Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies have that wonderful peanut butter cookie texture but are school-friendly since they’re nut-free.
When I was in grade three I had one of my all-time favourite teachers. Her name was Ms. Johnson and she dressed very stylishly and drove an MG.
She was also an innovative teacher and as part of our social studies class invited immigrants from the community into our class to talk about their native countries. The most memorable for me was a man from Israel. I don’t recall what he had say but I do remember the halva – a sesame seed candy that’s a bit like fudge – that he brought in for us to taste.
The halva was sweet and nutty with a slightly gritty texture. I came home from school raving about it and from then on mom would buy it for me at the City Market as a little treat.
It only made sense that I would also fall in love with tahini, a sesame seed paste with the texture of natural peanut butter. It was our peanut butter substitute and when my kids were in elementary school we’d make tahini and honey sandwiches for their lunches.
From there it wasn’t much of a stretch to replace peanut butter with tahini in my old peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe. The new recipe, tahini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, was a lunch box staple through my kids’ elementary school years. 
These cookies are loaded with local ingredients.
The rolled oats, spelt flour and dried cranberries are all from Speerville Flour Mill in New Brunswick. The tahini is from Nutsmith Nut Butters in Nova Scotia.
The rolled oats, spelt flour and dried cranberries are all from Speerville Flour Mill in New Brunswick. The tahini is from Nutsmith Nut Butters in Nova Scotia.
I always double this recipe. And I use a medium cookie scoop to portion out the dough.
Green tip: If you’re using canola oil choose organic canola since most non-organic canola oil is genetically modified.
Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat or spelt flour
- ½ cup rolled oats (not instant)
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 2 Tbsp. flax meal (or ground chia)
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup canola or grape seed oil
- ¼ cup tahini
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried cranberries
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375
- In one bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, salt and flax meal.
- In a separate bowl, cream butter, sugar & oil. Add tahini and beat well. Add egg and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Add flour mixture to wet and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
- Drop by heaping tablespoonful onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten slightly.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes.
