Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sesame Tahini

Sesame Tahini

Featured Ingredient: Sesame Tahini

I feel like I haven't blogged in so long. This week was crazy.  Interviews, lunches, networking... I definitely wasn't bored.  I am proud to say I got an offer to be a personal chef on Thursday and I'm still waiting on another client.  As I don't have extensive experience in fine dining, but many years as a recreational cook, I do appreciate these people giving me a chance. So I have been spending the weekend thus far testing recipes for Monday's dinner, and by golly two of them contain canned goods!

One family is very health-conscious, with the head of household being vegetarian.  I was racking my brain and going through my recipe book trying to find a baked good, that didn't use white flour or white sugar and actually tasted good that I could serve for dessert.  I was intrigued by this one from Eating Well.  The sesame tahini got me. I modified a few ingredients and was very happy with the results.  It tastes on the healthy side with the oatmeal texture, but has a hint of sinfulness with the chocolate chips. It is a firm cookie, but doesn't turn into a hockey puck after it has cooled.  Hope my new client likes them.  My kids did, and it is a chore to get them to eat anything with nutritional value.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - Makes about 35 cookies

2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup whole wheat PASTRY flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup tahini (make sure to remix it as the oil separates in the can)
4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 egg white
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips ( I used bittersweet)

How to:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 350F.

Whisk oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Open tahini and remix with an electric or stand mixer until smooth. Beat remixed tahini with butter until blended into a thickened but loose paste.  Add sugar and continue beating until well combined. (The mixture will still be grainy). Beat in whole egg, then egg white then vanilla. Stir in the oat mixture by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula until just moistened.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Using a tablespoon measure scoop out a rounded tablespoon of batter - remove batter with another spoon and with damp hands roll the batter into a ball.  Place on a ungreased cookie sheet and set each little ball two inches apart. Continue with remaining batter.  Once cookie sheet is full, press down on each ball to flatten (but don't let sides crack).

Bake cookies until golden brown about 15 minutes.  Be sure to rotate pans from back to front and switch pans from top to bottom mid way through baking. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.   Let pans cool for a few minutes before baking another batch.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sesame Tahini

Each cookie is only 102 calories.  So be healthy and indulge!  You can store these for up to 2 days in an airtight container or freeze if you just can't bear to throw them away and want to pace yourself so you can enjoy these over a longer period of time.