Imagine a chewy, soft cookie packed with melty pools of dark chocolate, nutty tahini and toasted sesame. Now imagine it vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar free! These cookies are one of my all-time favourites – and for good reason. They have the perfect balance of comfort, flavour and texture, whilst remaining allergy friendly.
Topped with flaky sea salt, these cookies are truly perfect. They take less than 30 minutes from start to finish, and are irresistibly delicious. This flavour is quite unique for a cookie, but as you may not expect, sesame and chocolate pair extremely well!
Because these are gluten-free, I find that using oat flour is my favourite option when baking cookies. It provides such a wonderful flavour, along with a chewy, slightly crumbly cookie. To make them spread, I use coconut oil as the fat, and aquafaba as the egg!
JUMP TO:
• What you’ll need
• FAQ’s
• The history of cookies
• Recipe
What you’ll need
Ingredients:
• Coconut oil | This is the fat used in this recipe, so you can’t omit it. However, if you are looking for a substitute, vegan butter will work. Make sure the coconut oil is room temperature, if it’s too cold it might form lumps.
• Coconut sugar | This is an un-refined natural sugar which provides a little sweetness and a wonderful flavour. If you don’t have any, try brown sugar.
• Vanilla | I use bean paste but extract will also work, just add a little more. I wouldn’t omit this, it provides a depth of flavour.
• Aquafaba | This is the egg replacement. It helps the cookies spread, and acts as a binder. It’s the liquid residue from canned legumes, chickpeas are best, but green lentils work too (it’s weird but trust me).
• Tahini | I only use a little of this, which provides the nutty flavour without the bitterness. I use this to provide that delicious sesame flavour.
• Maple syrup | This compliments the sesame flavour and provides some natural sweetness.
• Oat flour | The only gluten-free flour I really use is oat flour. If you don’t have any, you can blend up oats until a powder, however it may not be as fine.
• Baking soda | This will help the cookies spread.
• Salt | Use fine sea salt in the dough and flaky sea salt on the top, trust me.
• Flax meal | Because there is no gluten or egg in these cookies, flax helps keep them together. If you don’t have flax meal, you could also use chia meal.
• Chocolate | I typically use 50% dark chocolate in all of my cookies, it’s the perfect balance between sweetness and richness! I use bars cut into chunks rather than chips, because they create melty pools once baked.
• Sesame seeds | Because the cookies only bake for 11 minutes, I recommend toasting the seeds beforehand in a pan (or the oven), before sprinkling onto the cookie dough balls, and then baking.
FAQ’s
• What is aquafaba? | Aquafaba is the liquid residue in canned chickpeas. It acts as the “egg” in these cookies, allowing them to spread while holding their shape in the oven.
• What if I don’t have canned chickpeas? | Aquafaba comes from canned legumes, so if you don’t have chickpeas, lentil residue will work too.
• Can I replace coconut oil? | I use coconut oil to keep these cookies wholesome, but vegan butter will work just the same.
• My cookies are oily, why? | This is because either your coconut oil wasn’t room temperature, or you didn’t beat it long enough. If this is the case, your cookies may have coconut oil “clumps”, which will melt in the oven, causing them to be a little oily.
The history of cookies
Cookies place of origin is in Persia where they date back as early as the 7th century AD. Persia was one of the first countries ever to grow and harvest sugar cane. Cookies are thought to have started off being an oven temperature tester. So many bakers would bake what are now known as ‘cookies’ to test if the oven temperature was right, before putting their baked good into the oven. By the 14th century, cookies had spread through out the whole of Europe and were enjoyed by all levels of society, from royal cuisine to street venders. Cookies were first introduced to America by the English in the 1600s. At this time, cookies went by many names like small cakes, seed biscuits, and tea cakes. Cookies got their name as we know it today in America.
Vegan wholesome chocolate & sesame cookies
prep time: 15mins / serves: 13 / cook time: 11mins
Ingredients:
for the dough:
• 80g coconut oil, room temp
• 15g tahini
• 3 tbsp aquafaba, or flax egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 172g coconut sugar
• 190g oat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 27g maple syrup
• 70g chocolate chunks, 50% dark
additional:
• toasted sesame seeds, for topping
• small chocolate chunks, for topping
• flaky sea salt, for topping
Method:
• Pre-heat oven to 180c or 160c, fan assisted oven.
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Add softened coconut oil and tahini to a large mixing bowl.
• With an electric whisk, whip until combined and soft.
• Add the coconut sugar, vanilla and aquafaba. Whip again.
• Add the oat flour, salt, baking soda and maple syrup.
• Fold to briefly combine, don’t overmix.
• Add the chocolate chunks and fold to combine.
• Scoop into balls (I aim for 13). Place on the baking sheet.
• Leave enough room for each to spread (5-6 on each tray).
• Add toasted sesame seeds and chocolate chunks to the top of each.
• Bake for 11 minutes.
• Remove from the oven (scoot if needed).
• Let them cool on the trays and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
• Enjoy! (best when eaten warm).
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