These cookies are essentially a grown-up choc-chip cookie, packed full of Middle-Eastern inspired flavour. Pistachio and orange is a match made in heaven and the tahini adds a delicious underlying richness.
The tahini in these cookies really adds something unique, giving them a slightly savoury, nutty flavour, similar to peanut butter. If you can stand the wait then these cookies really benefit from the dough resting so that the flavours merge together. Overnight works best but a couple of hours will do if it’s a day where you just.need.cookies.
Pistachio, Orange & Tahini Choc-Chip Cookies
Course: BakingDifficulty: Easy20
servings20
minutes15
minutesPistachio and orange is a match made in heaven and the tahini adds a delicious underlying richness.
Ingredients
115 g unsalted butter, room temperature
120 ml tahini, well stirred
100 g granulated sugar
90 g packed, light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
150 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
150 g dark chocolate chips or chunks
50 g pistachios, roughly chopped
30 g candied orange peel, roughly chopped
flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
sesame seeds, to finish
Directions
- In a bowl, cream together the butter, tahini, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. You can use a hand-mixer, stand-mixer or wooden spoon if you want the work out.
- Add the egg & almond/ vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. Remember to scrape down the sides.
- Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Add the chocolate chips, pistachios & candied orange peel and roughly combine.
- Cover the dough with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight or for a couple of hours minimum.
- Preheat the over to 180ºC and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
- Using an ice cream soup or your hands, form the cookies into balls. Large cookie balls will be around 2 inches round and smaller cookies just over half. Pop on the baking sheet, living plenty of space between balls, bearing in mind that you’ll need to do a couple of rounds of baking as you won’t have the space to bake them all at once.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, setting a timer at half time to remind you to turn the trays around midway during baking. The cookies should be golden brown at the edges but still pale and squidgy looking in the centre Remove from the oven and finish with a tiny sprinkling of sea salt and generous sprinkling of sesame seeds on each one.
- Bake the renaming cookie balls in the same way or you could freeze them for a rainy day which calls for cookies.
