I think you're going to want to make this delightfully crunchy, slightly crumbly cookie with some of my favorite ingredients: tahini, maple syrup (or honey), and almond flour. And it's egg free, for folks who need or want that.
I've been using tahini a lot lately because it bakes well, lends a nice caramel flavor, and is high in protein and minerals. It has a good amount of copper, which helps the body absorb iron, and a bit of selenium, which acts as an antioxidant to help lower inflammation.
For sweetener, I use maple syrup or a creamy honey with a very mild flavor. I recommend using a mild honey to avoid the flavor overpowering the tahini. Also, if you're avoiding seeds, they taste great even without the sesame seeds.
I've made them on the smaller size, using a generous teaspoon of dough to get 30 cookies, as well as a tablespoon of dough, yielding 16 cookies. Both sizes taste great: they're both crunchy and crumbly. The baking time for the larger cookies is about 20 minutes, where as the smaller cookies bake in about 8 minutes. So, up to you.
And, if you're a fan of chocolate chip cookies you must try my Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The two brands of tahini I’ve used lately are Once Again Creamy Tahini and Villa Jerada.
This recipe is adapted from Food & Wine.
Tahini Cookies {grain-free}
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups blanched almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or honey
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or one baking sheet if you're making 16 cookies).
- Whisk the almond flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend together until you have a ball of dough.
- Add the sesame seeds to a plate.
- Scoop about a teaspoon of dough into a ball. Roll it with your hands to smooth it out into a ball and then roll it in the sesame seeds and place it on a baking sheet. Space the cookies about two inches apart since they do expand a bit. (Scoop a tablespoon of dough if you're making 16 cookies)
- Flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass or other flat surface.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes or until they begin to turn golden. (Bake for about 20 minutes if making 16 cookies)
- Cool completely. Store at room temperature for a few days, or longer in the refrigerator or freezer.
Carrie says
Tasty and easy to mix up, though super sticky to roll into balls. I found that wet hands made the difference. The tahini, maple, & vanilla mixture smelled sooooo good! I weighed the finished dough and divided by 16 so that I could make them fairly evenly sized. I rolled the top and sides in sesame seeds but left the bottom (mostly) bare. 15 minutes baking time was perfect for my oven.
Thanks, Carrie! Yes to wet hands. Another trick is to cool the dough in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.
Carol Dickson says
A relative made them. They were wonderful. Reminded me of cookies that my European grandmother used to make. I just finished copying down the recipe and plan on making it soon myself.
Thanks, Carol! You can also print it out if you prefer.
PR Glass Diva says
It was wonderful to discover your blog, Erica! Absolutely delicious techina (you say tahini, I say tchēēna!) cookies recipe! I wasn’t certain about the flavour of the honey we had (thx for your tip), so used maple syrup. I shaped some into hearts, some into dreidels. Made this fab recipe for my husband—he’s been enjoying them ever since they cooled! (I even got a kiss!) This recipe was just what he wished for. Perfect delicious treats for our Israeli-themed brunch with friends. Thank you!
Oh, that's so interesting, techina! Thank you so much, so good to hear it worked well. And you shaped them too, bravo!
Celeste Gustafson says
How many cookies per serving?
Erica says
Hi Celeste, the nutritional information is for one cookie, which is one serving.