TRIPLE SESAME CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Nutty chocolate chip cookies, made with 3 types of sesame.

Happy Friday!

This week, we’re making a batch of triple sesame chocolate chip cookies. That’s right, these cookies are made with 3 types of sesame! There’s tahini cookie dough, chunks of homemade vanilla halva and a sesame seed coating, for extra crunch! They’re insanely delicious & are easily one of my favourite cookie flavours (and I’ve made a lot of cookies!).

Now, these cookies have all the qualities of a really good, bakery style chocolate chip cookie. They’re crisp on the outside, fudgy in the middle & are absolutely jam packed full of mix ins. We’re talking chunks of 72% dark chocolate and loads of vanilla halva. There’s also an extra chunk of chocolate pressed on top of each cookie that turns into a molten puddle once baked, plus a sprinkle of sea salt that enhances the flavours perfectly.

If I had a bakery, these cookies (and many more!) would definitely be on the menu! They’re an absolute belter.

Thanks for reading & happy baking!

Ben.

Tahini Cookie Dough

This cookie dough is pretty special. We’re replacing some of the butter with tahini (sesame paste) to give it a toasty, nutty flavour. On top of that, there’s a splash of vanilla extract for extra flavour, a couple of extra egg yolks for fudginess and the perfect balance of brown & caster sugar for the ideal amount of spread in the oven & for the best texture once baked. I’ve also added a small amount of cornflour into the cookie dough, which gives them a softer, chewier texture.

This dough needs to be chilled in the fridge before being baked, to ensure that the cookies don’t spread out too much & to give the flavours time to develop. You’ll need to chill the dough for at least 2 hours but if you have time, overnight is best.

Vanilla Halva

Halva is a Middle Eastern sweet that’s similar to fudge & is made with sesame paste. I add a teaspoon of vanilla paste into mine, which complements the nutty, sesame flavour fantastically.

I’ve included my recipe if you’d like to make your own but you could use a ready made halva if you’d prefer (you’ll need 200 grams). Just a note, halva needs an overnight chill to set completely, so you’ll need to make it the day before you make the cookies. It only takes a few minutes to prepare; we make a sugar syrup, fold into tahini then set in a dish.

Sesame Seed Coating

After we shape the cookie dough into balls, we’re going to be rolling them in a mix of black & white sesame seeds. This gives them extra texture & even more sesame flavour. I find that it’s best not to completely coat the dough balls with sesame seeds though, as some gaps gives the cookies some contrasting texture.

Pan Banging

The pan banging technique is a method of baking cookies, developed by Sarah Kieffer from The Vanilla Bean Blog. This technique involves banging the tray of cookies onto your oven rack towards the end of the cooking process. This causes the cookies to deflate, spreading the chocolate out & giving the cookies crinkly edges. It also helps create those molten pools of chocolate!