Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies are a delicious blend of the nut-like flavor of sesame, with sweet and decadent chocolate morsels — all wrapped up in a soft cookie with crisp edges. They’re absolutely dreamy. 
Of all the recipes I develop that fall under my umbrella of Creative Comforting Recipes for Casual Entertaining, cookies might be the most fun.
Sesame Chocolate Chip cookies (also called Halva Chocolate Chip Cookies or Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies) are certainly no exception, and they’re one of my favorite creations.
Reminiscent of Marble Chocolate Halva bars, these cookies are subtly flavored with toasted sesame — inside and out, and they’re amazing!
Ingredients for Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies
- white sesame seeds (See Recipe Tips and Substitutions below.)
- unsalted butter – I always bake and cook with unsalted butter so I can control exactly how much salt is in the recipe.
- toasted sesame oil – Toasted sesame oil adds more flavor than regular.
- granulated sugar
- brown sugar – Dark or golden is okay.
- pure vanilla extract
- salt – I almost always bake and cook with Kosher salt. (It’s coarse and salts foods in a subtle way that enhances their flavor without making them taste salty.)
- eggs
- all-purpose flour – This recipe has also been tested with Cup4Cup Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour and it works very well.
- baking soda
- semisweet chocolate chips
How to Make them
(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)
– Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
– Add sesame seeds to a large sauté pan and place it over low-medium heat.
– They will begin to turn golden within a couple of minutes. Move the pan around often, and once they are all golden, look a bit oily, and are aromatic, remove them from the heat.
– Remove 1 tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds and set them aside. Pour the rest into a spice grinder and blend until you have a fine to coarse powder.
– Add butter, sesame oil, both sugars, vanilla, salt and toasted sesame seed powder to a large bowl. Use a large spoon to blend everything together. Then add the eggs and mix until it’s smooth.
– In another bowl, combine the flour with the baking soda and then fold it into the wet mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.
– Use a 1¾-inch cookie scoop to shape the dough into balls, placing them on the parchment-lined baking sheets as you go. They should have at least 2-inches between them. Sprinkle them lightly with the remaining whole toasted sesame seeds.
– Bake in the preheated 325°F oven until they are slightly golden along the edges and no longer look doughy.
– Leave them on the baking sheets to cool to room temperature.
Recipe Tips and Substitutions
- Definitely don’t skip toasting the sesame seeds. As with most seeds (and nuts), when they’re toasted, their flavor intensifies. If you need to save time you can purchase already toasted sesame seeds, but I find toasting them myself provides more flavor.
- I typically like semisweet chocolate chips best in cookies with added flavors. It doesn’t overpower them, yet still adds a rich sweetness. If you want more sweetness, use milk chocolate chips, and for less, use bittersweet.
- I like the 1¾-inch cookie scoop for these sesame chocolate chip cookies — you can of course make them any size you like.
Storing the Cookies
Room temperature. In a tightly sealed container, the cookies can be kept at room temperature for up 2 days.
Freezer. Sealed tightly, you can store the cookies for about a month in the freezer. (Of course they’ll last longer than that frozen, but will taste the best for up to a month.)
I hope you enjoy every last crumb of these Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Most popular cookies on Cooking On The Weekends:
- Peanut Butter Miso Cookies
- Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies
- Black Pepper Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chai Spice Cookies with Chocolate
- Creamy Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Nutella Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Chestnut Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Praline Cookies with Chocolate Chips
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Sesame Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil* (see recipe notes below)
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup golden brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or Cup4Cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Set oven and prepare pans. Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Toast and grind sesame seeds. Add the sesame seeds to a large skillet and place it over low-medium heat. They will begin to turn golden within a couple of minutes. Move the pan around often, and once they are all golden, look a bit oily, and are aromatic, immediately remove them from the heat. (Be careful as they can go from golden to black quickly!) Remove 1 tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds and set them aside. Let the rest cook for a few minutes and then pour them into a spice grinder and blend until you have a fine to coarse powder. (You can also use a mortar and pestle.)
- Make the batter. Add the butter, sesame oil, both sugars, vanilla, salt and toasted sesame seed powder to a large mixing bowl. Use a large spoon to blend everything together. Then add the eggs and mix until it's smooth.In another large bowl, combine the flour with the baking soda and then fold it into the wet mixture. Then, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Shape. Use an approximately 1¾-inch cookie scoop to shape the batter into balls, placing them on the parchment-lined baking sheets as you go. There should have at least 2-inches between them. Sprinkle them lightly with the remaining 1 tablespoon of the toasted sesame seeds.
- Bake. Bake in the preheated 325°F oven until they are slightly golden along the edges and no longer look doughy, about 15 to 17 minutes.
- Cool. Leave them on the baking sheets for about 20 minutes to cool to room temperature.
Notes
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2pots2cook says
It must be tasty: sesame seeds and chocolate! Keeper it is !
valentina says
It is! Thanks, Davorka. 🙂 ~Valentina
John / Kitchen Riffs says
It’s odd — I’ve made plenty of cookies with sesame seeds, and of course I’ve made chocolate chip cookies. But I’ve never used sesame seeds in chocolate chip cookies! I will, though — neat recipe. Thanks.
valentina says
Thanks so much, John! Hope you love them. 🙂 ~Valentina
Liz says
YUM!! My mom adored sesame seed cookies and I wish she was still around and I’d send her a batch. No, make that HALF a batch as I’d need some for me, too!
valentina says
Awww, thanks, Liz. Hope you try them and that it brings happy memories of your mom. 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn says
Seriously! What a delicious way to make a chocolate chip cookie even more special with the flavours of sesame! Making a batch of these this weekend. They’d be perfect to go along with my Saturday or Sunday morning coffee…or coffees 😉 And I bet they smell AMAZING as they bake!!
valentina says
Ha! Love that you added the “s” to coffee. I’m with you! Thanks for checking the recipe out, Dawn. 🙂 ~Valentina
Jeff the Chef @ Make It Like a Man! says
I love sesame cookies, but I’ve never considered how they’d be with chocolate chips. How fantastic they must be! I will definitely try this.
valentina says
If you like the flavor of sesame, you’ll love them. Thanks, Jeff. 🙂 ~Valentina