Chocolate sesame cookies

Nutty, sweet, salty, chewy and crisp: these are EVERYTHING you want a cookie to be.

They boast triple-sesame status, as they include tahini, toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds, and are made using a technique I learned from the amazing Sarah Kieffer, which involves banging the baking tray to create that gorgeous, wrinkled surface – admittedly with not quite the same success as her recipe! But considering these are vegan, they still work well.

Tahini paste varies in thickness, and some are runnier than others. If your tahini is very thick, use a little less flour, and if it's runny, add an extra tablespoon.

One final tip: the dough will really spread in the oven, so be sure to give your cookies plenty of space on the baking tray.

SERVES:
makes 18 cookies

Ingredients
Instructions

Ingredients

Wet ingredients

½ cup tahini paste

½ cup coconut oil (soft, but not liquid)

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

½ cup dark muscovado sugar

½ cup caster sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract or paste

¼ cup oat milk or alternative

Dry ingredients

2 tbsp corn flour

1¼ cup plain flour

2 tbsp sesame seeds

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp sea salt

160g 70% cocoa dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Instructions

Place the tahini, coconut oil, sesame oil and sugars in the bowl of a mixer, and beat together until soft, creamy and fluffy.
Add the vanilla, then gradually add the oat milk, beating continuously for a few more minutes. This can be done by hand too, but will require some elbow grease.
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, apart from the chocolate, and add these gradually, in three stages, to the bowl of the mixer with the machine still running. Once just combined, stop the machine and fold in the chocolate by hand.
Line two medium baking trays with parchment, and add scoops of the dough, placing them about two inches apart. I use a small ice cream scoop, equivalent to about three tablespoons. By the time you're finished, you should have around 18 balls.
Place in the fridge to chill for at least one hour. Ten minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/Gas 4.
Top the dough balls with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and a pinch of sea salt, then pop them in the oven.
Here's the clever bit: after about five minutes, remove the trays from the oven and bang them on the countertop a couple of times to flatten the cookies out and give them a craggy, wrinkled appearance.
Place the trays back in the oven for a couple of minutes, repeat the banging technique, then bake for a further 9-11 minutes – keep an eye on them at the end of cooking, so you catch them when they're golden brown, but not burnt.
Once cooled slightly, they'll be ready to eat, but still warm and chocolatey. Transfer the leftovers to a wire rack to cool completely and firm up. If you store them in an airtight container, they'll stay delicious for a few more days.