bitter foods! I’ve tried unhulled and hulled so perhaps people that don’t like this recipe are using the bitter type. I’m certain hulled tahini would be amazing in this recipe and can’t wait to try it. By the way I’m flying from Australia to Paris on Tuesday. Guess I won’t buy those cookies but that would be nice :) I’m so going to bake them after my trip around Europe. Love your recipes and write ups on the blog.

    • MAY

    Loved the flavor and chewiness of these cookies. By far my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!

    • Elizabeth

    We just pulled two trays out of the oven. Wow, do they ever smell fabulous!

    Like you, we used chopped 72% chocolate bar rather than semi-sweet chocolate chips. Unlike you, we added raisins, the last of some roasted cashews (it amounted to about half a Tablespoon of chopped cashews) and, instead of Fleur de Sel, we sprinkled with Kosher Salt from the bottom of the box – it’s very flaky.

    Wow. These _are_ good cookies! I’m surprised at their crispiness though. I thought they’d be chewy. (Does that mean we should add more butter next time, if we want them to be chewy?)

    Thank you!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Mine were very chewy, but the next day, they do firm up. (Which is why I noted at the end of the recipe that they’re best the same day they’re baked.) They are best also if removed from the oven when the centers are still quite pale. The first photo in the post was taken in the early evening, when the light was going down, so they look a but darker – but in this photo, you can perhaps get a better look at how mine looked when I removed them from the oven.

        • Bebe

        I like softish chocolate chip cookies rather than crisp. My son taught me to package them in a tin (I use empty plastic Costco cashew jars because they’re a nice size and have a secure screw-on lid) while they are still a little bit warm. By the second day I put a very small bit of dampened (not wet) paper towel in the jar and screw the lid tight. Nice cookies to the very end – which could be 5 days or so…

    • Jade

    I’m so excited about these cookies and can’t make to make a batch. As I live in Paris, any tip on which brand would do? I see that “Jean Hervé” has the regular “tahin” with white sesame seeds but I also found another organic brand with raw sesame seeds (“creme de sesame complet”): any advice on which is closest to yours? Thanks!!!

    • rainey

    These sound delicious and I’m anxious to try them.

    I also love the idea of chunking my own chocolate but I get so many tiny shards in the process that my cookies tend to look “dirty”. I note that your pix don’t have this prob. What’s your work around for this?

    • Mary F.

    Chocolate, sesame, butter, sugar, salt…what could go wrong?! Love these!!

    • Suzanne

    These sound delicious. Do you have a weight in grams for the tahini used, as you do for the other ingredients? Thanks so much!

    • Elise

    I’d recommend keeping remaining dough in the fridge while each panful bakes.

    • Carolyn Z

    How about freezing the dough after you’ve scooped it? Pull out only what you are going to bake? Years ago that’s the method we used. ‘Course we had lots of freezer space. These were from the original Toll House cookie recipe. Thanks for passing hers along.

    • Michelle

    Just put the cookie dough in refrigerator ! Can’t wait to bake these tomorrow if dough survives the night.
    Merci David pour afficher cette recette!

    • Patty

    I baked a batch of these to celebrate Mother’s Day and my son’s home from college. Looks like it’s going to be a recipe staple in our family. I baked 1/2 the dough and college boy ate the reminding dough raw.

    • jess

    I didn’t realize how low I was on tahini until I started to make these cookies – replaced half with almond butter and they still came out great.

    • Abby

    Hi David, I recently relocated to Lausanne, Switzerland – it’s lovely but I cannot find brown sugar anywhere in this country! Is brown sugar in grocery stores in France? Haven’t had success in finding it in the French towns near Lausanne but perhaps if it’s more prevalent in Paris, it’s worth a trip to get some. Been really missing it for all my favorite recipes!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      At the end of the recipe, I linked to a post: American Baking Ingredients in Paris, which discusses the French equivalents of common American baking ingredients, in French. In Lausanne, you can probably find cassonade or muscovado sugar at a natural food store, Migros, or Globus.

      (btw: If you get a chance, try the aged Gruyère from Macheret cheese shop – or their stand at the weekend market – in Lausanne. It’s great!)

    • Teri Brown

    I made these over the weekend because, amazingly, I had the time and all the ingredients on hand, including grey salt and flaked sea salt for the finish. Best cookies to ever come out of my oven and like you, I don’t say that lightly. As soon as I realized what wondrous alchemy I had wrought, I gave them away to neighbors as fast as I could…but not before sampling far too many of them. Bravo.

    • Querino de Freitas

    Dear all…I must try making these cookies,,,will let you know how i managed it…Querino

    • Anne

    I brought these into work this morning and they are a hit! I used dark chocolate chips instead of the chopped bittersweet/semi-sweet suggested and I think it works. I also froze a dozen to make for when the spontaneous craving of chocolate chip cookies pops up ;) Really good recipe–thanks!

    • juliper

    David, Your knowledge of vegan “ice cream” likely transcends this simple npr article, but I thought you might be interested.

    • Janelle

    I made these yesterday, baked them today, and delicious! However, and this is probably the only time I’ll ever say this, but I felt like all the chocolate detracted from the tahini. So I was wondering, if I decreased the chocolate a third or half, would adding in toasted sesame seeds change the dough—because of the oils? Trying to think of ways to amp the sesame flavor… or maybe roll the cookies in raw sesame seeds?

    • Chloe

    David! What a coincidence. I just made the tahini and almond cookies posted back in 2012 (in case you were wondering who was googling “david lebovitz tahini almond” two hundred times this past week). They were excellent, melt-in-your-mouth, and so addictive. My friend said, between delighted mmmm’s and aaahhhh’s, “a little dip in chocolate would be amazing.” Well, here you have it. Thank you for sharing so many joyful food moments over the years. I appreciate you!

    If any readers are interested (since the comments on the OP are closed) the tahini almond cookie dough can be formed into a log and sliced into rounds. Much quicker than forming and pressing balls. My wee daughter and I pressed the rounds into sesame seeds before baking. For us, they needed to be in the oven for 18 minutes. They came out so, so lovely. They’re half whole wheat flour and relatively low sugar with a good dose of protein. An excellent sunrise cookie, lunchbox cookie, tea time cookie, midnight cookie…

    • Karen Russell

    I made these a day late, since I didn’t read ahead to know to refrigerate the dough overnight, and they were spectacular. I googled reasons why to refrigerate overnight, and it supposedly makes them chewy and they also don’t spread out too thin. Worth the wait, and I loved the secret ingredient – a definite do-over. Thanks, David, and I love your blog.

    • Krystal

    Made these to bring to the river house we rented with a large group of friends this weekend (along with other goodies). These were the first to go! Everyone loved them, although no one guessed the special ingredient. Will definitely make again, despite my recent sesame allergy diagnosis!

    • Pamela (BrooklynFarmGirl)

    These cookies look so perfect! Yum!

    • Maria del mar

    they don’t look like my cookies. Mine are yummy but uneven in color. Great tip with the TAHINI.

    • Dania

    Hi David :)
    Going to bake these right now – quick question, how important is it to refrigerate the dough? When it comes to craving + chocolate/baking, patience isn’t my best virtue..
    Thank!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      You don’t have to refrigerate it but the cookies come out better. You can read the previous comments as people discussed refrigerating the dough (or not).

        • Dania

        Ah, okay. I missed those comments, thank you!

        I made regular chocolate chip cookies yesterday and did refrigerate half to bake today and they did taste better, so I guess the same applies. Will make these today and see how it goes. :)

        • Dania

        Made these with 72% dark chocolate – so g o o d!! The chocolate mellowed down a bit and tasted perfect. Thank you for sharing the recipe

    • Danielle Oron

    THANK YOU!!!! These look amazing!

    • rainey

    We thought these were nice but didn’t detect any real difference in the flavor from the tahini.

    Would it be possible to use more?

    • Bebe

    David, you are too young to remember that the original Toll House Cookie recipe called for chocolate chunks (no one had heard of chocolate chips). I was the designated chocolate chunk cutter in our family. A block of semi-sweet chocolate scored into tidy small chunks. They still came out a bit irregular in size and shape, but the scoring did help. They were much more luscious than the chips that ‘modern times’ brought. Those sturdy “mini kisses”.

    The nuttiness of sesame paste sounds very interesting!

      • Bebe

      Nestle, who published the Original Toll House Cookie recipe on its packages of scored solid chocolate for chunks, has always kept that recipe on its chocolate chip bags.

    • Dina Jacob

    I love reading your blog posts. The cookies look great and I can’t wait to bake them! I have a question for you David: how do you chop your chocolate? I ask because when I chop a bar, I mostly get flakes and really small bits.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I use a long serrated knife, although sometimes I use a chef’s knife, and chop the chocolate coarsely. You can see a picture of it in this post. As mentioned, I usually add the small bits but for these, I ran my hands over the chocolate and scooped up just the big pieces, leaving the little ones behind.

    • Katy

    I made these last week with gluten free flour (I am celiac) and they were incroyable! I think I’ll attempt them again this weekend…:) Thank you for sharing, David!

    • Jay

    Besides refrigerating or freezing cookie dough, are there other ways to prevent them from flattening out into thin crispy cookies? I prefer a thicker cookie…

      • Mary F.

      Add a little more flour, I think…I was going to ask why there is so little flour, my usual recipe has 2 1/4 cups of flour, so 1 cup sounds like very little to me. I’m a bit worried about them being like lace cookies..

    • Audrey | Pardon Your French

    I love that you do not use chocolate chips but instead chop the chocolate coarsely. For some reason, this makes the cookies so much better.
    Thanks for recommending your favorite brand of tahini (very helpful for me, as a tahini novice), I will definitely try this recipe out … these look so damn good !

    • Susan S

    Baked theses cookies this morning and they are amazing. I also cut up my own chocolate chunks, and don’t think I will use chocolate chips ever again. Merci beaucoup for the yumminess !

    • Mary

    I made this dough today. I licked the beaters and some left in the bowl. Holy moly! As you said, it is hard not to eat all the dough.

    You mention refrigerating dough overnight, however, I couldn’t wait. My partner went to bed after getting sick from a bad oyster, so having nothing better to do this evening, I am standing in the kitchen, drinking wine, and baking two of these (and maybe more) just for myself. Divine.

    • Monica

    This is my new special way to make ccc’s! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I loved doing QC on the dough, and then the QC on the finished product. So good! I’m also a convert to chopping the chocolate instead of using chips! Delicious!

    • Hannah Kuhn

    Baked these today and they are delish. For me they baked up more cakey than chewy or crispy after leaving the dough 24 hrs in the fridge. Using convection oven–could that be a factor? Used Lindt semi sweet chocolate. Next time will try bittersweet for a stronger flavor. And less chocolate, to let the tahini shine through more. Thank you for a savory sweet cookie, David!

      • Sarahb1313

      I smacked down the cookies before they were done. It helped.

    • Sarahb1313

    Amazing. There was the lovely “Je ne sais quoi” that the tahini added!
    I didn’t tell my guests, and they loved them. All gone!
    Can’t wait to make them again!

    • Marti

    Oh golly so good! Froze leftover dough for later enjoyment but somehow the dough is equally seductive…

    • Deborah

    Just pulled mine from the oven and ate one warm. What a lovely cookie. A very fine chocolate chip with a little more sophistication. Thanks David!

    • Jamie

    I made these cookies and they were delicious. I skipped refrigerating the dough overnight and left them in the oven a touch too long, and found that they were more crispy than I wanted. I had better results when I followed the recipe more closely.

    • sharon Berg

    I’ve made these twice in two weeks and give them to my b&b guests. Fantastic.

    • Liz

    Another report from the Whoops, You Need To *Refrigerate?* crowd: I was committed to bringing the cookies to an event that afternoon, uh-oh. I formed the dough into a log, as Chloe mentioned doing earlier for tahini-almond cookie dough. Then I left it for 2 hours in the freezer, sliced it and baked for the time specified in the recipe. The cookies didn’t spread and I got to my potluck on time.

    • Lauren Edwards

    I have made these twice now since you posted this recipe and they have been INCREDIBLE! My husband and some of our friends say they are the best cookies they’ve ever had! I agree, I think. The first time, I froze the dough for about 30 mins before making the cookies, the 2nd time I did what I should and let them refrigerate over night. The latter had a lot more spread, a much flatter cookie. Both were incredible. I used high quality bittersweet chocolate, perhaps a touch more than called for, and they are so good – not too sweet. Earthy, dark, a touch of sweetness. Maybe my new default CCC recipe! Thanks so much, David!!

    • Kathrin

    Oh my gosh, I’ve fallen in love with both your blog and these cookies. I made these yesterday for a Memorial Day barbecue, and had multiple people say how fantastic they were and requested the recipe! I *almost* didn’t want to share so they could be my secret. Thank you for being such an open and emotion-producing food writer. I like reading your posts just for pure enjoyment. I can’t wait to make the next recipe from a growing list of ones to try! Your stories, side notes, and tips are all so helpful!

    • Heidi Wolff

    Thanks. These were lovely. I just made a batch and they disappeared pretty immediately.

    • Susan Cohen

    A nice cookie but not a go to one. It was fun trying it though.

    • Mia

    Hi! This recipe sounds really intriguing. I just have one question about the tahini. At home I have a whole grain tahini (which I usually use for hummus because of its stronger taste) and a pale tahini (made from peeled sesame seeds). Which one would you suggest for using in these cookies? Thanks!

    • Rowina

    hej! I just made your cookies and followed the recipe to the letter! I normally have difficulty following recipes but this time, I didn’t stray and the cookies were marvellous! Even the fotos with chopped chocolate bits, scooped dough looked exactly like mine. Am so so pleased with the results! Thank you so much!

    • Erin

    I just made a vegan, gluten-free version, fully prepared for them to fail, but am happy to report that these too are perhaps the best cookies to emerge from my oven, ever. After swapping many ingredients, but following the directions to the T, I’m enjoying the deep flavor of these interesting yet comforting beauties. Substitutions: refined coconut oil for the butter, a flax egg for the egg/egg yolk, coconut sugar for the brown and white sugar, buckwheat flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF AP flour for the AP. I added a few chopped medjool dates which was an excellent choice. I bet espresso powder would be a welcome addition too. Thanks so much for this fantastic recipe.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks for reporting back on the gluten-free, vegan version, and what you did. Glad they were a hit…and delicious!

    • Lynne

    I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned it but 325F is approximately 160C not 180C. They are a very delicious cookie, thank you!

      • berit

      Now that you mention it… I’ve used my standard 200°c and it also works :D

    • Brittany

    This is my favorite cookie recipe ever!!! Best texture and amazing flavor. Thank you for the recipe! :)

    • Laya

    To go low sugar and use what I had on hand, I subbed granulated erythritol for the white sugar, crystallised sativa (which caramelises) for brown sugar, coconut oil instead of butter and peanut butter sted of tahini. I was prepared for more but 185 grams of chocolate chunks stuffed these babies! The overnight chilling was critical bc I’m in a hot climate but these cookies won over a tough crowd — even a picky teenager. Worked with a light dusting of Himalayan salt, too.

    • Krsm

    I just made these and they are awesome! I’m gifting these to my friends family who’s having me over for dinner tonight; so excited for them to try these

    • Michelle Sweeney

    These were the best cc cookies I ever made! Buttery, crispy, soft and chewy.
    Amazing

    • Jacalyn

    David- I just made these. I doubled the recipe, so decided to forego two egg yolks and just threw in another egg. Also adding walnuts to a few so my kids don’t eat them all!

    I used a jar of Trader Joe’s tahini and it is great. But I also make my own tahini – so easy with a food processor- and will test with that on my next batch… needless to say, these are amazing and no, I couldn’t wait for them to chill in fridge so I added another half cup (1/4 per recipe) to counter my hastiness!

    • Josephine

    David – can I substitute almond flour for the white flour?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Probably not as it doesn’t have enough structure to hold them together. If you are gluten-free perhaps try a gluten-free flour blend specifically made for baking – good luck!

    • LaVerne

    David – I’m based in Paris and am curious to know what type of French flour works best for this recipe ?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I use T65. More here.

    • Ana

    I had some peanut butter that I needed to use so I decided to try them with peanut butter instead of tahini! I did the rest of the recipe exactly as written. They are so good! I think these are probably the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I will be trying them again with tahini and maybe other nut butters if I have them around. Thank you for the recipe!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      That sounds like a great swap-out…glad they turned out well with the peanut butter!

    • Stefanie

    Prepped the dough yesterday and baked it off today. I like how the tahini gives great moisture to the cookies. Love how the cookies are thick too. Yay for getting another chocolate chip cookie recipe under my belt and one of yours too!

    • Una Labistour

    Omg going to make these tomorrow after I’ve bought a bar of chocolate! Bit dangerous though having to leave the cookie dough in the fridge overnight before baking!! I too am a raw dough eater…

    • Sarah

    Hi!! I made these cookies this weekend and just had to write a review! To people like me who don’t plan anything in advance and want cookies like… now and don’t want to wait a day for it to chill… i put my dough in the fridge for maybe 4 hours?? And the cookies are the best chocolate chip cookies that i have had!! I was skeptical how they would taste with the tahini and if my picky audience would enjoy them and he says they are the BEST.
    I used semi sweet chocolate chips- baked until they were a pale golden brown and they have been soft and chewy for days! Thanks for a great recipe! These will be our new go to cookies!

    • Edith

    These cookies are really delish, albeit a bit too sweet, Next time I’ll add some tahini, maybe add some spices, and reduce the white sugar.
    In the interest of scientific experimentation, I made 3 batches; 1 straight away, 1 after 4 hrs in the fridge and 1 after 1 hour in the freezer. Hands down, the best result was the freezer version.

A

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