Best Israeli Tahini Cookies Recipe

In this easy-to-make recipe, we’ll use pure tahini paste to flavor our cookie dough and bake it into delicate butter cookies that just melt in your mouth. It’s the perfect afternoon tea or coffee little treat that boosts your energy while also highly nutritious.

What? Tahini cookies? Is that a thing? Y-E-S. We usually use tahini to enhance savory dishes in the Israeli and Mediterranean kitchen, but it becomes a whole other thing when it’s combined with sugar.

It all started when I needed to find the perfect tahini cookies for a Virtual Mediterranean Workshop. So I tested three recipes, each in two variations. The resulting cookies were sent to a test group (my close circle of Israeli friends in San Francisco) to be evaluated and ranked and the best cookie was voted and declared. 

Research and recipe gathering

I was looking for a classic and simple recipe that would be approachable for the beginner baker because it was for a cooking class. 

Ottolenghi’s recipe from his book Jerusalem is popular. I did try it out in the past but didn’t like it because 1. It’s too complicated, with too many ingredients. 2. The result is way off of what I was looking for. 

I found a super simple and popular recipe with olive oil and butter combination, so I tested it out. I also decided to use a Nutella cookies recipe that I loved and switch the Nutella with tahini and extra sugar. The last recipe I chose from the blog oogio.net which specializes in cookies and cakes. 

Different ingredients

I started by gathering the different ingredients for each recipe. They had some similarities and some differences. For example, olive oil or butter, baking powder or a mix of baking powder and baking soda, egg or no egg, white sugar or brown sugar, etc. I also added a topping to each of them so that it’s easy to tell apart (almonds, pistachios and chocolate chips). 

To chill or not to chill

I mixed all three of the cookie dough and split them in half to test if cooling the dough before baking is the way to go or just bake it as is. To chill the dough, I wrapped it in plastic wrap to create the shape of sausage so that it’s easy to cut into cookie shape when it’s cold. 

Bake it all

For the unchilled dough, I shaped little balls of dough in wet palms and placed on the baking sheet then added the topping. I noticed not all doughs were similarly easy to work with. I put the first batch in the oven until set, about 9-10 minutes, and took out to chill. Then I started working on the chilled dough, cut slices with a sharp knife, placing them on the parchment paper, and then to the oven again.

Tasting and testing

The chilled cookies looked much smoother and nicer, and it did make a difference in texture. It was a tough call to make, so I sent the cookies to all my Israeli friends to rank their favs. I was interested in the most “tahini flavored” cookie but also with a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Wining cookie

Though it was not unanimous, it was clear enough – the cookie topped with pistachio had the best reactions overall. I could see why: it has the biggest tahini to weight ratio, so it has the most intense tahini flavor, and the texture is spot on—a minimalistic recipe which was also most comfortable to work with. 

The recipe:

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Yield: 30 cookies

Best Israeli Tahini Cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

In this easy-to-make recipe, we'll use pure tahini paste as the main ingredient for cookie dough and bake it into delicate buttery cookies that just melt in your mouth. It's the perfect afternoon tea or coffee little treat that boosts your energy while also highly nutritious.

This is a big batch so you can either make it as is or cut in half. These cookies also freeze nicely before and after baking. It's just a winner all around so don't miss out!

Adapted from a recipe of Oogio.net

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Ingredients

• 2 sticks, (200 g) very soft butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup pure Tahini, (240 g)
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour, (350 g)
• 2 tsp baking powder

To garnish:

• Roasted almonds or pistachios

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. In a standing mixer, beat together very soft butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until creamy.
3. Add tahini and mix until incorporated.
4. Sift together flour and baking powder and mix into the wet ingredients just until it all comes together to a soft dough.
5. Transfer half the dough to the center of clinging film and roll into a large sausage-roll shape then twist the ends. Do the same with the second half of the dough. Leave in the freezer to chill for about 30 minutes before baking or you can chill in the fridge until ready to bake.
6. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and slice the cookie dough into ½ inch width coins and arrange on the baking sheet, spacing them a bit apart.
7. Place an almond, or pistachio in the middle of each cookie and press lightly into the dough.
8. Bake 9-12 minutes, just until the bottom starts to golden but the cookies are still pale looking and soft to the touch.
9. Chill to room temperature on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing so that they will harden and to avoid crumbling.

Notes

• Cookies can be left in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
• Use soft butter but not melted.
• Cookies come out of the oven very soft but they harden when left to cool.

Recommended Products

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• 
  Har Bracha Tahini
• 
  Al Arz Tahini

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

30

Serving Size:

10 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Did you make this recipe?

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Adaptations:

• Mixer free: you can hand mix the dough, just be careful not to overmix, or it can affect the texture.
• Dairy-free / Vegan: replace the butter with coconut oil (150 gr or ¾ cup)
• Gluten-free: switch flour with GF flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour or use this recipe to mix yourselves)
• Sugar-Free: I’m not sure this would work with a substitute, but if you’ve made it, let me know in the comments below.