Vegan Tahini Date Cookies
These much-loved, vegan tahini date cookies are easy to make with just 3 ingredients: oats, dates and tahini!
You will love these popular, healthy and delicious tahini date cookies! There’s not much too them but after baking 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 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.
Table of Contents
Recipe Features
- Quick and easy to make.
- You’ll need just 3 simple ingredients, a few minutes of prep time and 10 minutes to bake.
- Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free and no added sugar.
- Taste like caramel!
- Make the perfect healthier dessert or snack.
- You can leave them raw or bake them.
- Enjoy as is or customize with add-ins like cacao nibs, chocolate chips or walnuts.
Ingredient Notes
Complete list of ingredients with amounts and full instructions is located in the recipe card below. This section covers ingredient and substitution considerations.
- 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.
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.
How to Make these Cookies
Before You Start: Preheat the oven to 350 F.
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.
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!
Bake for 10 minutes then let cool on the pan for 15 minutes and enjoy!
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!
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.
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 also yummy to make them coffee-flavoured!
Other flavours that are nice in these cookies are orange, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg.
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! Click here to leave a review.
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Vegan Tahini Date Cookies
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Prep Time: 10 -
Cook Time: 10
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Total Time: 20 minutes
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Yield: 12 1x -
Category: Snack, Dessert
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Method: Baking
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Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine: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!
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
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
Keywords: easy, 3-ingredient, simple, healthy
Originally published on October 25, 2017.
What are you dipping the cookies into in one of the pictures? It looks yummy.
Tahini 🙂
LOVED. These. So. Much! I added cinnamon. Made them twice in 2 days! Wonder how cardamon would taste.
Question: I, too, had a bit of trouble–my Vitamix overheated. Do you recommend added a bit more tahini or a bit of warm water or simply soaking the dates in water first? Don’t want to change the density/texture too much.
★★★★★
Hi Kathy. Glad you enjoyed them! I use a food processor for this recipe and don’t really recommend it in a blender for this reason, however, you could try either add a little warm water or soak the dates in hot water for 15 minutes before using. Note that adding water or soaking the dates will result in an even softer cookie. You could also just blend the dates briefly, then mix them with the oats and tahini in a bowl instead of using your Vitamix to create the dough. And cardamom would be good! Thanks.
What a fantastic recipe! It’s quick to make and even quicker in the oven. If you want it more sweet don’t add the salt. I used large flaked oats so out was really lovely texture, I did add a little bit of boiling water to make it a softer dough. Also instead of making 12 cookies, I made 24 smaller ones. 24 g to be exact and that is 92 calories a cookie (made them into round balls and then pressed them down with a fork, need to clean the fork a few times after pressing as it does get sticky). 10/10 for me. Will definitely be keeping this one.
★★★★★
I love these!! Will be making again and again. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
Vegan! Delicious! Easy!
Only three ingredients! Absolutely perfect on its own.
I’ve made these cookies about once a week since the Covid-19 sequester and sometimes I have a taste for a little extra so unsweetened coconut, unsweetened cacao nibs, raw pecans put them over the top. I freeze them take some out a day before I plan on eating them and the last one is the best one. The flavors and texture have had time to meld.
Can’t say enough good about this recipe.
Thank you so much!
★★★★★
I love them. So simple and yummy!
The only thing (as I have no high-speed blender here) was that my mutlichopper almost broke and I added a little water to make it easier to mix. 😀 Maybe I could have cut the dates in smaller pieces before..^^
And the temperature is in Fahrenheit (°F) right?
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed them. Yes, them temp is in F. Thanks!
Great recipe! Is the texture meant to be more crunchy or more like an oat bar, soft but dense.
Thank you!
★★★★★
They’re soft and dense but get slightly browned and crisp on outside. Hope you enjoy them!
These are terrific! I used half date paste, and half dates which worked perfectly. To some, I mixed in dried cranberries; to some, chocolate chips. All were sublime. So simple, so guilt-free. Thank you!
★★★★★
So good!! Fast and easy 5 stars isn’t enough ❤️
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Could another flour gluten free flour replace the oats? I’m not in the US and we don’t have GF oats.
Hmm, I’m not sure about that. Quinoa flakes would be the best option if not, buckwheat flour would be the closest to oats, and you could possibly try almond flour. I can’t say exactly how much to use as ground flours are quite a bit different than oats but as long as you have a thick, doughy consistency before baking you should be fine. Do you have celiac? Oats are naturally gluten-free so regular oats are fine for most of us, but if not GF-certified they may have cross-contamination which would be an issues for those with severe gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Let me know if you try them!
I have made these several times and they are always a hit! Last time I ate 8 out of 12 so today I might try to hide them from myself🤣 Thanks for the super easy, delicious recipe.
Haha, I usually have to hide them too…so tasty! Glad you enjoy them.
Have just made these. The original recipe wasn’t coming together for me so I added a couple of tablespoons of almond butter to help my mixture bind. After they were baked I coated half the biscuit in dark chocolate and my goodness this recipe might be a go to for me in the future. Thanks Derryn. Hope your staying safe during these unprecedented times. Much love from Perth, Western Australia. xx
★★★★★
Oh wow, that sounds amazing! Glad you enjoyed and thanks for the feedback.
Love these yummy cookies. I’ll soak my dates next time but managed to get them shaped. They are my new favorite. I’m making the coconut lime recipe tomorrow.
Do you have any flourless pancake recipes? Thanks and keep the great recipes coming!
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Hi Kari – I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies and I hope you like the coconut lime balls! I don’t have any flourless pancakes but I do have a number of chickpea flour pancake recipes, which I suppose would be considered flourless! I also have a quinoa flour and buckwheat flour pancake recipe if you’re looking for gluten-free options. You can find all of them under Breakfast –> Pancakes! Have fun!
Could we replace the tahini with almond butter? Nice recipe, like the texture. Although while processing it I didn’t find it looked like dough but a crumbly mixture. I had to add some maple syrup to bind better.
thank you!
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Yes, you can use almond butter. Enjoy!
Thank you Deryn! Love these!!! They are so quick and easy to make, so simple yet so tasty! Really enjoyed them with my black coffee today! Adding this recipe to my favourites.
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These ingredients are staples in my house too, all ingredients that I love, so I was thrilled to find this recipe and to be able to make it immediately without having to shop for an ingredient! They smelled wonderful while baking unlike anything I’ve baked before probably because I’ve never baked anything with tahini before! So quick, so easy, and so delicious!! Thank you for this great recipe! I will make it again and again!
Do you use old-fashioned or quick cooking oats?
You can use either…enjoy!
These are delicious! I love how unique they are and how they don’t make me feel bad after eating, unlike most other kinds of cookies. The only issue I had was that I didn’t realize just how thick the dough would be and tried to do it in my Vitamix – and burnt out the motor! Thankfully it started working again after I let it cool down, and I finished blending in my food processor. My husband said “they’d be better with frosting” but clearly he doesn’t know what he’s talking about LOL. This is a keeper for sure.
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Haha, I mean, they would definitely be good with frosting too! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Simply amazing taste and texture with a balance of flavours.I am a vegan chef and love how all the ingredients blend in.I also added a touch of maple to this to sweeten it
So thank you
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them! Sound yummy with a little maple syrup! Thanks for the comment.
Because I’m lazy and also didn’t want to wait for the bake lol… I made a ‘single serving’ (6 dates, 3 tbsps oats and 1.5 tbsps tahini) of this by blending everything up, putting it in a small bowl, topped with cocoa powder and cinnamon – and hooooooooly mackerel. It’s exactly what I needed! Thank you for this!
★★★★★
Haha, that’s awesome. I actually do the same all the time. You can use a few nuts or oats, dates and any nut butter to make a crumbly cookie dough. Great over a smoothie bowl or coconut yogurt too! Glad you enjoyed your little treat!