Vegan Tahini Date Cookies
on Nov 03, 2020, Updated Aug 29, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links.
These vegan tahini date cookies are easy to make in 20 minutes with just 3 ingredients: oats, dates and tahini!
About the Recipe
There’s not much to these cookies but the combination of tahini, dates and oats is to-die-for. They’re soft, buttery and just so yummy. Here’s why you’ll love them:
- Quick and easy to make.
- 3 simple ingredients.
- Minimal prep 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.
- Can add ingredients like chocolate chips or walnuts.
For a similar cookie made with maple syrup instead of dates, check out my 3-Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies (No Banana) or try these Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies made with nut butter, oats and banana.
If you’re new to using tahini in sweet recipes, these Vegan Tahini Sesame Cookies, Vegan Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies and Tahini Hemp Seed Bars are all delicious too.
Ingredient Notes
- 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.
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.
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.
- 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!
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.
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.
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 comment section below to leave your star rating and review.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vegan Tahini Date Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup oats, 150 g
- 1/2 cup tahini, 140 g
- 1 1/2 cup lightly packed soft pitted dates, 260 g
- 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.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published on October 25, 2017.
I made these and added cinnamon and vanilla, and they were so delicious! I love having them for a little tasty, yet healthy, treat after a meal. Thanks for the yummy recipe!
These are terrific!! I used 15 dates, slightly more tahini than the recipe called for and a ton of cinnamon, cardamon and pumpkin pie spice and my friends and I loved them!
So glad to hear that! Sounds delish with those spices.
I made these with the added cinnamon and chocolate chips. They are really delicious, but a bit too sweet for my palate. I think I could probably reduce the dates some, leave out the chocolate chips, and/or add something salty like pretzels. That said, these are totally worth making! I suppose since this batch comes across too sweet from me, it’ll help me with portion control, so that’s a plus.
I added a 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut on my first try and WOW – these are great!
I also used a cookie scoop and my batch yielded 19 cookies, probably would have been 20 if I hadn’t kept tasting the dough!
Thank you for this recipe, Deryn! These cookies are SOOO good! I’m low on groceries and this recipe was just what I needed to satisfy the cravings. I like them unbaked as well. They make great energy bites. Baked are great because they have, like you said, that caramel-like texture… swoon. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Thank you, again! 🙂
Loved these cookies. So did everyone else. Will adapt the recipe each time as per suggestions.
Absolutely love these easy, healthy but still delicious cookies! I make them with my 3 year old quite often and he already knows all the ingredients ☺️ I also have made them by adding some chocolate tahini that I had and they were soooo good!
Aww that’s so cute! Chocolate tahini? Sounds AMAZING!! Thanks for the review!
They’re absolutely delicious, thanks for recipe.
You’re very welcome. Glad you enjoyed them!
I wonder if you could use chopped, fresh, cranberries instead of either figs or dates?
I wouldn’t recommend it as the dates actually bind everything together and add moisture. You could maybe use an equal amount of soaked dried cranberries or raisins though.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. My daughter is sensitive to several foods. Since she’s on a rotation diet, using recipes with few ingredients doesn’t put all the ‘good stuff’ in one day. Both girls love them. We’re making these to bring to another non-sensitive home this Friday, and we’re going to shape them using holiday cookie cutters. Thanks again for making my daughter’s first Christmas with dietary restrictions a little better.
I’m so happy I could help! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Feel free to explore the desserts section as you may find more recipes that work for her. Thanks for the review!