Today, I’m bringing you a little something unique because you know I have to get a little extra with my cookie recipes. And of course because I’m the self-proclaimed #TahiniQueenie — ha!
You could say these cookies pretty much came to me in a dream and trust me, they’re out of this world delicious. Repeat after me: coffee tahini date chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies.
Yes, they’re a mouthful and yes, they’re going to change your life. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and everything you could want in a chocolate chip cookie except multiplied by a million amazing flavors. Let’s get baking!
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Ingredients you’ll need
These wonderful tahini oatmeal cookies use plenty of baking staples plus a few fun, unique add-ins to make them special. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, old fashioned rolled oats (do not use steel cut), baking soda, cinnamon and a bit of salt.
- Wet ingredients: salted butter for extra flavor, good-quality tahini, brown sugar, one egg, a bit of pure maple syrup and vanilla.
- Coffee flavor goodness: I highly recommend adding the instant coffee granules or espresso powder to give the cookies a hint of coffee flavor. It’s just the right amount – not overpowering! This is, however, optional.
- Mix-ins & toppings: good quality dark chocolate bar (or chocolate chunks), Medjool dates and a little fancy Maldon sea salt for sprinkling on top.
What makes these tahini cookies magical?
A few things that really make these tahini oatmeal cookies unique and out of this world:
- Tahini. Obviously tahini is the star here, and if you’ve never tried it, you must! It’s simply ground up sesame seeds, very similar to a nut or seed butter. It’s important to use a high quality tahini. I only use Soom Tahini in my recipes. Feel free to use my discount code ‘ambitiouskitchen’ for 10% your Soom Tahini order!
- Salted butter. Yes, salted butter = more flavor! Trust me.
- A little pure maple syrup for flavor + moisture. Besides brown sugar, you’ll need a tablespoon of maple syrup to create a nice sweet flavor and extra moisture. Honey will also work, but I LOVE maple syrup in these.
- Coffee + dark chocolate: truly a match made in heaven. Don’t skip either, it’s what takes these cookies to the next level!
- Dates: I love chewy, sweet chopped Medjool dates in these cookies. They pair perfectly with the tahini flavor and make it a little more interesting than your typical oatmeal raisin cookie.
Optional ingredient swaps
These tahini chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies are great for customizing and have optional ingredient swaps for other things you might have on-hand:
- Instead of Medjool dates you can also sub raisins, dried cherries or dried blueberries.
- Feel free to chop up a dark chocolate bar, or use chocolate chunks or chips. Whatever you have in your cupboard.
Can I make them gluten free?
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend a gluten free flour substitute in these cookies as I haven’t tested them, but feel free to let me know if you try these out with a gluten free flour. If you’re looking for a gluten free cookie, try one of these:
- The Best Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Grain Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Flourless Paleo Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
- Damn Good Tahini Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Seven steps to tahini oatmeal cookie perfection
- Prep your oven. Preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients. Whisk them together in a medium bowl until they’re well-combined.
- Mix wet ingredients. Add the butter, tahini & brown sugar to your electric mixer and beat them until they’re combined. Then add your egg, maple syrup, vanilla & coffee and beat on low for one minute.
- Make your dough. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat on low until everything is combined.
- Scoop your dough. Use a medium cookie scoop to roll dough into balls, and place each ball on your prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake them! Bake these cookies for about 10 minutes until the edges are barely turning golden brown.
- Cool them! Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. This will ensure that they set nicely. Then sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!
Can I make these without an electric mixer?
Yes! Feel free to mix the wet ingredients together by hand, slowly add the dry ingredients in, and mix again until they’re well incorporated. A great arm workout!
Tips for baking with dates
I absolutely love adding Medjool dates to baked goods, no bake treats and even smoothies (check out these amazing bars and this tahini date smoothie!) If you’ve never used dates in recipes before, it can seem a bit odd. But have no fear! Here’s are a couple of tips for using dates in recipes:
- Be sure to check your dates and remove any pits. You can do this by simply splitting it open and pulling the pit out of the center.
- If your dates aren’t nice and soft, I suggest soaking them in warm water for 5 minutes. Once you’re ready to use them, drain the water, chop the dates and toss them with ½ tablespoon of flour before adding to the recipe.
How to store tahini oatmeal cookies
Feel free to store these cookies in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze these cookies?
Yes! There are two easy ways to freeze these coffee tahini chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies:
- Freeze the dough: after you roll the cookie dough into balls, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for 30 minutes. Once the cookie dough balls firm up, you can transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container. Cookie dough will keep well for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, simply bake cookies as directed in the recipe. You’ll likely just need to add a few extra minutes of baking time.
- Freeze baked cookies: wait for the coffee tahini date cookies to cool completely, then transfer them to a reusable freezer-safe bag or container lined with wax or parchment paper. I like to place them in a single layer to avoid any cookies breaking. Cookies will keep well for up to 2 months. Once ready to eat, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy.
More holiday cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cream Pies with Fluffy Peanut Butter Filling
- Soft Brown Butter Ginger Cookies with Lovely Lemon Icing
- Grain Free Chocolate Orange Pinwheels
- Death by Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
- Healthy Homemade Fudge Striped Shortbread Cookies
- Old Fashioned Iced Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies
I hope you love these coffee tahini date chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Coffee Tahini Date Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup good-quality tahini (I use Soom)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional, but recommended: 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules or espresso powder
- For the mix-ins:
- 5-6 ounces good quality dark chocolate bar, coarsely chopped (about 1 heaping cup chocolate chunks)
- 6 large Medjool dates, chopped* (or sub ½ cup raisins or dried cherries!)
- For topping:
- Fancy Maldon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, add in softened butter, tahini and brown sugar; mix on medium high until well combined, about 1-2 minutes. Switch mixer to medium low speed; add in egg, pure maple syrup, vanilla and instant coffee; beat for 1 minute or until well combined, smooth and creamy. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Next add in the chocolate chunks and chopped dates; mixing until well incorporated.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to grab the dough and roll into a ball with your hands. Place dough on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches apart between each dough ball. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are just barely golden brown. A slightly underbaked cookie is always best so they stay nice and chewy!
- Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack. This allows them to set up a bit and harden slightly around the edges. Repeat with remaining dough. Makes about 20 cookies. Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
Delightful! We used instant coffee granules. The tahini gives these a nutty flavor perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the dates and the dark chocolate and a bit of flaky salt on top. Crisp on the edges, gooey in the middle. I never thought of dates in cookies (they’re so good on their own!). This recipe is a keeper! 🩷
The perfect treat! Glad you enjoyed!
OMG – these are SPECIAL. Really divine, grown up cookie. Gorgeous! Thanks so much!
The coffee and tahini tastes them to a whole new level, right!? You’re so welcome!
These were delicious.. just curious if there is nutritional information available? I couldn’t find listed?
Hi! I don’t include nutrition information in my more indulgent recipes as they’re meant to be a special treat (instead of a nutritional focus).
Hello, I am hoping you can help me trouble shoot! My cookie didnt spread… I followed the recipe exactly, so I am not sure where I went wrong. Did you flatten cookies with spoon or spatula before baking? Thanks,
Jenna
No I didn’t flatten the cookies! So sorry you had an issue!
Monique, I have yet to make a recipe of yours that isn’t insanely delicious. These cookies did not disappoint!! Absolute perfection. My only complaint is that they’re too good and I can’t stop at just one 😭🤤
Everyone who tasted them was so impressed.
So glad they were a hit! Perfect holiday treat 🙂
Just made those, omg they taste amazing!
I am never good with cookies.. so mine didnt melt as mush as the photos.
I added the walnuts and it was a great addition!
So glad you enjoyed! Great idea to add walnuts, too 🙂
My family is in love with these. Amazing flavors and so soft and chewy!
I’m so glad!
These cookies taste delicious but, like many other commenters, I was perplexed by the consistency of the dough. It was very crumbly and resulted in a cakey cookie that did not spread much, and I double-checked my measurements. I’m hard-pressed to believe that simply using a different brand of tahini is to blame — more likely to do with the ratio of leaveners. Wish I’d read the comments first.
I’m guessing it is due to the consistency of the tahini. Some are thicker than others. I haven’t had an issue with these but am happy to retest them sometime soon, but the ratio of the leaveners is correct as written 🙂
Absolutely delicious!!!
Amazing! This is an excellent variation of cookie to try. I didn’t feel like getting dates to put in since I wanted a little crunch by adding Chopped walnuts I had on hand. Otherwise made recipe exactly as is,… and definitely use the Espresso powder! I’m very into baking with this now and finding it takes it to the next level. Don’t worry if you aren’t an Espresso/coffee person as I’m not either but have found the very subtle flavor in baked good is fantastic!!
Love that! These are great for customizing with your fav mix-ins 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
This recipe was so good! The valors actually worked very well together. Definitely recommend
**flavors
YUM! I am so glad to hear you are loving these cookies and they turned out great for you, Asa!
I put the cookies onto a baking sheet and put in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking and the cookies do not flatten with baking.
YUM! So glad these turned out great for you, Cara!
So delicious! I will definitely be making these again. I didn’t add coffee because my kids were eating them. They were still amazing, but I can imagine coffee would take them to the next level.
Oh absolutely, but I am so glad you and the kids enjoyed these cookies. Next time you can make a special batch, just for you with the coffee 😉
I made these cookies exactly as-is and didn’t have any issues with dough or cookie texture (I did flatten a bit before baking), but I really do not like the taste of these and 3 of the 4 people with me also weren’t fans. I love the flavors of coffee, chocolate, dates, and tahini separately but together I found the dough and cookie to be too bitter and really unpleasant. I love Ambitious Kitchen’s other cookie recipes and will make any of those next time!
Delicious! I love how the tahini balances the sweetness of the chocolate. I didn’t use dates. I did use a heaping tablespoon of instant coffee, which really gave the cookies a punch. I chilled my dough for 30 minutes because I wanted thicker, chewier cookies. So good!
Perfect! Such a great treat.
I have made this recipe multiple times. Absolutely fantastic as written!
Tonight I was craving a chocolate oatmeal cookie but was missing the tahini… only had a jar of Soom salted dark chocolate tahini which I used but tweaked the salt & sugar to account for what was in the chocolate tahini. Added dried tart cherries & pine nuts. Unbelievably decadent treat. Adding them to my holiday cookie list!
Thank you. I appreciate the creativity and inspiration you share.
Yay! I am so glad that you are loving this recipe ❤️
Has anyone replaced the tahini with almond butter?
I haven’t tried it! It might work but the texture might be slightly different.
These cookies were so delicious! Followed recipe exactly. We may add more dates and less chocolate chips next time because we love the taste of dates, but there’re is no need to adjust the recipe because it is perfect as is for all bakers trying this recipe for the first time. Thanks for the recipe; it’s a keeper! 🍪
These are fantastic!!! I followed the recipe exactly with the addition of chopped pistachios. They are so wonderful! They have a great texture and better flavor. Thank you!!
Oooh I bet pistachios would taste amazing in here! Such a good idea 🙂 Glad you enjoyed these!
It’s delicious
Excellent!!! So glad to have found this website!!
Yay! Happy you loved these, Rondi! And glad you’re here 🙂
OMG! These are amazing! I used gluten free flour and for half of the cookies, substituted white chocolate and macadamia nuts for the chocolate/walnuts. They were all yummy!
Nice — love those subs! I’m so glad you loved them!
T
This is the absolute best cookies recipe I have EVER made!!! It has become a family favorite and I think it is going to become our official family cookie recipe. It has all of our favorite things….coffee, oatmeal., tahini, dates, and chocolate. 🙂
Wow very good cookies. They taste great so good we could say if there was a coconut used. I did not have tahini. I did not even know what that was…I did have some sesame seed that I reduced to powder with coffee grounder. It still came out perfectly delicious. I will keep this recipe as one of the favorites for my family.
Glad to hear that worked well and that you guys love them!
These didn’t hold their shape for me. Still tasted great! Wish I knew what to change…
Hi! Do you mean they flattened out? Did you follow the recipe/instructions precisely?
Really interesting flavour combinations and the texture was just right, not too crunchy, not too soft! Mine didn’t flatten like the pictures so I would recommend flattening them before you cook them. Also I would add a tad more coffee as I didn’t really notice the coffee flavour come through.
So glad you enjoyed them, Lorna! And good to know about the flattening + coffee. Good call to do both!
Made these for 2 baby showers and they are always a hit!! So many complimentary flavors. Don’t forget the coffee and maldon salt!
Thnks for tge receipe but may i ask why to add all this amour of sugar and maple??? As far as dates and chocolate can five enough sweetenest, if i skip them will it still taste good??
I like a sweeter cookie, and wouldn’t recommend leaving out the brown sugar, since it would really change the texture of the cookies. These Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies have less sugar, so they might be a better option for you!
Made them vegan by swapping out the butter for vegan butte, the egg with a flax egg (2 tbsp of ground flax mixed with 6 tbsp of warm water) and dairy free chocolate chips. They turned out so good my parents couldn’t tell they were vegan. Such a good cookie if you are looking to switch up the regular chocolate chip cookie.
So glad to hear those swaps worked! Glad you guys enjoyed them 🙂
THESE ARE SO GOOD! Some of the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever eaten. I’m just pondering why my cookies ended up not spreading as much as yours. They came together easily and have great chewiness in the center, but they spread maybe about half an inch all around and came out with these high mounds. I keep trying to recall if I accidentally added too much flour or oats, but then again the cookies weren’t dry or crumbly at all. This never happened to me before.
So glad you loved them! Hmmm it may have been if there was too much of a dry ingredient, otherwise try gently pressing down on the tops next time.
I’ve made these twice now and the second time I left the dates a little bigger and put in walnuts. To say the least, they were devoured! I delivered some to some family and they have all asked for the recipe 😂
So happy they were a hit! One of our favs, too 🙂
Turned out very crumbly, dry, and more of a baked granola type of texture rather than a cookie. Not sure what happened in the process that make them turn out so differently from the pictures, but was pretty disappointed with this recipe. Also can’t actually view the ratings or other comments, so can’t see if others had this issue with the recipe
sorry you had that issue. May I ask what kind/brand of tahini you used? Many people LOVE this cookie recipe and have had great success so I’m surprised they would turn out crumbly given the ingredients and measurements! Let me know so I can help troubleshoot 🙂 Also, if you click “Show Comments” below the recipe you’ll be able to see everyone’s comments!
GREAT cookie!! The first time I made them I feel like I chopped the dates too small. I personally like to taste the dates and like them in bigger chunks! So yummy
Perfect! So glad you love them!