Like Peanut Butter, But Different.

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: Tahini Cookies.

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup tahini
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sesame seeds (optional)

Heat the oven to 350. Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the tahini until fully incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add baking powder and flour. Mix until just combined. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes (or overnight) to make shaping easier.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment. Place the sesame seeds in a shallow bowl. Roll teaspoon-sized balls of dough in your hands. Roll balls in seeds to completely cover (if desired). Bake until just golden, 10 minutes.

What worked: They were interesting, mostly in a good way. The tahini imparted a nuttiness similar to peanut butter cookies. The texture was quite light and melted in the mouth. I rolled about 1/3 of them in sesame seeds before stopping; those were better, perhaps because of the additional crunch. I used a melon baller to initially form the balls, which worked okay.

They kept very well for a week without tasting stale.

What didn't: They did not golden up in 10 minutes. It took 20. When they were warm they disintegrated completely - so you need to not move them until they are cold. And a few go a long way; two are quite nice with tea, three is too much.

Will I make it again? Probably not. They were fine (and would go well with tea), a nice different dessert but not really memorable.

Comments

[joycebre]

Huh. I just tried a '3 ingredient' recipe that uses oats, tahini and brown sugar. Very tasty, but not a good recipe.

[kareina]

When I lived in An Tir and ate with Caer Lutris at camping events they always had tahini cookies in camp because someone in the group had a peanut allergy, and this was a good way to have a protein-rich cookie available for the fighters without risking that allergy. I have made them a few times since, by just substituting tahini in my favourite soft peanutbutter cookie recipe (which involves half honey and half sugar, and not much of either), and I never bother to let them get to golden, since I by far prefer my cookies on the lighter side of done.