160g (⅔ cup)* tahini, hulled or unhulled (see notes)

100-125ml (5-6 tbsp)* maple syrup

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda ((see notes))

Pinch of fine salt

100-200g chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (vegan if necessary)

2 cups seeds and mix ins (I used choc chips, pepitas, hemp seeds and puffed quinoa)

Both hulled and hulled tahini work in these cookies. I prefer unhulled as the cookies are slightly darker in a nice way.

The dry odds and ends of a tahini jar will not create a spready cookie (nor will it be as good as the oilier version). Choose a tahini that has a slightly runny consistency, rather than a chunky dry one.

I have found that some tahini in Australia, both hulled and unhulled, is roasted. I then found that the roasted variety gave the cookies a slightly more prickly and less spready appearance. The taste is the same either way, but I found that untoasted tahini makes better looking cookies.

If you’ve got some oil on top of your tahini, add some! It makes for a better looking cookie, too. If you have the dry, crumbly dregs of a tahini jar, I recommend adding 2-3 teaspoons of oil (ideally sesame but any plain oil will work) to compensate.

The baking soda promotes a little bit of spread in the cookies, but it mainly to develop a golden colour at such a low heat. You can omit it if you like, but they’re just a bit better with it, in my opinion.