Tahini Cookies

Lets talk tahini. You might already know that tahini comes from roasted sesami seeds. If so, you are on the path to true tahini enlightenment. I too am on the list to true tahini enlightenment, so buckle up and be my passenger. The good tahini, I have found, is really hard to come by but a brand I can find easily online is Soom. It is the perfect combination of mildly nutty, creamy, and savory. Now when I debuted this recipe to my small group of office taste testers, they asked the same question I did when I discovered tahini, “isn’t that in hummus?” Why yes it is. I actually stumbled on the sweetness of hummus when I had a whole jar of tahini leftover. I went online, and three weeks later (ok, it was a few hours, but I swear every time I get on pinterest I am Robin Williams from jumanji asking “what year is it?”) and boy are there a lot of recipes with Tahini in them. Brownies, skillet cookies, brookies, cookies, shortbread, salad dressing, hummus, tahini toast, stir fry sauces, vegetable dips, I mean the list goes on and on.

I am a self-proclaimed connoisseur of baked goods and I love these cookies. They are like a sophisticated adult version of a peanut butter cookie, but without peanut butter. I wanted these to be light and moist, without being overly sweet. This could easily be doctored up to be a breakfast cookie, or left alone for a fabulous treat. I know there are more cookies out there that are untouched by food bloggers, and that this is a sweeping proclamation, but I am going to say it. These are my favorite cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup tahini

• 1/3 cup agave nectar (could also sub for light colored honey)

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 1 egg (or 1 flax egg)

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1/3 cup sesame seeds (for rolling)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium sized bowl, add tahini, agave, vanilla, and egg. Using a hand mixer, blend until well incorporated and smooth.

3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Continue to blend until smooth.

4. Pour sesames into a shallow plate.

5. Using a cookie scoop, make dough balls.

6. Roll dough into the sesame seeds until it is covered completely.

7. Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheets, and place in oven.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

10. Once cooled completely, enjoy!