Tahini Seed Chocolate Chunk Breakfast Cookies

This tahini cookie is like no cookie I’ve ever eaten or created before! No flour or traditional cookie dough here; rather, we’re talking breakfast cookies that are entirely seeds and chocolate chunks, held together only with tahini and honey, and flavored with vanilla, cardamom, and a pinch of flaky sea salt.

These 3-Seed Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies are extraordinary, and I am SO excited to be sharing this cookie recipe with you today!

Table of Contents

The Story Behind the Recipe

Developing This Recipe for Tahini Seed Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients

Adaptations/Variations

How to Make Tahini Seed Chocolate Chunk Breakfast Cookies

Tips for Success

How to Store

Can I Freeze Tahini Breakfast Cookies?

Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe

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The Story Behind the Recipe

Every August for the past 10 years, our family has headed up to Salt Spring Island in British Columbia for a week of relaxation and fun. It’s the most gorgeous place, tightly packed with tall evergreens along narrow winding roads that open up to blue water vistas.

My kid is there for pretty much solely for a week in the lake at the center of the island, and to catch up with friends who return to the same place every year, too. But for me, one of the best things about Salt Spring is that it’s a straight-up foodie paradise.

One of the reasons for that is that there are farm stands along the sides of the roads everywhere, and in August, these stands are usually overflowing with the locals’ garden abundance.

While some farm stands are what you’d expect – a cart and a roof with maybe some eggs in an ice chest, flowers, a few squash and other vegetables – some are a full-on experience.

Last year, we discovered a huge covered farm stand tucked up a hill on the side of the road. Once we’d parked, climbed up, and picked out homemade cupcakes, we turned around and were greeted by the stunning blue of the bay below us. A long, rustic slab of wood served as a bar facing the view, with stools lined up underneath. We sat down, enjoyed our cupcakes, sipped coffee, and enjoyed the quiet and the scenery.

This past August, I decided to head out by myself late one morning to see what types of squash and other goodies I could find at the local farm stands. After a few stops, I entered the gate of Stowel Lake Farm, crunched up the gravel drive, and parked, then wandered up the flagstone path surrounded by flowers that are always buzzing with butterflies and bees. As usual, this farm stand had gorgeous plants, lots of produce, and a few baked goods.

The farm stand at Stowel Lake Farm on Salt Spring Island, B.C.

And it was here that their Tahini Seed Cookies stopped me in my tracks.

There was one left. It was huge, glorious-looking, and mine. Forgetting about everything else, I tucked my four dollars into the honor slot, grabbed the cookie, and carried it back to my car. I quickly decided I was going to wait to find the perfect oat milk latte before I ate it, so I ventured down the road and, as luck would have it, found a coffee stand pretty quickly. They made me the most excellent latte, and I sat down at one of their umbrella-covered tables and dug into the latte and the cookie.

Ohmygosh. This cookie.

It was a vanilla-and-sea-salt-laced cookie PACKED full of seeds, a hint of cardamom and tahini, and a glorious chocolate chunk now and then.

I immediately knew I wanted to recreate these cookies at home, but there is no recipe like that out there – all I had to go on was the list of ingredients on the side of the cookie jar. Stowel Farm’s website mentions their popular cookies, but no recipe.

Soooooo … I set out to recreate this incredible seed cookie that I just had to have in my life year-round. And that’s how these Tahini Seed Chocolate Chunk Breakfast Cookies came to be!

I have to note that it took me awhile to realize that these tahini cookies are actually what’s considered to be a breakfast cookie. Which makes perfect sense because I have found myself grabbing one or two for breakfast – and felt great about it because of all of those glorious fiber-and-protein-and-omega-packed seeds. They’re excellent for a satiating snack, too!

Developing This Recipe for Tahini Seed Breakfast Cookies

I knew straight away that this was not going to be a normal cookie recipe. For one, these cookies clearly didn’t have any flour (and were labeled at the farm stand as gluten-free, too). But thankfully, the cookie jar at the farm stand listed the ingredients in the cookies (just not the quantities), so I had somewhere to start.

I stirred together some rolled oats with a bunch of seeds (sunflower seeds, pepitas [pumpkin seeds], and sunflower seeds), along with some dark chocolate chunks, vanilla, salt, and cardamom. Then I added what seemed like a good amount of tahini along with some honey.

The “dough” was not dough-like at all, but I persevered, scooping balls onto my baking sheet, then pressing them gently flat.

I shrugged and baked them, figuring it was going to be an epic fail.

I pulled them out of the oven, and they had actually puffed up a little and held together! From there, I let them cool all of the way on the cookie sheet.

Then I lifted one up, and it miraculously held together! I knew that the tahini and honey would act as a binder, but I was still floored that it actually worked. Better yet, the cookie was delicious!

I went through many iterations of this cookie before I settled on the recipe I’m sharing here today. This, in my opinion, has the perfect amount of vanilla and cardamom, holds together well, and tastes amazing!

The inspiration cookies had coconut, by the way, but when I tried adding coconut, the cookies suddenly had a moist quality that had them falling apart by day two. I didn’t feel like it added much to the flavor, so I continued developing the recipe without coconut. I have a hunch that toasted coconut flakes might work, though, I just haven’t tried it yet.

Ingredients

Okay, so what do we have in these little gems?

Tahini – You want a runny, creamy tahini that you can stir together well so that it is nice and homogenous when you add it to your cookies.

Honey – Any honey will work, use your fave.

Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract is what I use. I want to try these breakfast cookies with vanilla bean paste or fresh vanilla bean but haven’t yet.

Cardamom – Ground cardamom goes perfectly with the sesame taste of tahini and the mellow sweetness of the vanilla.

Kosher salt & flaky sea salt – Kosher salt for in the cookies, flaky sea salt like Maldon for sprinkling over the top.

Oats – I like to use thick rolled oats which I think stand up to the seeds well and add to the hearty quality of these breakfast cookies.

Pepitas – Also known as pumpkin seeds, these green seeds are so good for you and just so good! I use raw, unsalted pepitas.

Sunflower seeds – At the time I was testing this recipe, I had the hardest time finding raw sunflower seeds! So I used roasted, salted sunflower seeds. I’m sure raw sunflower seeds will work just as well.

Sesame seeds – You’ll want raw sesame seeds. They’re found in the spice section of most grocery stores.

Chocolate chunks – I like dark chocolate chunks for these tahini cookies, but you can use whatever chocolate chips or chunks you like.

Adaptations/Variations

I plan to test this recipe with other nut butters and seeds/nuts, but haven’t yet. I suspect cashew butter/cashews will be lovely.

Make ’em vegan: Honey is not vegan, but you can swap in pure maple syrup for a fully vegan version of these breakfast cookies.

How to Make Tahini Seed Chocolate Chunk Breakfast Cookies

I think you’re going to LOVE how easy these breakfast cookies are to make.

Preheat your oven, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and grab a medium-sized bowl. Add the tahini, honey, vanilla, cardamom, and kosher salt to the bowl and mix it together until well combined.

Now, pile in all the seeds and the chocolate chunks. Stir until completely combined. The mix will be somewhat loose and will require a bit of muscle to get everything combined.

From there, scoop balls onto your baking sheet. I like to use a two-tablespoon cookie scoop.

Space them about two inches apart, and flatten them gently with your fingers. They’ll be a little fragile, just press the sides back in as you go.

I like to add a couple of extra chocolate chunks to the top of each cookie for presentation, but that’s totally optional.

Then, bake them until the edges are golden. Pull them out of the oven, sprinkle with flaky sea salt if you like, and let them sit until completely cool on the cookie sheet. They’ll adhere together as they cool.

Tips for Success

Mix the wet ingredients together first. This helps to make sure all of the flavors of the vanilla, salt, and cardamom are evenly distributed.

Let them cool completely on the baking sheet! This is where the magic happens – they bind together the rest of the way while cooling off.

How to Store

Store your tahini seed cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Can I Freeze Tahini Breakfast Cookies?

Yes! Not only can you freeze these tahini seed cookies, they’re absolutely delicious straight out of the freezer. Just keep them in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to one month.

I hope you love this unique cookie recipe as much as we do! It’s been so fun to discover a new way to make delicious cookies that are so chockfull of good stuff that we feel good about eating them. AND after talking about them, I’m off to my freezer to snatch one up and eat it with my coconut creamer coffee! 🍪✌️

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