‘Kismet’ Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Kismet: Bright, Fresh, Vegetable-Loving Recipes by Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson.

If we had to live the rest of our lives with only one cookie to indulge in, it might well be this one. The Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies from the Kismet cookbook are soft in the middle and crisp on the edges, with a lovely light halvah vibe adding just the right amount of complexity. Melty chocolate chunks peek through in perfect proportion to the dough.

We think it’s important to use a good tahini whenever tahini is called for in a recipe; lesser brands can be bitter. We recommend the Al Kanatar brand; tahinis from Lebanon are usually far superior to those made in America, and Al Kanatar is particularly good.

Kramer and Hymanson’s original recipe requires chilling the dough in the fridge for 2 to 12 hours; We chilled the dough for 4 hours when we tested the recipe.

Makes about 34 cookies.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup / 210 grams all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces/168 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup / 150 grams granulated sugar

3/4 cup / 110 grams loosely packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 cup / 168 grams tahini

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups / 252 grams roughly chopped dark chocolate (70% cacao)

1 tablespoon flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, use a hand-mixer to cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and salt on medium speed until fluffy and light in color, about 5 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

3. Add the tahini and vanilla and mix on low speed to incorporate, then add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating the first one fully before adding the second.

4. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until it’s almost fully combined. Stir in the chocolate, mixing just to distribute evenly. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to 12 hours.

5. Heat the oven to 350F / 177 C. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough into loose balls of roughly equal size — no need to roll them — and evenly space them apart on each lined pan. (Note: My dough balls were roughly ping pong-ball-sized. The original recipe calls for spacing them at least 3 inches / 7.5 cm apart, but if you’re going to fit 12 cookies on each sheet pan you’ll only be able to space them about 2 inches / 5 cm apart. A few of them melted into each other, but not terribly — I used a sharp knife to separate them when they came out and no one was the wiser.)

6. Top each cookie with a pinch of flaky salt and bake until browned on the edges but not all the way through, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.

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