Just because it’s January, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some treats. I know that some of us think that January is supposed to be about cleaning the slate and eating as healthy as possible, but I’m here to tell you that it’s important to have a balance in everything we do.
So with that said, I’d like to offer you these DAMN GOOD PALEO CHOCOLATE CHUNK TAHINI COOKIES. They’re gluten free, vegan-friendly, grain free and absolutely delicious. What more could you want?
Now I don’t know about you but I’m a firm believer that chocolate chunks are much better than chocolate chips. They melt into gorgeous puddles and each bite contains the perfect amount of sweetness.
Here’s what you need to make these tahini cookies:
Tahini: if you haven’t had tahini yet, then what are you waiting for? It’s just ground sesame seeds. My favorite brand is Soom foods, but I also love using the 365 brand from Whole Foods. I would not recommend the Trader Joe’s tahini as it’s much thicker than most tahinis.
Egg or flax egg: I give you the option to use either in this recipe.
Coconut sugar: I love using coconut sugar in recipes because it’s an unrefined sugar replacement for brown sugar or regular sugar in most recipes.
Coconut oil, melted butter or ghee: you can use any of these in this recipe. Personally I love using virgin coconut oil.
Almond flour: my favorite almond flour is Bob’s Red Mill. I prefer to use the blanched super fine almond flour for these cookies for a smooth texture.
Coconut Flour: I like using coconut flour in my paleo recipes because it helps to thicken the dough. You don’t need much. Another option instead of coconut flour might be oat flour; I haven’t tried it, but please leave a comment if you do.
Dark Chocolate: Personally I love using a 72% dark chocolate in this recipe. I recommend coarsely chopping the chocolate so that it’s not overly small.
These cookies are fabulous and SO easy to make. Enjoy them warm with a glass of almond, cashew or coconut milk. You’re going to love them!
More paleo cookie recipes:
Paleo No Bake Cookie Dough Truffles
The Best Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Flourless Paleo Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
If you make these tahini cookies, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating the recipe below. You can also use the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram so I can see your creations! xo.
Damn Good Paleo Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookies
Ingredients
- Wet Ingredients
- 1 egg*
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 2 tablespoons melted and cooled coconut oil (melted butter or melted ghee will also work)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Dry Ingredients
- 3/4 cup fine packed almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (3 ounce) dark chocolate bar (at least 72%), coarsely chopped*
- Fancy Maldon Salt, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the following: egg, coconut sugar, tahini, melted and cooled coconut oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Next add the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until a cookie dough consistency forms, then fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Grab about 1 heaping tablespoon of dough with your hands and roll into a ball. Place ball on cookie sheet and flatten the top of dough a bit with the palm of your hand.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes until edges are just slightly golden. We want to slightly underbake these so they stay gooey. Once done baking, immediately sprinkle with Maldon salt. Cool on cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 10-12 cookies.
Recipe Notes
To make vegan: Feel free to use 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water) instead of an egg. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes before using. Also make sure you are using a vegan chocolate.
Instead of chocolate chunks, you can feel free to use 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Recipe by: Monique // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eat
160 comments
Oh, I’ve made these (when you sent out in your newsletter). They are DAMN good!! Always love your paleo cookie recipes.
YES you caught the sneak peek! Glad you love them 🙂
Hey Monique! Have you tried subbing maple syrup for the coconut sugar? I’m out of coconut sugar and wasn’t sure if it’d be an equal swap or not…
Hey Lauren! You could definitely try it. Perhaps use 1/3 cup instead!
We’re not Paleo, would you recommend suubbing regular flour for almond flour, or cake flour? These look Awesome and would live to make if I don’t have to buy a bunch of special ingredients just for this recipe.
Thanks
This recipe was specifically made to use almond flour, so I’m not sure how regular flour will turn out. If you try it let me know! I also have tons of chocolate chip + chocolate chunk cookie recipes on my site with different flours that you can search 🙂
Hi! My husband is allergic to almonds, what flour can I use to substitute it?
Napkin please, I’m drooling all over myself.
These cookies will do that!
These are STUPID good! Tahini for the win!
Looove tahini! Glad you liked these 🙂
Yay, a recipe that can be made with a flax egg! OMG! These cookies look absolutely divine otherwise with the chocolate chunks and sea salt. Tahini, almond flour, and the coconut sugar definitely are some of the best ingredients to work with!
You’ll have to give these a try! So good.
I’m really curious what kind of baking sheet is pictured above.
Thanks for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it.
Hazelnut flour or cashew flour should work well!
It’s about a 9″x13″. Hope you love these!
Tried these with oat flour and they came out amazing! SO good! Thank you!
So happy to hear that!
Did you use oat flour to substitute for both the almond and coconut flour?
I have unsweetened tahini, I have seen other types. Can I use unsweetened?
What a fabulous recipe to get through arctic vortex. I used Enjoy Life chocolate chunks as the one ingredient I was out of was a chocolate bar (only had 100% dark chocolate)!
Yes I always use unsweetened like this kind!
Hi, I don’t have tahini at the moment and am wondering if subbing almond butter would work? Thanks!
Omg these were amazing! I’m gf, vegan, and cane sugar free (food allergies 🙁 ) and these made me sooo happy! The texture and sweetness were spot on. I brought them into work and they were a huge hit with everyone. Thanks so much!
Perfect! Glad you loved these 🙂
Just checked my pantry and don’t have coconut flour. I do have some rice flour. Can I substitute? Thanks!
I haven’t tested these with rice flour, only coconut flour so I’m not sure how they would turn out.
I made this subbing oatmeal flour for coconut and almond butter for tahini. They flattened like regular cookies but tasted great!!
Swapping the flours will definitely change the texture, but glad you enjoyed them!
Delicious! They just came out of the oven and even better than I expected.
Could I use almond butter instead of tahini? I’m out and my local store doesn’t carry it? 😭
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would be delicious, just beware that almond butter and tahini have different consistencies so be sure to use a drippy all natural almond butter.
I’m trying to cut down on sugar. How do you think monk fruit packets would work?
I was wondering the same thing!
I don’t typically bake with alternative sweeteners, so I’m not 100% sure. Let me know if you try it!
OMG Monique you tahini queenie, these were AMAZING. Jeff and I are gonna polish off the batch in like 2 days!
So glad you guys loved them!! Seriously one of my fav new cookies <3
hello,
i live overseas and we have hulled and unhulled tahini here. can you let me know which one to use in this recipe? i am researching and can not figure it out. thanks! 🙂
Hi! Yes, hulled is best.
you are right, great cookies, very pillowy, I would make them again and again!
sugar balance is great, not super sweet with the 72% cacao bar.
Glad you like them! 🙂
These are really good!! I could seriously eat the whole batch by myself!
These cookies are quick,easy and absolutely OUT OF THIS WORLD! Yum!
YES love them! Glad you found these 🙂
Do these freeze well?
Yes they should!
These cookies are *DAMN* AWESOME!! Every time I make them…a favorite with everyone!
Thank you!
So happy to hear that!!
THESE ARE SO FRIKIN GOOD. I’m obsessed with them and will definitely be making another batch soon.
Just made these with some substitutions (mainly white flour for almond flour and oat flour for coconut, same proportions) and I cooked them for just a little too long but they are delicious!! Love the tahini taste and the thickness
Also made them vegan, not even with flaxmeal but just flaxseeds and the texture is perfect, not crumbly at all. I did add a little rice milk to my dough as it was quite dense, but I think that was due to my tahini being not so drippy.
Your dough was likely dense from the flour substitutions + use of flaxseeds, but I’m glad you enjoyed even with the swaps!
Can I leave the coconut sugar out?
I love your recipes!!
I wouldn’t recommend it – the coconut sugar helps maintain the flavor and consistency in these. You can use brown sugar though if you’d like! Glad you’re loving the recipes here!
These a great! You don’t taste the “healthy” in these at all! I couldn’t stop at eating just just one!
So glad you loved them! They’re one of my favs even though they’re “healthy” 🙂
What sugar substitute did you use? I am also sugar free.
This recipe is incredible!! The cookies came out perfect after 10 minutes and i’ll be making another batch this week as they disappeared within the day. I used chocolate chips because I couldn’t find any other sugar free dark chocolate, and they still came out great. Thank you!
Perfect!! So happy to hear that 🙂
these were DELICIOUS. Used GF flour mix instead of the coconut flour (didn’t have in the pantry) and Lindt Thanks! * put some in the freezer and they were perfect too.
Glad that swap worked out! Perfect freezer-friendly treat 🙂
This recipe has become my go-to when I’m eating strictly paleo, I must have made them about 7 times since I discovered them 3 months back. Super tasty, soft, and easy to make. The tahini gives them a unique flavor that reminds me of molasses. Highly recommend!
Amazing! So happy you found these – the perfect treat 🙂
Can you sub coconut sugar for Splenda? If so is it the same ratio??
I’ve never baked with Splenda so I’m not sure. I do know that Splenda is a lot sweeter than regular, coconut and brown sugar, so the ratios will likely not be the same if you try it out.
This was simply divine.. I substituted the coconut flour with oat flour.. made a coarse version of almond flour.. and added extra choco chips.. bestest ever! Love your recipes !
I’m glad those swaps worked out for you! The perfect treat 🙂
Confused about the amount of coconut flour – just 1/4 of a tablespoon? Thanks!
Hi Janie! This has been fixed — than you for the catch! It’s 1/4 cup. The transfer of the new site must have messed up the measurement.
I modified the recipe to replace the coconut sugar with monkfruit sugar and because I find it sweet, reduced the sugar by about an 8th of a cup. However I then used 85% cocoa chips, which didn’t add enough sweetness. (And because I love chocolate, I chopped up the whole 3.5 oz bar instead of using 3 oz). Oh, and, I know they should only take 9-11 minutes but at 10 minutes they still looked raw so I added another 3 minutrs. All that explains why these look absolutely beautiful but they taste more like a scone with very little sweetness but a whole lot of unsweetened chocolate. The taste improved after they’d been cooking for an hour and I do like them but don’t love them. That’s my fault with all the mods, so I’ll be trying again! I love love love the tahini flavor.
Oops, I meant cooling* not cooking for an hour. Ha.
Hi Tracie! I haven’t tried baking these with alternative sweeteners like monkfruit sugar, so I’m not sure how much I’d recommend to get the same flavor as the coconut sugar. Glad you enjoyed these regardless!
Hi! I recently tried your Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe and have now made it three times. I am keen to try this one, however does it matter if you use raw tahini over roasted?
Thank you!
I use Soom tahini typically, which is made of roasted sesame seeds. I do recommend roasted because it has a less bitter flavor, but either should work fine!
These were so delicious! I used oat flour instead of almond flour and it worked beautifully. I liked the flavor the oat flour added as well.
Perfect! So glad that swap worked out well.
One of the best cookies to come out of my kitchen!
I did the flax egg version. Brought them to my family and they were floored. Only tweaks were 1/3 cup sugar instead of 1/2 and felt they were still wonderfully sweet. Also just did 1.5oz chopped chocolate and felt they still had ample amounts in each bite. Thank you thank you thank you!
Glad those little tweaks worked out well! One of my favs 🙂
Wow – these are AH-MAZING!! I love all of the recipes you design Monique!! I’m a sucker for baked goods, I love your unique combinations. I had to wait to get tahini to make these but it was SO worth it! I only had dark chocolate orange bar so I chopped that up… ridiculous!! Thank you!!
So happy to hear that! LOVE the idea of dark orange chocolate bar, too. Yum!
These are just damn good! I make them a few times a month. Great after gym treat.
My favorites! The perfect post-workout treat 🙂
Oh my goodness, these are phenomenal!! 😋💃🏻❤️ I used a real egg and Extra Large Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips which I coarsely chopped and they were amaaaaazing! Definitely making these again!! How should these be stored? Countertop in a glass airtight container ok??
Perfect! So glad you loved them. And yes an airtight container at room temp is just fine for a few days, then I’d suggest popping them in the fridge!
Sounds good! Thx!! Btw, I used Trader Joe’s Organic Tahini (which was actually runny and not thick at all) and these babies are to die for! 🙌🏻 Monique, seriously, you are a genius! How do you come up with these recipes!! Gotta check out the recommended tahini for my next tahini run! 😉
Perfect! I love experimenting with tahini 🙂 hope you love the Soom brand, too!
These cookies introduced me to tahini! These cookies are so fast to make and so dang good and popular at my place. Perfect guilt free treat and love how simple & fool proof they are. Love love love xx
Amazing! Love baking with tahini 🙂 so glad you found these!
Everything about this recipe was amazing! Will be making these again soon!
So happy you loved these!
I made these with 2 tbsp butter and brown sugar but otherwise followed the recipe as listed. I baked them about 11-12 minutes as they weren’t really becoming golden around the edge. I took them out, though, because they began to look a little “set”. Sprinkled with the salt and waited impatiently for 5 minutes.
So good! Soft, chocolate was still melty and the salt was delicious. I left them slightly thicker which helped keep that nice soft interior. Also, nice to run into chunks of the really good chocolate bar I used. I tasted the tahini at the end – a nutty flavor that is unlike a regular chocolate chip cookie and I appreciate.
Lastly, I like the size of the batch. I can make the entire recipe and know it will be gone in a few days but without overeating! I just gave my teen son 3 of them which is probably like 1 normal size for him! But I feel better about it using these quality ingredients.
Easy and quick!
Perfect! I’m so glad you enjoyed – one of my favorite cookies with some better for you ingredients 🙂
Soooo I kinda ran out of both tahini and almond flour when I decided to make these spontaneously last night… and they still came out amazing so I thought I would share!
I used cashew butter instead of tahini (but I REALLY want to make with tahini ASAP), only had less than 1/4 cup almond flour, so I used what I had, but upped the coconut flour to 1/2 cup and when I realized the dough could take a tiny bit more flour I used 1/4 cup chickpea flour as well. They came out so so so good: chewy yet crispy. However, they do have a slight chickpea flavor so I am sure they would’ve been absolutely fantastic with just almond flour 🙂
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! These are still delicious with cashew butter 🙂 let me know when you give them a try with the normal flour measurements!
These are the bomb! Just the right amount of tahini . I can eat he whole bowl of dough! I like them crispier so I bake them at 325 for longer.
I found a very refined date sugar at Home Goods…do you think that could work instead of coconut sugar?
So delicious! And yes that will be perfect!
I made this without coconut flour subbing for an extra 1/4 cup of almond flour. And I used swerve sweetener instead of coconut sugar, and lily’s dark chocolate chips. They are the best cookies I’ve ever had. Thank you for sharing this!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! One of my fav cookies 🙂
This recipe this AMAZING! I have made a lot (I mean A LOT) of healthier types of cookies/bars for my constant sweet tooth, and nothing I have ever made compares to these cookies. Most of the stuff I have made in the past doesn’t turn out like a cookie – the texture is off or one ingredient in the recipe overpowers the whole cookie – but not with this recipe. My husband is a very hard critic of cookies and he loved these.
We ate a couple straight out of the oven and they were delicious warm, but I also saved a couple and stored them in the fridge in a ziplock bag. In my opinion, they were even better the next day!!!
So happy you found this recipe! I’ll never sacrifice flavor here 😉 the perfect treat (warm or the next day!)
I have a jar of Organic Fair Trade Sesame Tahini and questioning if it will be too thick for the recipe. Is there a way of making it less thick so that I can use it in the recipe.
Wow, Monique! These cookies were beautiful and so deep in flavor. Thanks for sharing!
So happy you loved them!
I love this recipe and oddly enough I did in fact use the trader joes Tahini because thats all I had! It turned out wonderful.
Perfect! I’m glad it worked out well 🙂
these were amazing! followed the exact recipe and they came out fabulous–tastes like a real chocolate chip cookie!
Absolutely! Such a great treat 🙂 glad you enjoyed!
Amazing!!! I don’t know if I missed it but how should these be stored? They definitely won’t last more than 24 hours in our home, lol, so I may double the recipe next time. 😉
Also, could the tahini be substituted with creamy almond butter and, if so, would any other modifications be needed? Thank you!!
They can be stored in an airtight container room temp for 3-4 days or easily frozen! And for a different nut butter I suggest trying my paleo chocolate chunk cookies instead and using whatever nut butter you have on hand: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/the-best-paleo-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
Thanks! Will definitely try those next!! 😊
I was skeptical about the tahini but these are amazing!
Glad you loved them!
If I can’t get my hands on coconut sugar, can I use brown sugar instead?
would love to make this recipe !
Yes that should work just fine!
WOW!!!! these are seriously the best cookies I’ve ever tasted and not to mention they are so easy to whip up. Thank you for this recipe!!!
Amazing! So happy to hear that!
I love these cookies. Such a great, easy option. I had never baked with tahini before this, but it is perfect. I subsequently made the brownies 😋.
Absolutely! Easy and delicious 🙂
Damn I wish I’ve never found this recipe, I cannot stop making those cookies! They are unbelievably delicious! Once I was out of eggs so I tried the vegan version and it worked just as good! I have to force myself not to bake them more than once a week… Thank you so much, I feel like trying all of your tahini recipes.
(I Don’t know why I cannot put a rating from my phone but this is a 5 stars, no doubt! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I’m glad the flax eggs worked out well! The tahini recipes are my fav 🙂 we’re working on a fix for the stars, too – thank you for the heads up!
These cookies are OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! I really want to take them to a friend’s home for a play date with a few toddlers and thinking of cutting the sugar down a bit. Would you recommend this (how much?) or would it totally destroy the *amazingness* of these beauties?? Also, what would be the easiest and freshest way to do prepare beforehand– bake day before, feeze, and defrost the morning of… OR can/ should the batter be prepared day before and refriegerated and baked morning of? Sorry for so many questions… but these are seriously the BEST and perfect for sharing and bringing smiles!!! 😉 P.S. The star rating isn’t working for me… maybe bc I have rated them before 5 stars?
I personally think the cookies are perfect as is, but you could try reducing the sugar by a few tablespoons. You can make them a day ahead and they should be fine to take the next day! Or yes, freeze and defrost.
Just made this with one substitution (oat flour for the coconut flour) and they turned out delicious!! Huge hit with the entire family (both paleo dieters and non-paleo dieters). Thank you for another amazing and easy cookie recipe, Monique.
I’m glad that worked out well! So happy everyone loved them 🙂
I just made these and subbed oat flour for almond because I was out (sifted all the dry ingredients together). I also added 2 scoops of collagen for some protein and used butter for the oil, brown sugar for the coconut sugar. They were AMAZING. I’ve tried other tahini cookies and these are my favorite by far.
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Such a great treat 🙂
These are soooo good! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I will make these again and again! The only thing I had to change is the coconut oil and flour and the almond flour as I’m allergic to coconut and almonds. So I used avocado oil and hazelnut flour. They turned out fantastic. Actually, the hazelnut and chocolate was a good match! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Absolutely! Glad those swaps worked out well!
The dough was very wet following the recipe… I had to add a few table spoons of flour to make it playable.
Otherwise a good and delicious recipe xx
The dough should be pretty wet, but will bake up well!
Finally made these and they are SO GOOD. Perfectly sweet, texture is spot on (a little chewy and soft, and bite size! Definitely see these becoming a staple. And I think I’ll have to double the recipe next time!
So happy to hear that! One of my fav treats, too!
I have been looking for cookies that use almond flour and after trying the almond flour sugar sugar cookies, which are superb, I could not pass the Damn Good Tahini version of chocolate chip cookies.
I think they are a winner on their own, not a chocolate chip cookie substitute. For my taste, I will use less chocolate: with 3 oz it seemed like the cookie was barely holding together. 72% works for me, I tried also with darker chocolate, but it was too dark. Thumbs up!
Great! So glad you liked these ones!
These were delicious! Loved the nutty flavor of tahini and almonds mixed with chocolate. Only wish my cookies came out a bit more golden brown.
Absolutely! Feel free to bake them a bit longer if you’d like.
I’ve never made dessert with tahini before but these were SO good! My husband who doesn’t usually eat my gluten free cookies even said “these are really good”. Baked for 9 min and they came out perfect!
So happy to hear that! Tahini is amazing in baked goods 🙂
Great twist to classic chocolate chip cookies! You can’t even taste the tahini!
Absolutely! Glad you loved them 🙂
I’ve made these SO many times, seriously the BEST! I cannot believe how every time they come out so perfect!!
This last time, about 6 mins in I took a fork and flattened them and then increased the temp and put them on the top rack. They got a nice crisp/ bite but were soft in the middle. Wow wow! Amazing!
Perfect! So glad you love them!
These were delicious! And super easy/quick to make. I cut back the amount of coconut sugar from 1/2 cup to a 1/3 cup instead, and used 85% dark chocolate. 10 mins in the oven. They were perfection!
I’m glad that worked out well! Easy and delicious dessert 🙂
Absolutely famous cookies!!!!! Much better then classic ones.
I am sending greetings from the Czech Republic. 🙂
So glad you loved them!
This is my go-to cookie for my 9pm craving! Always hits the spot. I don’t buy coconut flour so I use shreds. The dough is probably more gooey but the cookie is still delicious and I love the slight chewiness from the shreds. Thanks for a great recipe.
So happy to hear that!
This was my first time trying out a paleo recipe. I was able to find all the ingredients at Sprouts. The only change I made was using regular semi-sweet chocolate chips. My daughter (age 7) loves to bake with me and we were excited to see how these came out. I prepared her they would probably taste a little different but she loved them! We might just have to bake more paleo desserts. The only downside is the price of the ingredients (almond flour, coconut sugar, coconut flour etc.). Anyone have a good spot that they buy them at?
I get my almonds done coconut flours from Costco 🙂
So yummy!! Did half coconut sugar and half date sugar. Also used cacao chips instead. Love the tahini taste. Will definitely be making these again and again!
Wow best texture of any paleo cookie I’ve tried. Husband said he couldn’t tell the difference at all!
So happy to hear that!
The texture of this cookie is great, I love the crisp exterior and the soft interior. Best part is that they are really easy to make and come together in no time.
Absolutely! Perfect dessert 🙂
Wow! Quick and easy to make- I had all the ingredients on hand! LOVE the taste and texture of these cookies. Gooey, chocolate and nutty flavor. Thx for posting such a great recipe! The salt really sets it off yummmm
So glad you loved them!!
*Disclaimer* I used maple syrup (1/3 cup) as I was unexpectedly out of coconut sugar and I used the flax egg because I was down to 2 eggs and needed them for something else. So prepared, I know…
That being said, these cookies were great *for a vegan, paleo cookie*. While good old fashioned butter/flour/sugar chocolate chip cookies can’t be beat, these are a great alternative if you’re looking for a sweet treat that also has a bit of nutrition to it.
I will say that I used a new to me brand of tahini that I don’t love and have just been trying to use up, and I think these would’ve been that much better if I had used my normal fave brand. So highly recommend getting a good tahini that you like, because it makes a difference here!!
Noted on the swaps here! And totally hear you on the tahini – using a good one is key for flavor and baking 🙂 Let me know if you give them a try with your fav tahini and the other listed ingredients!