Tahini Butter Cookies

  4.2 – 25 reviews  • Israeli

This simple yet delectable pasta salad, made with her favorite pesto flavors, was developed by my 10-year-old daughter Maya and myself. This salad works well as a side dish or as the centerpiece of a light meal.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Additional Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Servings: 50
Yield: 50 cookies

Ingredients

  1. 1 cup butter
  2. ½ cup white sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  4. ½ cup tahini
  5. 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  6. ½ teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and tahini, mix until well combined. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, then stir into butter mixture. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet in tablespoon-sized pieces.
  3. Bake in preheated oven until they turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet 10 to 15 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 66 kcal
Carbohydrate 5 g
Cholesterol 10 mg
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Protein 1 g
Saturated Fat 3 g
Sodium 33 mg
Sugars 2 g
Fat 5 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Lauren Washington
A great tasting cookie. Quick and easy to make. It’s an excellent substitute for peanut butter cookies when “peanut free” is required.
Shelly Pineda
I followed the recipe exactly but used margarine. These were way too oily and even after chilling 45 min. quickly spread across the cookie pan when baked. I’ll try them again, halving the butter amount.
Kimberly Lowe
do you use granulated suger or powder
Steven Brooks
Light and crispy with a delicate richness that reminded me of pecan sandies. Mine spread out more than I’d expected them to, and all kind of joined up. Next time, I’ll space them better. Delicious cookie!
Sara Taylor
very good recipe! yammi
Mark King
I made these cookies with some leftover Tahini. They were delicious and tasted so much like halvah (sesame candy). 2 of my 3 boys loved them. The one who did not like does not like halvah candy either. The one problem was the cookies crumbled and fell apart easily even after I let them cool 45 minutes on the cookie sheet. I used the insulated cookie sheet for baking, did not have any trouble removing them but they were fragile and would crumble or break in my hand. My solution was instead of serving as a cookie, was to put the remaining cookies in a glass mason jar. This is now being stored in the fridge. I will take a spoonful and sprinkle it over vanilla ice cream for a special dessert. Delish!!! I also placed 2-3 semisweet chocolate chips on each cookie while baking for variety. From now on this will be my solution for using leftover Tahini!
Maurice Mack
I made these for my daughter’s 3rd grade class for her project on Israel. It wasn’t a huge hit with all of the kids because of the unique tahini flavor, but the parents liked them and so did I. I added a few tablespoons of honey per previous review. I had no problems with crumbling (I let them cool on the cookie sheet, and then on a rack – as per the directions).
Jordan Taylor
I love this cookie and it is so easy to make. I have sent the recipe to my kids and friends. I tried to share on facebook, but could not get it to work. Great cookie!! You must try it!
Preston Duffy
My husband is from Lebanon and really like the tahini taste…….this is a really simple recipe and the cookies are great!!!!!!
Tyler Campbell
Excellent. I added a bit of honey to keep it moist after seeing how dry the flour made it. You definitely need to let them sit for 10 minutes at least, or else they’ll fall apart. Otherwise, absolutely wonderful!
Adam Franklin
This was the best cookie recipe I have ever made my entire life! It was so simple and so easy, but best of all so delicious!!!
Susan Nelson
I thought these cookies were wonderful. The texture and flavor were perfect. I did not change a thing in the recipe, and won’t the next time I make them. I always make my drop cookies using an ice cream scoop, for these I used my smallest one and was able to get 18 cookies on each sheet (since they do not spread much) for a total of 47. I baked them 16 minutes, however, they did not turn golden brown, but were done. I left them on the cookie sheets until totally cooled, actually about an hour as I was doing other things. They came off the cookie sheets easily with no problems and did not break apart but I think if handled roughly they would. For anyone that has eaten halvah the taste is very similar but I think these have a better texture.
William Schultz
I agree these cookies are good! I changed it by using dark brown sugar and some cinnamon, though you can’t really taste either. The only problem is that like others said, these are fragile cookies that crumble easily. I think the trick is just to make very small cookies. This was a great way for me to get rid of the rest of my tahini!
Aaron Evans
I scaled this recipe down to 20 servings and made the following changes: added 2 heaping Tbsp. of honey, 2 Tbsp. of brown sugar, and 1.5 tsp. of cinnamon, and used margarine instead of butter. They turned out phenomenal! I greased a cookie sheet with Pam (with olive oil flavor) and the cookies came right off the sheet when they were still warm. They were a little greasy because of this maybe, but they didn’t even last long enough to cool completely because my friends and family gobbled them up as soon as I put them on a plate! Great flavor and texture! Everyone of my friends loved them! THANKS!!!!
Courtney Johnston
I made the recipe as indicated, and found them to have a slightly bitter aftertaste from the tahini (please keep in mind that I love halvah, so I’m not opposed to the flavor), as well as prone to fall apart even when cooled fully. I feel that a full cup of butter may be too much for this recipe, so I added a couple of heaping tablespoons of flour and water to the remaining batter to improve the consistency, and a squirt of honey to curb the bitterness. This was an improvement, but I don’t know if this recipe will be made often.
Jennifer Powers
I am not familiar with tahini, just needed to use some up that had been in the fridge for who knows how long. It’s very bitter, isn’t it? I added another 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 Tbsp Adams chunky peanut butter to the dough. These cookies were gone in two days! My kids loved them, and I had them in the morning with coffee. The texture is perfect, melt in your mouth like a peanut butter cookie should. (My 9 y/o said, “sandy”) Only four stars because I still would have liked them sweeter. Oh, and I used parchment paper and let them cool before touching them, they held together great. Try them!
Brooke Jennings
Very nice recipe, but for thicker, softer, and moister cookies I used 3 parts brown sugar and double the spoonful size.
Nicholas Duran
I, too, attempted to take the cookies off the sheet too early and learned real quick that that was a bad idea! They set right up if you let them cool for a bit. The original recipe was great in itself, but I tried adding sliced almonds and some raw sugar to the next batch. Those ones spread out quite a bit, so next time I’ll make them smaller. They came out a little chewier, which my friends seemed to prefer. Both batches were a huge hit with my friends and were gobbled up – except for my one friend who said they tasted too much like halvah, which he doesn’t really like. As someone else said, tahini is definitely an acquired taste.
John Cannon
These cookies are delicious! Unusual, just sweet enough,delicate texture,very sophisticated. Must follow cooling directions exactly. I topped mine with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. Great way to use up left-over tahini paste from other recipes.
Rachel Mccarthy
Were crumbly, as other have commented. Taste was still good, and people liked them at the pot luck I made them for.
Nicholas Coleman
I loved this cookie! Tender, flavorful, perfect texture. Tahini is an acquired taste, but isn’t too overpowering in this recipe. Like others, I found that the cookies will fall apart if you handle them while they’re still hot. Rather than use a wire cooling rack, I used a grill pan to cool them on. They fall through the wire rack. If you allow the full cooling time, they hold together fine.

 

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