Double Chocolate Tahini Cookie Cake

Gluten-free, dairy-free 

I am in full on baking bonanza mode. That is what the holidays mean to me and I do not hate it. Most of my memories are tied to food. At Christmas, my grandma would visit from Germany and bring with her boxes and boxes of chocolates. My mom would let us eat cookies for snacks. I could sneak peppermint bark from the candy jar in the living room. 

This year I am in charge of bringing the dessert to my family Christmas as well as baking up some gifts for friends. While there are the season favorites that are full of citrus, spice, fruits and more, I will always add in some chocolate. Chocolate is what I associate with Christmas. This cookie cake is a little riff on one of the first recipes that I wrote for Yes, Please. I wanted to make it a little special by boosting the chocolate, adding luscious tahini and making it into a cake rather than cookies. This cake is great for a family party, sharing with friends or neighbors or just to have in the house for when you need a little sweet treat. 

Vegan Butter

While I do not use it often, I do think that vegan butter has a place. One of those places is in these cookies. The recipe I based this off of calls for dairy butter so I wanted to try to stay as close to it as possible by using vegan butter. When choosing vegan butter, I always pick one without soy. Soy and I do not get a long; not to mention soy crops are not as stringently monitor as others (in the US especially). I use Mykonos vegan European style butter or Melt Organic vegan butter. Both of these brands behave very similar to butter; however, they can be a little more oily (vegan butters are basically an amalgam of oils after all). 

You can certainly use dairy butter if you prefer. You can use coconut oil as well, but you may need to reduce the amount to 1/2 cup. 

Super Dark Chocolate 

I used to only like milk chocolate. Now I have become an adult and prefer dark chocolate. When it comes to the chocolate I use in baking, it is always dark chocolate and it is always the same stuff that I would eat right from the package. For these cookies, I used some of the darkest chocolate that I have: 95% dark chocolate. I realize that might sounds intensely bitter, but as long as you get the right chocolate, even the super dark chocolate will not be overly bitter. I use Taza Chocolate’s Wicked Dark chocolate, which at 95% cocoa content, the predominant flavor is a fruity chocolate with just a subtle bitterness. You can also use Madecasse’s 92% dark chocolate. Both are organic and made without any funky ingredients. 

If you are not a huge fan of super dark chocolate, you can use a sweeter dark chocolate, but do not go below 70% cocoa content. If you use anything sweeter, the cake will be a little too sweet. 

Gluten-Free Flour Mixture 

As I mentioned in my last recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Crunch cookies, there is one gluten-free flour mixture that I use for almost all my cookies, blondies and brownies. Sure, you can use a store-bought gluten-free flour mixture. I tend to use my own mix so that I can control what is added and adjust it as I need to. 

My flour mix contains just three ingredients: oat flour, teff flour and potato starch. Oat and teff flours both has a nutty flavor (not to mention healthy fiber and protein), however, on their own, they will not give you the ideal cookie texture. Potato starch is the last piece in this trifecta. The starch mimics gluten by providing structure and chew to the cookies. 

To make this flour mix: combine 1 cup (160g) oat flour, 1/2 cup (76g) teff flour and 1/2 cup (88g) potato starch. Whisk together and store in an airtight container in the fridge. I typically do double this amount and use it for most cookies, brownies and blondies. 

For all these flours, I buy them directly from Bob’s Red Mill, but they can be found at super markets or online from Amazon, Thrive Market or jet.com.

Tahini

I promise I am not sponsored by Soom Foods; I just really love it that much. I did not really like tahini until I had the Soom tahini. Also, tahini can really be a great way to add fat and flavor to baked goods. The tahini in this recipe is really just a bonus. A little treat you get to find in the middle of the cookie cake. I love the combination of the fruity, bittersweet chocolate with the savory, nutty tahini. 

If you are not a fan of tahini, no problem. Try using almond butter, cashew butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, really anything. You can even use just jam. 

Recipe 

138g (1/2 cup + 2tbsp) vegan butter 

57g (2oz) chopped super dark chocolate (I used 95% dark) 

122g (3/4 cup) coconut sugar 

40g (1/8 cup) maple syrup 

1 large egg 

1 large egg yolk 

3/4 cup gluten-free flour mixture (see note above) 

54g (1/2 cup) sifted cocoa powder (I used half dutch-processed, half regular) 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 sea salt 

1 tsp instant espresso powder 

36g (1oz/about 2 tbsp) tahini 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

11g (1 tbsp) maple syrup 

More tahini to drizzle on top

Preheat oven to 350F and liberally grease an 8 inch round cake pan. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour mix, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda and sea salt. 

In a heat proof bowl, combine the vegan butter and dark chocolate. Melt over a double boiler (or in the microwave). Once the chocolate is melted, stir it all together so that the butter and chocolate are combined. Let cool slightly. 

Add the coconut sugar and maple syrup to the chocolate mixture; whisk to combine. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk vigorously for 3 minutes. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir together with a spatula. 

Pour the batter into a liberally greased cake pan, spread it evenly throughout the pan with the spatula. Mix together the tahini, vanilla and maple syrup. It will get a little firm and look a bit like cookie dough. That is ok, break of little pieces and form them into discs. Press these discs into the batter. I like to press them in random spots. 

Drizzle the top of the massive cookie with more tahini and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake for 25-27 minutes. Definitely do not over bake. Let cool completely before removing from the pan. 

I like a slice of this on its own, drizzled with a little bit more tahini. It is delicious would strawberry jam, warmed up on a saucepan on low heat. Or with your favorite dairy-free vanilla ice cream. 

Variation: You can make this into cookies. Omit the tahini, vanilla and maple syrup. After you make the dough, cover and chill it for 2 hours to help it firm up. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and heat the oven to 350F. Scoop the dough onto the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each. Bake for 12-14 minutes.