I wouldn’t necessarily have thought of making cookies with sesame. Why? Because I am surrounded by several choco-holics and bake primarily to their tastes. Let’s just say that the brownie recipe I posted a few weeks ago is still getting good play around here. My 10 year old son whips up a quick batch of these high-protein brownies almost every weekend.
Thankfully, I received the below a few weeks ago from reader Megan LaPrete, to open my eyes to additional baking horizons:
I would like to share with you this recipe for tahini cookies. They are not gluten free and they are loaded with sugar but I love them. I’d like to see if you could come up with something similar. I can’t wait to try your Sesame Truffles.
The lovely recipe Megan sent me is from epicurious.com, one of my favorite food sites. Below is my version, sans gluten and sugar.
Sesame Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup agave nectar or honey
- ⅓ cup tahini (raw or roasted, though roasted will give more flavor)
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup raw sesame seeds , hulled or unhulled -I used hulled
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
- In a small bowl, blend together agave, tahini, oil and vanilla
- Blend the dry ingredients into the wet
- Form the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the sesame seeds
- Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and flatten
- Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes until lightly brown
- Cool on baking sheet
- Serve
If you like your cookies crunchy, leave them out after baking. If you are looking for cookies with a chewier center then store them in an airtight container.
What’s your favorite Passover dessert? And Gluten-Free Steve, how many will be at your Seder in Denver? Ours will be small this year thank goodness –probably 7 total.
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Megs says
I’ve made these so many times over the years. Baking them again being quarantined. I sometimes give the sesame seeds a miss, and add chocolate chips instead. If you don’t have palm shortening, coconut oil works just as well for me. I store mine in the fridge. So good.
Elana says
Megs, love hearing about all of your variations. Makes me want to go bake up a batch right now :-)
Katerina Venetis says
I have been making these for so many years now and they are the only cookie we eat. I love sesame so much. Sometimes I use black sesame seeds if I am out of white ones. Sometimes I sub coconut oil or even olive oil. And I always add some spices.These are the best textured cookies and very addictive. Thank you Elana!
Elana says
Katerina, I’m so happy and honored to hear that these are the only cookie you and yours eat!
VS says
Oh, my. These are everything I was looking for in a cookie today. I made a few small substitutions, based on ingredients I had on hand. I used 50/50 blanched and whole almond flours. I also used 50/50 toasted sesame oil and avocado oil, in place of the grapeseed oil. This, combined with roasted tahini and unhulled sesame seeds, really produced a wallop of deliciousness packed into a tiny little cookie. This will become a staple in my house for sure.
Elana says
VS, I’m so happy to hear these are everything you’re looking for in a holiday cookie!
pashya white says
I love sesame seeds and tahini. These are fantastic as is. Wonderful texture……admittedly they were still slightly warm because I couldn’t wait……..Thank You So Much.
Elana says
Pashya, I’m so happy to hear these are fantastic!
Shai Schwarts says
Hi Elana,
Just made them again with chickpea flour, pecans but used dried (but moist) cranberries instead of tehini. Delish!
Shai
Elana says
Thanks Shai!
Shai Schwartz says
Hi Elana,
I used Julie’s suggestion of chickpea flour. I also substituted ground pecans for the sesame seeds. Came out great & everyone enjoyed them. Next time I’m going to add some cranberries. Wish me luck.
Elana says
Thanks Shai!