I chose this recipe to try from Edd Kimber's book "One Tin Bakes" next because I was really intrigued at the combination of tahini and chocolate. I could imagine how the mild nuttiness and creaminess from the tahini would work to complement the chocolate, with Edd comparing it to a more subtle version of peanut butter. This is also the first time I've used browned butter in baked goods, but I've been seeing it ALL around the internet and I think it's time for me to try this highly-praised concoction.

Method

The first step was to brown my butter, which is just heating it in a small pot whilst stirring continuously until it turns a dark copper colour with some brown flecks at the bottom. I might have left it on the hob for a littleeee too long so I got some black flecks, but at least it didn't smell / taste burnt. Then it's literally just whisking the wet ingredients together, stirring in the dry and mixing in the chocolate chunks. My dough was really stiff though, so I had to leave out 50g as I couldn't fold in anymore chocolate.

Since I only have an 8x8" square tin instead of the standard 9x13" baking tin that Edd uses for all these recipes, I baked half the dough in the tin and made the rest into cookies. My cookie bars were in the oven for 30 minutes but they could probably have gone with 5 minutes less since the tops were a little browned and crunchy. With the cookies, I did 40g dough balls for each, and baked them for 15 minutes.

Taste

These were delicious chocolate cookies / cookie bars, but I thought the nuttiness from the tahini & browned butter could have been more obvious, because it does complement the chocolate really well. Most of my friends didn't notice anything special / different from a chocolate chip cookie, but one person thought there was a hint of peanut butter. I could taste the nutty flavour in these, but I feel like I may have only been able to appreciate that because I knew it was in there.

The sweetness of the cookie is just ok but I could probably do with less since there's a lot of sweetness from the chocolate too. Look at those meltyyyyy pools of choc tho!!!

Texture-wise, my cookie bars were crunchy on top but still soft on the inside. The cookies are firm but once again the centre will be soft and chewy. I let these cool before cutting into it, so the chocolate chunks set again, but they got all gooey and melty in the sun whilst I was photographing them, which was amazinggg.

Verdict

If I made these again I'd like to try adding more tahini to see what a stronger flavour would be like. Otherwise, I think this was a super quick & easy recipe if you're craving some chocolate chip cookies and want to try something different. I wouldn't say they are the simplest since you've got to brown the butter first, but it really doesn't take long since the dough doesn't have to be chilled.

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