Soft & Chewy Flourless Ginger Tahini Cookies

In January, well after holiday season was over, a client sent a big box of Tate's Cookies to the office, where they filled the kitchen counter for half a week. It was the worst (but also the best) kind of way to kick off January. I had been wanted to make a gingery version of these tahini chocolate chip cookies for some time -- I even had made a batch over the holidays that didn't quite work out. Despite it being peak resolution season, that counter full of cookies was just the push I needed to dive back into recipe development. 

The dream: a chewy, rich, flourless ginger cookie with chunks of crystallized ginger. 

I knew that tahini would be the perfect base, but my first attempt used far too much molasses and the cookies were WAY too soft. I learned, on that attempt, that coconut sugar really imparts enough molasses-y flavor anyhow, as it's unrefined so still carries all of the minerals that are stripped from refined sugars when molasses is made. 

Tips for making these chewy tahini ginger cookies: 

• STIR THAT TAHINI. This is in all caps because it's no joke. Tahini separates fast and if your tahini is all oil or all solids you're batter won't work. Last time I published a tahini cookie recipe someone asked about how to best stir tahini, which is a really good question because it's not the easiest to stir. But don't worry! Just scrape the entire jar into a blender, and let it rip. OR, carefully put your immersion blender into your tahini container (this is what I do, but also can foresee what a mess this might make in the wrong circumstances) 

• Let them cool. Really! I too like hot-out-of-the-oven cookies, but these cookies need a minute to set up. More like 5-10. They'll still be warm, and they'll stay soft for a week at room temperature. BUT, if you try to pick one up while it's still piping hot it will just collapse and melt in your hand (if you can even get it into your hand). 

Now, the recipe! 

Soft & Chewy Flourless Ginger Tahini Cookies

Published February 21, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yields: 16   |    Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 cup coconut sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/16 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup tahini (stirred very well - try blending it with your blender if it is separated)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1-1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated on a microplane

Optional: 1/3 cup ginger chips or finely chopped crystallized ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine coconut sugar, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves. Whisk briefly.
3. Add tahini, vanilla, egg, and fresh ginger to bowl, and use a spatula to stir until a stiff, sticky batter forms.
4. Optional: place bowl of batter in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow dough to stiffen a bit more.
5. Using your hands, roll dough into spheres by the heaping tablespoonful. Place spheres at least 2 inches apart of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatted slightly with your fingers.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies have spread and are golden. Cookies will still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling wrack or a plate.

Chewy Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free & Grain-Free)

If you make any cookie from this blog, let it be this one. I might regret saying that later, but it's how I feel now and what's a blog if not in-the-moment. 

While I've used a lot of nut and seed butters in baking before, tahini is something special in a cookie. 

First let me say that I love thin, chewy, fresh-out-of-the-oven-soft cookies. Gooey. Warm. Indulgence. That what makes tahini ideal: its consistency and fat content allows it to spread out into a thin cookie, and even as the cookies cool they never get crispy. They maintain that soft, chewy bite for days. 

Coconut sugar is also necessary here -- it's not something I usually use, opting for maple syrup or honey in most of my baking - but a crystalized sugar helps to glue the cookies together, so that everything doesn't just fall apart when you pick them up. So you can dip your cookie in a shot of espresso, or a glass of milk or cup of tea. 

Chewy Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published May 17, 2018 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 20   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup tahini (stirred well)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla 
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate bar (about 2 ounces)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk briefly.
3. Add tahini, vanilla, and egg to bowl, and use a spatula to stir until a stiff, sticky batter forms. Fold in chopped chocolate.
4. Optional: place bowl of batter in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow dough to stiffen a bit more.
5. Using your hands, roll dough into spheres by the heaping tablespoonful. Place spheres 2 inches apart of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and flatted slightly with your fingers.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies have spread and are golden. Cookies will still be quite soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to move them to a cooling wrack or a plate.

Grain-Free Salted Maple Pecan Pie Bars

I gotta say-- as cliche as it may sound, I never thought I'd turn out quite so much like my parents. If you had offered me a slice of pecan pie 10 years ago, I probably would've passed it up, and left more for my dad, who loves the stuff. Nowadays, I jump on the opportunity to make pecan pie, and am happy to eat it all myself. 

The first bite still makes me think of my dad, but then I'm overwhelmed by Oh my gosh, soooo gooood thoughts, and I just keep on munching. 

My mom, on the other hand was more about pumpkin pie. She would spend the week leading up to Thanksgiving pouring over copies of Living and other foodie magazines, earmarking her favorites pumpkin pie recipes (along with stuffing recipes, biscuit recipes, etc). When the big day finally came, she'd make all of the classics, with funny twists and tasteful turns. Nonsense, right? I would never spend weeks searching for every odd version of pecan pie and then finally settle on making something completely different... 😉

And if you were to ask how I decided to make Salted Maple Pecan Pie Bars instead of regular pecan pie, I'd probably open my mouth to explain. In a voice just like my mom's, I'd say something like "Oh, you know, I just was experimenting," because that's the type of thing I heard her say my whole life. 

But sometimes, experiments pay off: these gooey puppies are caramelly, nutty, and crunchy. They're sticky, but no too sweet. They don't need whipped cream/whipped coconut cream/ice cream just to cut the sweetness, but... we all know that whipped cream isn't really optional when it comes to pie.

Grain-Free Salted Maple Pecan Pie Bars

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

A thick shortbread-like crust topped with a gooey layer of maple butter filling and toasted pecans. Finished with flake sea salt.

Serves: 12   |    Total Time: 1.5 - 2 hours

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Ingredients:

• 1 recipe Paleo Pie Crust dough (unbaked)
• 1 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoons arrowroot powder
• 1 teaspoon cold water
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1/8 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make the pie crust dough according to instructions. Then, press the dough into the bottom of a 9x9 pan, working the dough so that the crust goes about 1/4 inch up the side of the pan (this creates a reservoir for the filling). The bottom of the crust will be around 1/2 centimeter thick. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in syrup, and cook until mixture is bubbling, about 1 minute. Let cool slightly, 5-6 minutes. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the arrowroot powder and water. Whisk in milk, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Slowly add warm butter mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. Pour filling into pie shell, then arrange pecans evenly on top
3. Bake until pie is puffed and set along edges, 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack before serving.