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Never tried baking with tahini? Start with these Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars! They’re chewy and packed with melted chocolate for a decadent sweet made with healthier ingredients including a secret delicious ingredient: tahini!
Anything with tahini will forever remind me of my trip to Israel. It was hands down in the top 5 trips of my life. I mean I was packed to the brim with Israeli food for a week straight. How could it not qualify for a top contender?
I tried the BEST tahini of my life in Israel. We went to a tahini factory (be still my heart!) that’s been operating as a family business for over 25 years. Lana took us around and showed us how they make tahini and all about the sesame seeds they source from Ethiopia. And once you try Al Arz tahini, you don’t go back.
…unless you pack in a carry-on bag and the gifted tahini they gave you all go home with Sarah instead (insert crying emoji here). So until I can get my hands on some Al Arz tahini, the generic stuff will do. And honestly, these bars are almost so good it doesn’t really matter. Okay, it does matter, but if you haven’t seen the light of what pure, liquid gold tahini actually tastes like, you won’t know the difference. I envy your ignorance.
EXCITING NEWS! I just discovered you can order Al Arz off amazon! I order it in bulk HERE.
What is tahini?
Let’s back things up and chat about what tahini even is! Tahini is ground sesame seeds. That’s it! Its texture is similar to a creamy nut butter. It is a nutrition powerhouse – packed with fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals.
While tahini may be a new-to-you ingredient it’s actually super versatile. I love it in dressings and sauces, smoothies, energy bites, baked goods… the list goes on!
Here are some of my favorite recipes with tahini:
- Maple Roasted Squash with Tahini Yogurt Dressing
- Tahini Butter Cups with Honey Candied Cereal
- Tahini Date and Cinnamon Smoothie
- No-Bake Tahini Chocolate Protein Energy Balls
What You Need for These Bars:
- oat flour – make your own oat flour by pulsing oats in a blender or food processor or purchase oat flour at your local grocery store.
- unsweetened tahini – find by the nut and seed butters!
- coconut oil
- applesauce
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- chocolate chips
- baking powder
- sea salt
- maple syrup
These cookie bars are super simple to throw together, I might make them weekly. They are truly life-changing and will make you wonder why you’ve never baked with tahini before!
PrintChocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Tahini
Never tried baking with tahini? Start with these Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars! They’re chewy and packed with melted chocolate for a decadent sweet made with healthier ingredients including a secret delicious ingredient: tahini!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour*
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch sea salt
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup unsweetened tahini (make sure oil is well mixed in)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, softened (plus more for greasing)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan with coconut oil
- In a large bowl combine oat flour, baking powder and sea salt.
- Add in maple syrup, tahini, coconut oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla.
- Stir until well-combined.
- Add in chocolate chips.
- Spread out into baking pan and bake for 20-25 mins or until edges are browned and bars are firm to touch.
- Wait 20 mins before cutting into 12 squares.
- Remove from pan and allow to cool on a rack.
- Will keep will in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
*you can make oat flour in your blender by grinding rolled oats for 30 seconds. Feel free to substitute with all-purpose white flour if you don’t have
Want to learn more about what we did in Israel? Check out my Israel Travel Vlog!
Disclaimer: This post was inspired by my trip to Israel with Vibe Israel. Vibe covered the cost of my trip, however all opinions are 100% my own.
Hi dear, i love your blog but have to correct you — lots of food that’s currently thought of as “Israeli” is Arabic but being culturally appropriated due to the occupation. Not that food doesn’t cross cultures but things like hummus tahina and tabbouleh are due to the Arabic influence in Israel!
yummy i want to make it
I’ve been making, eating and sharing these bars nonstop! So fast, easy and delicious. I used Trader Joe’s tahini and when I ran out I used traders mixed nut butter. Delish! Did you know that you can order Al Arz tahini on Amazon? You can ?
I made these and they were delicious. I might try to freeze a few for emergencies.
Awesome! So happy you enjoyed!
These bars look so good. I’ve never tried tahini in cake before but I’ll definitely give it a go! 🙂
Hope you love them!
These loook amazing and the ingredients looks so good too! Can’t wait to bake these this weekend!
I hope you love them!!!
These look beyond amazing! I love that tahini replaces most of the oil. Recipes inspired by our travels always have so much heart in them and taste all the more delicious =)
I couldn’t agree more. It’s part of the reason I travel so much. I feel like I get so much inspiration from experiencing a new culture!
I’m honestly a fellow tahini addict, I eat it everyday in toasted bread!! I love it with cumin on roasted eggplant, this combo is so so good. Anyway, I’ll do this recipe next week for sure!!
I’m so happy you made them!!!!
Tahini allllll the things <3 These bars look so perfect – that textuuuure! Also, my new life dream is to visit a tahini factory. So cool!
HA. Honestly, it was truly a dream come true for me!
Yes please! These look incredible
Thank you so much, lovely!