Full disclosure: these are not a health food. They have some things in them that make them a tiny bit more wholesome and nutrient rich than a regular cookie. But they are a sugary treat. I’m all for the belief that if you want a cookie, dessert of any kind, or whatever so called bad food you’re craving, then have it. Just make it yourself.

Speaking of treat food, I’m not a big believer in so called ‘refined sugar free’ treats these days. What’s meant by refined sugar any way? Technically as these have coconut (or rapadura) sugar in them they would be defined by some people as refined sugar free, but they’re still a sugary treat. Sugar is essentially just sugar. Unless it’s in the fruit or vegetable or whatever it’s naturally found in when you consume it then it’s still just added sugar too. Sweetening with dates, maple syrup and honey is still sweetening and will still give you a sugar rush. Honey, dates and agave in particular are super high in fructose so will actually taste even sweeter to you than the same amount of regular sugar.

I guess that’s the plus that you should be able to use less of those things and achieve the same flavour. But in baking the quantity can be structurally important as it’s science, you’re not just dealing with flavour. I’m not worried about having some sugar in my diet I just prefer it to be in the form of actual desserts and cookies than hidden unnecessarily in foods that are supposed to be savoury, or in my drinks. Being honest with yourself about what a health food is an isn’t is important, there’s no need to eat 100% healthy for the body food, healthy for the soul food is important to. Just be honest with yourself about what sugar is, in all its forms. That way you can keep these foods as being sometimes and not trick yourself into thinking they should be a regular part of your diet.

These cookies are no quick fix to your sugar cravings, you need to rest the dough for at least a couple of hours in the freezer before cooking as it’s very soft. The base of this recipe is these amazing tahini chocolate chip cookies on the blog, I Will Not Eat Oysters. It’s a killer recipe as is but after making it numerous times I’ve slowly changed it and made it my own so I’m sharing my version today.

The key differences? The gluten free thing, the double chocolate thing and some added spices and flavours to suit the other changes. And the evolution has been such a delight, but the best part of all the experiments is definitely the final result.

And that final result is a chewy slightly fudgy cookie that is crisp at the edges and soft in the centre. The trick to getting that crinkly edge and soft centre is two fold: 1) not over cooking them, take them out of the oven while they still look a little soft in the centre. 2) lifting the tray and banging it on the wire rack it is cooking on at the recommended times during baking. This helps the cookies crack and allows for the chewy crispy edge, I know it sounds weird to drop your tray of cookies but you’re not doing from a great height. And that crinkle it creates. So good.

The rose petal you see in some of the photos are oh so optional, the rose hint brings out the tahini and cinnamon flavours though so I love it, especially if you’re making these for a special occasion. But it’s probs a bit indulgent money wise so only do it if you have them on hand from say catering a wedding recently;)

Ingredients

110g room temperature organic salted butter

1/2  cup tahini (hulled)

1 cup rapadura or coconut sugar

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup almond meal

1/3 cup dutch pressed cocoa powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

200g 70-80% dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

Dried rose petals to decorate – optional

Sea salt flakes to finish

Directions

Place butter, tahini and sugar in the bowl of an exctric mixer and use the paddle attachement to beat together on medium speed. beat until light in colour and fluffy, 3-5 minutes depending on effectiveness of your mixer.

Add the egg, yolk and vanilla extract and continue to beat on medium speed for a further 5 minutes. It should be light and fluffy with more body than earlier.

Meanwhile, mix together the almond meal, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Place in the elecrtic mixer and mix on low until just combined, 30 seconds should be enough (you may want to use a tea towel before beginning to beat together so cocoa doesn’t go everywhere). Add the chocolate and beat together for a further 5-10 seconds, or just fold through.

Line a tupperware container with baking paper and use a mechanical ice cream scoop to make balls of cookie dough. Release into prepared container, do not allow to touch. Do multiple layers separated by baking paper if needed. Freeze for a few hours or up to 6 months. After a few hours you can transfer the balls of dough to a zip lock bag for easier storage.

Wehn ready to cook line a tray with baking paper and preheat oven to 160 degrees celsisus. Space cookies 5 cm apart on your baking tray, they will spread a lot as they cook. Allow cookies to sit out of the freezer on the prepared baking tray while the oven is preheating, preferably 20 minutes so that the dough is not so cold when it enters the oven.

Bake for 8 minutes then lift the tray off the rack a couple of inches and drop bakc down. This should flatten and crack the cookies. Cook for a further 2 minutes and drop again. Cook for a further 2 minutes and drop one final time before removing from the oven. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Allow the cookies to rest on the tray until they have firmed up enough to remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. Sprinkle with rose petals. Eat! Or eat while they’re hot.. up to you.