These delicious tahini cookies are quick to prepare, have a wonderfully unique flavor and a super tender texture that I absolutely love. They’re made with simple ingredients taste amazing!
These tahini cookies are not your typical cookie. And if you’ve never had tahini cookies before, you’re going to want to try these!
These cookies have a soft, slightly crunchy texture on the outside but are soft on the inside with a wonderfully sweet and nutty tahini flavor. While the idea of tahini in desserts may sound strange, tahini is actually used quite often in Mediterranean desserts, such as halva.. In fact, I have another cookie recipe with tahini on the blog: my tahini chocolate chip cookies, which are also incredible.
These tahini cookies are rolled in a mixture of powdered sugar and cinnamon (you can omit the cinnamon but it adds a lot of flavor), and then garnished with almonds, which not only make them pretty but also extra flavor and texture.
What is tahini and what does it taste like?
Tahini is a thin paste made from ground up sesame seeds. Similar to when you make peanut butter from peanuts, the fat combined with the ground up sesame seeds creates a wonderful paste-like condiment with a nutty flavor. Tahini is one of the primary ingredients in hummus, so if you’ve ever tasted this delicious spread, than you’ve had tahini before.
But don’t let that deter you! Tahini pairs very well with sugar and honey, too, and tastes incredible in desserts, like these cookies.
How to make tahini cookies
- Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together butter, tahini, and sugar. In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and tahini on medium-low speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Do not overmix.
- Chill. I highly recommend chilling the dough for at least an hour. This helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking and keeps them from spreading too much. Flatten the dough into a disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge.
- Portion. Using an ice cream scoop or level tablespoon, place rounded balls of dough, about 1 inch/2.5cm in diameter (15 grams in weigh each) on parchment-lined sheet pans. They might look small, but they’ll become bigger while baking.
- Roll each dough ball in the powdered sugar-cinnamon mixture and place onto prepared baking sheet. Set an almond in the center of each ball, gently pressing to slightly flatten the cookies.
- Bake. Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350°F/180°C until the cookies look cracked and just begin to brown at the edges. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer gently to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Tips for making tahini cookies
- Stir the tahini well. Before measuring the tahini, give it a good stir. Like natural peanut butter, the fat in tahini separates, so you’ll want to combine the mixture before measuring.
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough. This can lead to tougher, more dense cookies and we want to keep them chewy and soft. To prevent this, simply mix the ingredients until they come together.
- Chill the cookies dough. This helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking so are thicker and have amazing texture.
More of my favorite cookie recipes
- Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies: Made with creamy peanut butter and Reese’s chips.
- Alfajores: Soft, buttery cookies sandwiched with creamy dulce de leche.
- Brown Sugar Cookies: Super soft and full of warm molasses flavor.
- Chocolate Chunk Cookies: One of my fall-time favorite cookie recipes – soft and chewy!
- Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies: Made with a touch of cocoa powder and lots of melty chocolate chips.
Tahini Cookies
These crackly, melt-in-your-mouth tahini cookies are made with only a handful of ingredients. They’re quick to prepare and get their wonderfully unique flavor from the addition of tahini.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour, sifted
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ⅓ cup (75g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (80g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon (100g) tahini*
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for rolling
- Whole almonds, for garnish
Instructions
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In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
-
In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar, and tahini on medium-low speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Do not overmix.
-
I highly recommend chilling the dough for at least an hour. This helps the cookies maintain their shape while baking and keeps them from spreading too much. Flatten the dough into a disc shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge.
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Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and line a pan with parchment paper.
-
Using an ice cream scoop or level tablespoon, drop rounded balls of dough, about 1 inch/2.5cm in diameter (15 grams in weigh each). They might look small, but they’ll become bigger while baking. Roll in powdered sugar-cinnamon mixture and place onto prepared baking sheet. Set an almond in the center of each ball, gently pressing to slightly flatten the cookies. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until cookies look cracked and just begin to brown at the edges. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer gently to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Cookies will keep for 4-5 days at room temperature in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to a month and thawed overnight in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
*Like natural peanut butter, the fat in tahini separates from the solids. Before measuring, give your tahini a good mix to homogenize the ingredients.
Lauren Gaskill | Making Life Sweet says
What lovely photos, and what a delicious cookie! Going to break out my 1:1 gluten free baking flour for this! 😀
Jana @ delectablymine says
I wanted to thank you for this delicious recipe. Tahini is one of my favorite things so I knew I had to make these the moment I saw them. They were so tender and delicious, and the almond in the center really tops the whole thing off visually. Thanks!!
Shiran says
Thank you for your comment, Jana! I love these cookies so much – ever since I was a little girl!
Jana @ delectablymine says
I can certainly see why!! ? I now love them as well!
Lara says
Well I have never been a big fan of tahini but I was gifted a jar of it by a colleague and decided I’d give this recipe a go. I made a batch for a party last night at a neighbour’s house and they were so delicious I made another batch today, just for me. Great, easy recipe. I used brown sugar instead of white and hazelnuts instead of almonds.
Dani says
These are magic, made the cookies first time today- and I am indeed flashed by the amazing taste. Thank you, made my day and widened my taste horizon ????!!! Dani
Mary Allen says
Hi there! I would really love to try out this cookie. Is it possible for me to add brown sugar? If so how much can I add? Thank you for a great recipe
Shiran says
Hi Mary, you can replace some or all of the granulated sugar with brown sugar. This will affect the texture of the cookies, but they should turn out ok.
Sue says
Amazingly yummy cookies that melt in your mouth! Love them! Will definitely be making these again.
Mary says
Hi Shiran! I tried your tahini cookie recipe and my family loved it. It has a unique flavour profile. This will be added to my recipe journal. Thank you for sharing!
Jane says
These cookies are so good wow! My whole family enjoyed them and had no idea they were made with tahini! Definitely going to make again, thank you for sharing! Could you tell me what the nutritional information is per cookie please and thank you?
Eliah Browne says
I am from the Mediterranean where tahini is very abundant, tahini cookies are also found here in lots of homes, this recipe is fantastic and provides the melt in your mouth texture that is essential with this cookie! Thank you, will be using this recipe regularly
Michael says
Fantastic cookies. They have a halva like consistency. I added a tsp of vanilla to the batter. Everyone enjoyed them. Thank you.
Melissa D says
These are amazing!! Almost a crisp first bite and then they completely melt in your mouth. The cinnamon pop of flavor is addictive but the tahini is the star…not strong but gives the cookie that unique taste. I’ll be making these quite frequently. Thanks for sharing!
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
So glad you loved this recipe, Melissa! And thank you for your kind words.
Bunni says
The recipe on my computer doesn’t show the quantity needed of butter, sugar, or tahini. 😏
Stephanie @ Pretty.Simple.Sweet. says
Hi Bunni, I’m sorry the recipe isn’t loading correctly for you. If you hit the print recipe button, it should bring you to a clean, ad-free page with all the information. Just in case there’s something happening with your computer, here’s the ingredients: 1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup (75g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (100g) tahini*
3 tablespoons powdered sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for rolling
Whole almonds, for garnish