3-Ingredient Vegan Tahini Date Cookies
These much-loved, vegan tahini date cookies are easy to make with just 3 ingredients: oats, dates and tahini!
About the Recipe
You will love these popular, healthy and delicious tahini date cookies!
There’s not much to them but the combination of tahini, dates and oats is to-die-for. They’re soft, buttery and just so yummy.
These cookies are great for households with allergies too as they’re naturally gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free. They’re also naturally sweetened by the dates so have no added sugar.
The cookies are just perfect as is, made simply with oats, dates and tahini, or you add extras like chocolate chips and walnuts.
For a similar cookie made with maple syrup instead of dates, check out my 3-ingredient oatmeal cookies or try these flourless oatmeal cookies made with nut butter, oats and banana.
For a real treat, dunk the top of each cookie in melted chocolate and firm in the fridge. It’s amazing. Either way, they’re perfect anytime of day for a wholesome and satisfying snack or dessert.
For more simple desserts, you might enjoy these healthy baked pears or stuffed apples. For more gluten-free cookies, you might like these sesame tahini cookies or matcha cookies made with almond flour.
Ingredient Notes
This list is not complete. Please see the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete ingredient list with measurements and detailed instructions.
- Oats: You can use rolled oats, large flake oats or quick oats. Even minute oats would work since we’re just blending them up anyways.
- Dates: Any variety works as long as they’re soft and not overly dry. I like medjool dates, sayer dates or deglect noor. If your dates are very dry, you can soak them in hot water for 10 minutes and drain well before using.
- Tahini: Use creamy, drippy tahini for best results. Good tahini should be completely smooth and not overly bitter. I like Arz Fine Foods or Soom tahini. You can also use almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter or sunflower seed butter in this recipe.
Variations & Additions
- The dough makes a great base for chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans, sesame seeds, coconut, pumpkin seeds, cranberries or chocolate chips. Add up to 1/2 cup of your choice of add-in.
- For flavour enhancement, you can add a pinch of salt and up to 1 tsp of vanilla and/or cinnamon.
- 1-2 tsp of espresso powder is yummy to make them coffee-flavoured!
- Other flavours that are nice in these cookies are orange, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Before You Start: Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Step 1: Add all the ingredients to a large food processor and mix into a thick, crumbly dough. You should easily be able to press the dough together between your fingers.
Quick Note: If the dough is too crumbly to press together, which can happen if your dates and/or tahini is too dry, add 1-2 tbsp warm water and process again.
Step 2: Shape the dough into 12 cookies and place on a parchment or silicon mat-lined baking tray.
Quick Note: The cookies will not change shape at all during baking so be sure to shape them into the cookie shape you want before hand. You can make them thin or leave them on the thicker side, up to you!
The cookies have a soft, dense texture kind of like baked oatmeal. They get a bit brown and crisped on the outside but the inside will stay dense and soft. For a somewhat crisper outside, shape them on the thinner side.
Step 3: Bake for 10 minutes then let cool on the pan for 15 minutes and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
These cookies have a soft, dense texture and are not like a traditional cookie. They get a bit browned and crisp on the outside but the inside will be dense and soft.
No. You can substitute the tahini with any other nut or seed butter such as almond butter, peanut butter, or for another nut-free option, sunflower seed butter.
Recipe Notes
- Dates: This recipe works best with soft, moist dates. If your dates are overly dry, soak them in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using in the recipe.
- For best results, use an inexpensive kitchen scale to measure the ingredients. This is not totally necessary but I always recommend following my exact measurements if you can! Plus it makes baking super easy because you can just add the ingredients straight into the bowl to the specified weight.
- For an extra treat, try melted some dairy-free chocolate and dipping the top or half of each cookie into the chocolate then firming on a pan in the fridge. So good!
Storing
- Let cool completely before storing.
- Room Temperature: In an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Fridge: In an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: In an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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Vegan Tahini Date Cookies
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These vegan tahini date cookies are perfectly sweet with hints of caramel thanks to naturally sweet dates. If you love tahini or even if you’ve never tried it, you’ll love these simple, healthy cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup (150 g) oats
- 1/2 cup (140 g) tahini
- 1 1/2 cup lightly packed (260 g) soft pitted dates
- optional: 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until it forms a thick dough you can easily press together between your fingers.
- Shape into 12 cookies and place on a parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking sheet. The cookies will not change shape during baking so be sure to shape them into cookies beforehand.
- Bake for 10 minutes and let cool on the pan for 15 minutes before handling.
Notes
These cookies have a soft, dense texture kind of like baked oatmeal. They get a bit brown and crisped on the outside but the inside will stay dense and soft. For a somewhat crisper outside, shape them on the thinner side.
For best results, use a kitchen scale to weigh ingredients.
Tahini can be substituted with any other nut or seed butter as long as it’s not too dry.
Additions: Try up to 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or pecans, chocolate chips or cacao nibs and/or up to 1 tsp of cinnamon.
Dates: It’s important to use soft, moist dates in this recipe. If your dates are overly dry, soak in hot water for 15 minutes then drain well before using in the recipe.
Storing: Let cool completely then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, fridge for up to 1 week or freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 224
- Sugar: 13 g
- Sodium: 5 mg
- Fat: 6 g
- Carbohydrates: 36 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 6 g
Originally published on October 25, 2017.
I was intrigued by this recipe for its simplicity…….dang was it simple! I thought … it would taste, you know, okay but it was more than okay. The thing (for me) that I notice about healthier snacks is that they are savoured rather than devoured. This recipe fits in that category….. De…friggin’..licious !! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Yes, agreed! These are so gooood! I love them and how easy they are. The tahini date combo is THE BEST. So glad you enjoyed them.
Made these today. I am not known for my baking skills but these are delicious!! I added some maple syrup and cinnamon… yummo!!
Just made to use up some of those date pieces, didn’t have enough so added some apricots. Decided to sprinkle tops and bottoms with sea salt since I didn’t add to dough. I also got 30 gem sized cookies to make little peanut butter sandwiches for afternoon study pick-me-up! I make similar cookies but this proportion was so simple. I see many versions on the horizon and like you, perhaps a weekly batch!
Omg I love that sandwich idea! Glad you liked them.
I’m my goodness, these are sooo yummy!!! I’ll be making these over an over for sure! They remind me of those square sesame snap candies I used to have as a kid, but without the refined sugar….naturally delicious!
Yes, I agree! They do kinda taste like those candies. So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know.
Love these! I’ve commented about these on the Facebook group but wanted to thank you again here. I love making these for of course the taste but also find them so therapeutic making them. Also today was my first time using my new Vitamix and it was so easy!
That’s awesome, I’m so glad you like them! Thanks so much for the comment, always makes my day. 🙂 AND YAY FOR NEW VITAMIXES!!!!
I love this recipe! Have made it four times now in the last few weeks. We are travelling and always make a batch the night before a big travel day so we have some delicious and healthy snacks/breakfast substitute packed. Have tried 50/50 dates and prunes which was also delicious. Also have tried adding in almonds, walnuts, dark chocolate and chia seeds (soaked in a little water first) that were left over and all are delicious. I love that the recipe is so simple and doesn’t require rising agents, oils, flour etc. No food processor – just sliced the dates finely and mix in really thoroughly (hands required – will get messy) and the cookies held together really well. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!!
Ohh amazing, I love those ideas! Sounds yummy with a date-prune mix. And the added nuts and dark chocolate sound so good! So glad you like them! And for the reminder that I need to make them again asap. 😉
Hi,
I usually make a recipe for the first time as the author writes it exactly, but I did not have enough dates. So, I used 1/2 thompson raisins and 1/2 dates, and the cookies turned out perfectly. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing.
You’re very welcome! Glad to hear it turned out with raisins! Raisins and tahini sounds like a good combo to me. Thanks for the comment and feedback.
Made these last weekend. These are so good! Definitely don’t skimp on the sea salt, it really brings out the flavor. Used simple truth organic brand tahini and medjool dates from Costco with great results. Now I need to find more recipes for incorporating tahini other than the usual hummus.
YES! I use tahini in everything, pancakes, tahini cups, oatmeal, cookies!! so GOOD! Glad you enjoyed them.
Hi Deryn,
These look fabulous. I’m curious what you call the dip I see in the photos and what flavors are present? Do you offer a recipe for it?
Thank you!
It’s just tahini!
These are great! I never imagined how good tahini would taste in a cookie. After trying the original recipe, I made made different 3 variations of the same cookie. In one variation I added coconut flakes, to the other other variation I added grated orange zest. And to the last variation, I added maple syrup, coconut oil and cinnamon powder. All of them were phenomenal!
Ooh amazing, sounds so good with orange or coconut! YUM! Glad you like them!! Thanks for your comment.