Salted Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies

These are adult chocolate chip cookies. Made with tahini and flaky sea salt, these are on the moist soft side with a bit of a crisp edge. They are not overly sweet, so you may prefer to use good quality semisweet chips instead of bittersweet. I like Guittard, which uses sunflower lecithin instead of soy. Although the tahini is unusual in a cookie, I have found that you can substitute tahini for up to half of the butter in many cookie recipes.

Salted Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies
From David Lebovitz
Makes 24 cookies

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
1/2 cup tahini, well stirred
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup 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 (use Cup4Cup for a gluten-free version)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
flaky sea salt, such as Maldon

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, tahini, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium speed for 3 minutes, until fluffy. 

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.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and 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 a small portion scoop. Make each cookie 1 1/2-inch round and place them on the baking sheets a couple of inches apart. 

Bake the cookies, switching the baking sheets from top to bottom in the oven midway during baking, at about 6 minutes. Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but still pale in the center, about 12 minutes, for larger cookies. 

Remove from the oven, sprinkle cookies with a bit of flaky sea salt, and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. 

Serve warm or cool. Be sure to store any cookies that won't be consumed in a couple of days in the freezer.