The Pistachio Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie
These cookies are the definition of my ideal sweet snack. They’re salty and intensely flavoured. Layered in textures. Sweet, chewy and fudge-y.
They introduce toasted Tahini, brown butter, brown sugar and nutmeg. This combination of flavours makes for an incredibly warm and perfumed cookie. (I promise you, your home will smell like the most amazing bakery while in the oven). The pistachios provide very satisfying crunch and the irregular pieces of dark chocolate make delicious, earthy, puddles in the oven.
Now here’s the thing. These cookies aren’t quick. They’re not an -immediate - let me have cookies from 0 to 100 in an hour - kind of snack. The main reason for this is dough resting time.
This is something that you can take or leave. But hear me out. If after forming the dough you shape them into individual balls and stick them in the oven, they’re going to be very good... However, letting the dough rest for 24, 48 or even 72 hours in the fridge allows for the flavours to develop. The sugar further dissolves into the batter and almost cures the rest of the ingredients. And when popped in the oven they’ll have a more defined spread, making for a richer, taller, more flavourful cookie.
I know some will not be convinced, but the question is, do you want a cookie that is very good or a cookie that is actually fantastic?
To me they are perfect, and I would not hesitate one second in serving them as dessert after a meal. Or just a well deserved snack.
ingredients: (makes 8 to 10 cookies)
1 1/2 sticks of butter (165g)
220g AP flour
120g dark brown sugar
60g white sugar
2 eggs
80g Tahini
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp vainilla extract
60g pealed pistachios
100g dark, (70% cacao) chopped chocolate (very irregularly)
1/3 cup Demerara Sugar or Sugar in the Raw (Optional)
instructions:
Peel your Pistachios and roughly chop them. You want a lot of size variation here, if some of the pistaccios are whole and not chopped that’s OK. You also want some of them to be very finely chopped almost into a powder. These will incorporate with the dough and flavour it.
Take your chocolate and also roughly chop it, looking for as much size variation as possible. The larger pieces of chocolate will be the ones creating nice puddles of of melted chocolate in your cookies.
In a large bowl combine your flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Mix well and set aside.
On a skillet, melt your butter and stir it occasionally making sure that no milk solids are burning on the bottom of the pan. The butter will begin to evaporate all it’s water and begin to darken. When it’s smelling nutty and has a rich, brown color, transfer it to a heat safe bowl.
While the butter is still very hot, pour your Tahini in the butter and mix well. The butter will toast the Tahini, further developing it’s flavour. The Tahini on the other hand, will cool the butter. Make sure they’re both very well incorporated.
To the mix, add your two eggs, brown and white sugar and vainilla extract and mix well.
Pour your wet ingredients into the flour mixture and fold continuously until a dough forms. Be careful not to over mix or be too aggressive here. Just keep folding until you cannot see any dry bits of flour (specially at the bottom of the bowl).
Add the pistachios and chocolate and fold once more, so that they’re evenly dispersed in the dough.
Using a 1/3 cup or an ice cream scoop, start scooping an placing individual balls of dough on a lined baking sheet so that they don’t stick. You should be able to form between 8 to 10 cookies.
Place in the fridge covering with plastic wrap from 12 to 72 hours. (72 being the optimal time for the dough to hydrate and develop all it’s flavours. If you plan on waiting longer than that, freeze and then thaw overnight in the fridge before baking).
When ready, preheat your oven to 375ºF
Distribute the dough balls with enough distance to be able to spread in the oven. No more than 6 balls per tray.
Before placing in the oven, sprinkle with sugar in the raw or demerara sugar and a pinch of salt on top. This is optional but it gives it a very satisfying crunch.
Bake in the oven for 12 to 20 minutes, rotating the trays 180 degrees halfway. Remove from the oven when the edges are golden brown and look toasty.
Wait 5 to 8 minutes before moving your cookis ideally to a wire wrack to fully cool off for another 10 to 15 minutes.
