Miso Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
For some reason, I never got into Christmas cookies, but chocolate chip cookies are a different story, probably because I’m very partial to chocolate desserts. These are basically my dream cookies: made with whole food ingredients (with chickpeas making up the bulk of the batter!), soft and chewy, very subtly sweet, and containing my two favorite pantry staples, tahini and miso.
I would put these cookies into the sneaky treat category, as opposed to full-on decadent dessert category. They are a little health nutty, but in the best sense of the term. I think of these cookies as something to make at home on a snowy night, when you have a sweet tooth, or maybe as fuel for decorating the tree. They are definitely for the soft cookie lovers, since the chickpea batter stays soft throughout the baking. I love adding miso to desserts, since it adds a bit of complexity and saltiness, which beautifully sets off any sweeteners. If you’ve ever tasted white miso on its own, it’s also surprisingly sweet. And as for the tahini, I think that tahini and chocolate are a match made in heaven, and I love working tahini into most chocolate dessert recipes that I make/develop. Hope you’ll give these cookies a try sometime during this holiday season :)
Miso Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 12-14 3 1/2" cookies
1 1/2 cups (1 15 oz/425 g can) cooked chickpeas
2/3 cup almond flour
1/2 cup creamy tahini
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon white miso
1 tablespoon room temperature refined coconut oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
sea salt
1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips, plus scant 1/4 cup for decorating
flaky salt
Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Prepare a large, parchment-lined baking sheet.
In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, almond flour, tahini, maple syrup, miso, coconut oil, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Process until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl if needed. Add 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and pulse to just combine.
Start measuring out about 3 tablespoons of the dough per cookie and putting it on the prepared baking sheet. Shape the dough into cookies by gently flattening it out with wet hands, making sure to leave about 1" of space between each cookie (the cookies will spread out in the oven, by about 1/2"). Top each cookie with a few more of the reserved chocolate chips, gently pressing them in. You will likely need to bake the cookies in a few batches. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until the cookies are dry to the touch and slightly golden. Remove the cookies from the oven and sprinkle with flaky salt. Let cool for at least 15 minutes, then carefully move to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Do not skip this step, since these cookies are very fragile right out of the oven and will firm up once they cool. Enjoy!
Intuitive Cooking Takeaways
These cookies are a great example of how savory ingredients can be used in dessert recipes. Counteracting sweet flavors with a little bit of saltiness (in this case, from the miso and sea salt) and bitterness (in this case from the tahini) can give you just the right balance of flavor.