
What is Tahini?
If you’re wondering what the heck tahini is, I’ll tell you. Tahini is a seed paste made from toasted and ground sesame seeds. It’s the consistency of peanut butter. Its commonly used in hummus (including our roasted red pepper hummus) and is the key ingredient in a popular Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dessert—halva—a dessert made mostly of tahini, ground nuts, and honey. Tahini is getting more and more common, which is amazing because then I don't have to hunt for it! I always find it by the nut and seed butters in the grocery store, but you can always buy it on amazon too! Or even try making it yourself!Pistachios in Middle Eastern cooking
Pistachios are another common ingredient in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking and baking, like baklava and halva. Pistachios actually originate from the Middle East and Central Asia! For our recipe you’ll toast the pistachios before adding them into your dough. This does a couple of things; it enhances the nutty flavor and crisps the pistachios so you don’t have soft pistachios in your cookies.Why brown butter and not basic butter?
With these tahini cookies we’re skipping the regular butter and using brown butter! If you’ve never had browned butter before it is MAGIC! It has this beautiful nutty flavor that matches the nutty flavor of the tahini and pistachios perfectly. We’ve got all the tips for browning butter on our How to Brown Butter post! I also decided to I use more brown sugar than white sugar because the molasses in the brown sugar complements the nutty flavors in these tahini pistachio dark chocolate cookies.Dark Chocolate over Errrythinggg
I personally loveeee dark chocolate. Of course there is a time and a place for milk chocolate, but this recipe is definitely where dark chocolate belongs, so don’t even think about swapping out the dark chocolate for milk. The dark chocolate chips have the perfect bite to contrast the sweet and nutty flavor of the rest of the dough. If you’re really anti-dark chocolate, you can use semi-sweet, but that’s my final offer.Let those flavor mingle baby
You’ll see in the instructions to wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. I made a couple of cookies immediately after the dough was made and a couple of cookies the next day after refrigerating the dough and then did a little taste test. I found that the flavors had mingled and we’re better after the dough sat overnight. But, if you don’t have time to wait, the cookies made the same day were still insanely delicious. Enjoy! AlyssaMore Cookie Recipes You'll Love!
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S'mores Cookies
- Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Blueberry Coconut Pecan Cookies
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Dark Chocolate Pistachio Tahini Cookies
These Dark Chocolate Tahini Pistachio Cookies cookies have a tahini and
brown , toasted pistachios, and tons of dark chocolate for a rich, nutty
cookie.
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brown , toasted pistachios, and tons of dark chocolate for a rich, nutty
cookie.
Servings: 20
Calories: 283kcal
Ingredients
- ½ cup +3 tablespoons butter room temperature
- ½ cup tahini well stirred
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar well packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour measured correctly
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups dark chocolate
- ¾ cup shelled pistachios roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place pistachios on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Let cool completely before incorporating into dough.
- Brown butter until you reach an amber color, cool to room temperature (solid, not melted).
- Cream together brown butter, tahini, both sugars, eggs, and vanilla for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down sides of bowl if needed. In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add in to batter a little bit at a time. Mix until the flour is just incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Stir in dark chocolate chips and pistachios. I reserved some pistachios to top cookie dough balls with. If you have time, wrap cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. I found that flavor is better as they mingle together overnight. However, your cookies will still turn out and be delicious if you don’t have time.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Take about ¼ cup of dough top cookie dough balls with some of the reserved pistachios (optional). Place on greased baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 283kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 147mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 25g
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Crystal says
Very wet dough, I was worried it would make for a thin crispy cookie. Good recipe
Ronalee says
Our cookies ended up with a lot more height than what we see in the photo. We refrigerated overnight. Any recommendations to get them to flatten out a bit more? We followed the recipe to the letter!
In Fine Taste says
Hi Ronalee, if the cookies aren't flattening out Here are some common problems! If you refrigerated them, it may be that the dough was just a little too cold, and it prevented them from spreading. You can try letting the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking. Or, a common problem is that the butter may have been browned a little too long, resulting in more water evaporating from the butter. Less moisture = less spread. Another common issue is if the flour was measured carefully. Make sure the flour was stirred up (it compacts as it sits) and then spoon it in to the measuring cup and level it off with the back of a spoon.
I hope that helps!
- Alyssa
anne says
I just made the dough and was going to bake now and freeze the cookies for when my kids come to visit end of month. Now I am wondering if it would be best to freeze the dough then bake them when they are here? Any suggestions, cheers
Kathy Keuning says
Do you use dark brown or light brown sugar? I know dark brown has more molasses in it.
In Fine Taste says
Hi Kathy, I usually use light brown sugar in this recipe. You can use dark brown sugar if you prefer. As you said, dark sugar has more molasses which will lead to a slightly chewier cookie and a little more spread.
-Alyssa
Barbara says
What other nuts can you suggest? I do not have any pistachios I have pecans and walnuts only.
In Fine Taste says
HI Barbara, Pistachios are definitely recommended in this recipe. But if you'd like to try another kind of nut, I'd suggest pecans.
- Alyssa
Christina says
Looking at the last few steps…do you use 1/4 cup dough for each cookie?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Christina, yes, I use about 1/4 cup of dough per cookie. This gives the cookies the best texture and size, in my opinion.
- Alyssa
Susan says
Suggestions for making this gluten free?
In Fine Taste says
A good 1:1 gluten free baking flour should work perfectly!
- Alyssa
Sonia says
What about using regular butter how much if not browning do you use? Can I use Grapeseed oil or avocado oil instead of butte?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Sonia, I highly recommend browning the butter! It adds so much flavor to this recipe. However, if you are skipping the browning of butter I would recommend using about 8.5 tablespoons of butter. I have not experimented with using oil in this recipe so I cannot give a recommendation. I think the oil will make the cookies spread quite a bit more than the butter and not give as good of a flavor. I hope that helps.
- Alyssa
Heather-Marie says
I baked these today and used Bob's Gluten Free 1-to-1 flour and they were amazing. I made the brown butter but skipped roasting the pistachios since I bought roasted/salted pistachios. I used Enjoy Life dark chocolate chips. Delicious cookies!
Joy says
Thanks for sharing! I was looking at the comments to see if anyone made them gf!
Amy says
if I'm using roasted and salted pistachios, do I need to roast them again?
In Fine Taste says
I would skip the roasting if they are already roasted. I would also reduce the amount of salt in the cookies if the pistachios are salted.
- Alyssa
Helene says
I have salted pistachios in the pantry. What do you think about using salted vs unsalted pistachios in this recipe?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Helene, I usually use unsalted pistachios, but I think I might like the little extra pop of salt that the salted pistachios have. If you're worried about them being too salty you can reduce the amount of salt in the cookie recipe.
- Alyssa
Helene says
Thanks. I was thinking the same thing.
KH says
Looks yummy! Salted or unsalted butter?
In Fine Taste says
You can use either! I usually use salted butter because that's usually what I have on hand.
- Alyssa
MR says
Looks great. Can you substitute butter for an oil/ dairy free option?
In Fine Taste says
Hi! You can use a dairy-free butter in this recipe. Browning dairy-free butter is a little different, here is a tutorial on how to brown dairy-free butter. Or if you'd like to skip the browning part, you can use dairy-free butter and reduce the amount of butter to 9 1/2 tablespoons.
I hope that helps!
- Alyssa
Elizabeth says
I’m prepping for the holiday season. Could the dough be prepared and frozen for later use?
In Fine Taste says
So sorry for the late response! Yes, you can scoop and freeze the dough to use for a later date. Just thaw the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes before baking.
- Alyssa
Julia says
Yum! Can you sub GF flour?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Julia, I've personally never tried using GF flour. But I have had other people use 1:1 GF flour and say it worked well for them!
- Alyssa
Malorie says
Love this recipe and have made it a few times. One question though: why does the butter need to be room temperature if it’s being browned over the stove?
In Fine Taste says
Hi Malorie, the butter doesn't need to be room temperature before it's browned. After you brown the butter you will want to cool it until it returns to room temperature state. Sorry for the confusion!
- Alyssa
Lisi says
Ha ha now all my friends are making the recipe this weekend! I've told them to send me some 😂
Lisi says
These were INCREDIBLE.. sent a few to friends and family, they all loved!
admin says
Thank you so much! That is so great to hear, so happy they turned out for you!
- Alyssa