These cookies are a delicious adaptation of my chickie bikkies.
What a happy accident they were when I was out of chickpea flour and without a food processor staying at a friends house.
I had to make them multiple times over to try and recreate that happy accident but I think it was well worth it.
These are exactly what I want out of a cookie: chewy, sweet, crumbly and hearty. Enjoy!
x Harry
Makes: About 8 large or 16 small cookies
Prep time: 2 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Equipment: Large baking tray, large bowl and whisk
1/2 cup hulled tahini
2 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter (or sub for another nut butter or more tahini)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups almond meal
1/4 teaspoon good quality salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon for topping (I used sea salt flakes)
1 block (80g) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius fan-forced and line a large baking tray with compostable or reusable baking paper.
Combine maple, tahini, peanut butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add the almond meal and mix until well combined. You might find you have a crumb-like texture at first. You can then use clean hands to continue to mix and combine the cookie dough until it comes together.
Divide the mixture up. To do this fairly evenly I break the dough in half and then half again until I am left with a small handful or a large tablespoons worth of dough for each cookie. Roll into a ball and press down to form each cookie.
Place the cookies onto the lined tray. Don't worry if they are quite close to one another, they will remain much the same size when cooked.
Add your chopped chocolate pieces and gently press into the cookies. Sprinkle with a few sea salt flakes to finish. Place in the oven to bake for 10-15 minutes (10 minutes will give you a chewy, soft cookie, 15 minutes will give you a crispy cookie).
COOKS NOTESChocolate - I used the 'Pico' brand for this, but you can use any that you like. I like to go for a nice clean one with minimal ingredients.
Almond meal - I have tried blanched and unblanched almond meal (or flour) and the choice is totally up to you, I couldn't notice a huge difference.
Tahini - The consistency of the tahini you use will make the biggest difference to the consistency of the cookies. Tahini is essentially the 'shortening' ingredient (or fat) in this recipe. A medium consistency is ideal where the tahini is not solid and not super runny. You want it to be nice and smooth and creamy.
Peanut butter - If you are using a peanut butter that contains salt you might like to omit the extra salt in the recipe. Ideally go for a natural nut butter with no added sugar, oils etc. If you'd like to, you can swap peanut butter for more tahini or another nut or seed butter, all of which will lend a different flavour. I have also tried cashew and almond butters and both were great.
Cooking time - The good news is that you can adjust this to suit your preferences. If you like a really soft and chewy cookie, reduce the cooking time. If you prefer a more crumbly cookie, go for the higher end of cooking time.
Storage - If you can make these last longer than three days, let me know (haha)...I haven't managed it yet!
Soooo good! Thanks Harry you’re a champ????