Since my trip to Israel last summer, tahini has become one of my major food groups. Tahini is a paste of ground sesame seeds and can be eaten by itself, mixed into hummus and baba ghanoush, made into a sauce and drizzled over vegetables or incorporated into sweets. I have several jars in my pantry at all times and always ready to try it in something new.

So when I stumbled upon these tahini chocolate chip cookies from chef Danielle Oron, author of the book Modern Israeli Cooking and the blog I will not eat oysters, I knew I had to try them.

I’m a little bit addicted to chocolate chip cookies in general and I have been baking them for as long as I can remember. They are my absolute favorite comfort food. I have tried recipes for cookies which are crispy and chewy, large and small, with nuts and without, Tollhouse of course, recipes from famous chefs, and have tried different flours which yield different results. I love them all!

However, this cookie is something different, it’s rich, savory and sweet, and the tahini adds a unique flavor which I love. I have adapted Danielle’s recipe by adding more chips (hello – more chocolate chips please!) and omitted the finishing salt. I just don’t like salt on top of my cookies or on chocolate for that matter. Instead, I upped the salt inside the cookie a little bit. See note below.

I also subbed half of the white sugar with brown sugar. I like the chewiness brown sugar gives to cookies and the molasses is a nice smoky compliment to the tahini. Then of course there is my egg thing! I always bake with extra-large eggs ever since my good friend Ina Garten (wishful thinking) told me to many years ago, but you are welcome to use large eggs as her original recipe called for. Ina finds them to be interchangeable and if it’s good enough for Ina, it’s good enough for me!

These cookies are truly amazing as is, and perfect with a glass of milk. BUT… With a scoop of ice cream in the middle and rolled in halvah – Oh my goodness it makes all of my summer dreams come true! I have definitely taken my favorite cookie to a whole new level! Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 ounces unsalted butter at room temperature
½ cup tahini* well stirred (I used an Israeli brand)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 extra large egg
1 extra large egg yolk  
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons fine kosher salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (I used Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chunks)
Your favorite vanilla or coffee ice cream
Halvah** crumbs (sesame candy) to roll it in
Optional: Maldon or fleur de sel – see note at end

Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, tahini and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 or 3 minutes. I have also made these cookies by hand with spoon or spatula and they come out great.

Add the whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla and continue to mix for another couple of minutes making sure to scrape down the sides during mixing.

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture at low speed until just combined. Use a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chunks. The dough will be on the soft side. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight for a tender cookie. (full disclosure, sometimes I can’t wait for the refrigerator portion of the program and pop them right in the oven – still delicious)

When ready to bake, heat oven to 325 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the oven racks in the top 1/3 and bottom 1/3 of the oven.

Use a large ice cream scoop or spoon to form dough into 12 to 18 balls. If you use a ¼ cup cookie scoop it will yield 18 – 4” cookies. Or, if you like smaller cookies use a 1 ½“ cookie scoop which holds 1/8 cup to yield 36 – 3” cookies.

Place the cookies on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper at least 3 inches apart to allow them to spread. Bake 13 to 16 minutes for larger cookies and 8 to 10 minutes for the smaller cookies or until just golden brown around the edges but still pale in the middle. Make sure to turn the pan ½ way through the baking process. Let them cool on the baking sheet – if you can wait that long!

Once cooled fill with your favorite ice cream and roll in halvah crumbs.

The cookies are best eaten the same day but will keep very well for up to a week in a tightly sealed container. If you would like to freeze some unbaked dough, put scoops on a small cookie sheet and freeze the dough. Once frozen, you can take the pan out and place the dough balls into a Ziploc bag then pop back into the freezer. They will keep for a couple of months.

NOTE: If you would like to sprinkle the tops with finishing salt (Maldon or fleur de sel), just use a pinch on each cookie after they come out of the oven and only use 1 teaspoon in the cookies.

*It’s relatively easy to find tahini, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and the international aisle at the grocery.

**Halvah is sesame candy and can be found in Kosher sections of the grocery or also the international aisle’s middle eastern food section.