salted chocolate chip tahini cookie dough protein bites

to be clear, i would lather my entire life in tahini if i could. most of my snacking, dessert, and savory meal fantasies are swirled and dunked and balmed with tahini, so it was a natural segue in my ‘recipe ideas notebook’ (which is a kind way of describing the loose sheets of paper i scribble food words on that I later have to decipher into what might be a reasonably ok idea) that i jotted down ‘tahini cookie dough.’ i could make tahini cookies, sure, but what i was really aiming for was to avoid the baking bit and skip straight to the eating the cookie dough bit.

what i’d really like to do is move to israel/greece/lebanon where they truly are living in tahini dreams all the time, and my tahini fantasies would just BE LIFE. i have to manage my cross-country move to the commonwealth first, and then i’ll get to researching if one can be a part-time lebanese resident for food pilgrimage purposes.

in the mean time, snacking purposes will suffice, and these salted chocolate chip tahini cookie dough protein bites fit the bill beautifully. i’ve taken to arranging a couple on a little plate when i get home from work and tuck into my inbox, and it’s been this strangely welcome afternoon habit over the last few days. the little joys, you know?

a few things about these bites before we get started:
- the superstar here is obviously the tahini. tahini is sesame seed paste and it’s similar to a nut butter, but not quite as thick and a little more bitter
- that being said, these cookie dough protein bites are not too too sweet. they’ve got maple syrup and chocolate chips to lend a little hint, but it won’t overpower everything else going on
- i use a vanilla whey protein, but use whatever brand you like. chocolate protein would not be amiss here, either!
- if you have flaky malden sea salt for topping, DO IT
- the bites will last a week in the fridge, or a couple months in the freezer

salted chocolate chip tahini protein bites
makes 10-12 bites
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: -

1c cashews
1/2c almond flour
1/2c vanilla protein powder (i use sfh exclusively!)
1/2c chocolate chips
1/4c unsweetened coconut flakes
3/4c tahini
3/4c maple syrup
1tbsp vanilla almond milk (more as needed)
1tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp sea salt + more for topping

blend all ingredients in a food processor until a dough forms. if your dough is too dry, add a little more almond milk to make it stickier. using a cookie scoop, scoop bites onto a lined dish or plate, top with extra sea salt, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.