Sesame Seeds, Tahini Paste, Tahini dips and all sorts play like a very important part in the daily life of people in Mediterranean and especially in Cyprus. We pretty much like drizzling tahini sauce on foods, sesame seeds on crackers and cookies, and even tahini paste on a slice of bread instead of butter. I am telling you if you live in Cyprus and you aren’t obsessed with “tahini everything” as much as everyone here is, are you even Cypriot? 😂
Because of my job, I tend to avoid anything that has been processed a lot and gone through manufacture so I tend to make everything myself because it is crucial to know what goes into your body and honestly if you look after it and feed your body with the right stuff, it will thank you back in many ways you can’t begin to imagine. The most important part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle is knowing the foods you consume and choosing the right nutrients for your own organism.
Let me just give you an insight…
Sesame seeds and nearly everything made from sesame seeds (as long as is homemade) can have so many health benefits as nutrients present in sesame seeds can provide so much goodness to your body and health.
Firstly sesame seeds are a very good source of fiber which can lower cholesterol and furthermore it can help with the microflora and the regulation of healthy stool movement as the fiber present in the sesame seeds can help with the growth of good bacteria in the gut in the long run.
Moreover, sesame seeds are rich in healthy fats (poly unsaturated fatty acids) which they can further help with the cholesterol rich bile excretion from the body. Moving on, sesame seeds are high in antioxidants, Vitamin E and magnesium which may have beneficial results on blood pressure since antioxidants are known for their blood pressure lowering properties.
Since we are talking about Vitamins, sesame seeds are very high in B Group Vitamins especially in B6 (Pyridoxine) B3 (Niacin) & B1 (Thiamin). I must say B6 is one of my favorite vitamins from the B Group Vitamins since it has many beneficial properties and let me share some of them with you. Pyridoxine may improve mood and reduce symptoms of depression since Vitamin B6 may also help in the decrease of the amino acid homocysteine in the blood levels which amino acid has been linked to depression. Also pyridoxinehas been linked with brain health since consumption of Vitamin B6 high foods may promote healthy brain function. Lastly, because I don’t want to bore you too much today Vitamin B6 aids in the production of hemoglobin in the bloodhence it has been linked in treating anemia and reducing the risk of heart disease caused by clogged arteries.
Anyway I will just keep in short and sweet because I bet you can’t wait to see what I have in store for you this time 😍 Oh and if you aren’t sure yet whether you like sesame seeds and all their derivatives, keep reading and by the end of this blog post I am pretty sure that I will manage to convince you that sesame seeds can be great and can be incorporated in your diet pretty easily; and tasty..
Now that most of it is out there I can finally move on to the fun and tasty part..
Just to be clear, in my household there’s always got to be something sweet to nibble on as everyone usually gets the cravings on a late afternoon, and honestly when they do I literally don’t have any time to whip up anything right on thespot for them to have with their berry tea or their afternoon coffee; hence I always try to make something in advance that can be easily stored for days and satisfy even the most fussy ones, and in my family there’s quite a few of them around.
I usually tend to have my house stocked up with most of the ingredients that I usually use because you never know when you will need them and there is nothing worse than trying to make something and remembering half way that you are missing some of the most crucial ingredients; Bummer right? Something I always have around is Tahini paste which I make at home in batches because truth to be told I love tahini paste; it’s not only great for baking and cooking but it’s amazing just as a spread on a toast with some agave nectar. You haven’t heard the best news yet though, if you make it at home you can flavor it as well and turn it into a lot of different spreads, from chocolate tahini to cinnamon spread and all sorts,oh and don’t worry I will be posting a Blog post with all the spreads that I make easily at home and I promise you, you will not want to buy the store spreads ever again!
I know I know enough with keeping you on your toes. It’s time to present to you two versions of my favorite Tahini Cookies. So let’s quickly start with the Version Number 1 which is my Wholemeal Tahini Cookies with no sugars and no added fats and honestly once you make them you will be pairing them with your afternoon coffee or tea, literally every day.
Wholemeal Tahini Cookies (NO SUGAR ALERT)
For this Recipe which makes plenty of cookies you will need:
- 270g wholemeal flour
- 15g stevia sweetener
- 25g raw coconut dark sugar
- 125ml orange juice (preferably freshly squeezed juice)
- 150g tahini paste
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Cinnamon to taste and liking (approx. 1 tsp)
- Sesame seeds (for rolling your cookies)
Directions:
Step 1: Pre heat the oven at 180 Degrees Celsius FAN. Weigh all your ingredients and set aside. Take a big bowl and combine your dry ingredients (flour, stevia, raw coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon) Stir well and set aside.
Step 2: Take another big bowl and now mix all your wet ingredients well until a smooth liquid like mixture has formed (orange juice, tahini paste, vanilla extract).
Step 3: Now add the liquid mixture into the bowl with your dry mixture which you set aside earlier and star mixing slowly with a spoon and when the mixture gets too hard to stir with the spoon, use your hands; once a sticky dough has been formed, move the dough on a clean surface and start kneading until the gluten has developed in the dough and is easy to roll out to be cut into cookies.
Step 4: Let your dough sit for a few minutes until you get all the empty bowls aside, your cookie cutters in whichever shapes you like and you are now ready to roll out the dough. Once you have achieved a 1cm thickness you can cut out your cookies and roll them in the sesame seeds; Easiest way to do it is to pour the sesame seeds into a deep dish and roll each cookie you cut out individually.
Step 5: Once you cut out the first batch of cookies, take the leftover dough and roll it out again to make the second batch until your dough is gone. Once you decide which baking tray you will use depending on how many cookies you have cut out, layer the trays with parchment paper and place your cookies on your trays leaving some space in between them.
Step 6: Bake the cookies for approximately 40 minutes more or less depending on the thickness of the cookies and how crunchy you would want them to be. Once you remove them from the oven, allow them to cool down before consumption.
You can store them for up to a week in an airless Tupperware container and ideally consumed within 2-3 days for best taste.
Now as usual, for everyone that is too lazy to read through the steps, here is the summed up video of the procedure 🙂 Enjoy.
Now in regards to Version 2, I present to you my Gluten Free Soy TahiniCookies with chocolate filling (NO SUGAR ALERT) and drizzled with chocolateagave nectar.
SOY FLOUR TAHINI COOKIES
Ingredients:
- 270g soy flour
- 180g tahini paste
- 20g stevia
- 1/3 cup water or more (until your dough bindstogether)
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- 125ml orange juice (preferably fresh)
- Vanilla extract 1 tbsp
- Cinnamon to taste (approx. 1 tsp)
- 45g coconut sugar
- Cavalier stevia chocolate spread (for the filling)
Directions:
Step 1: Pre heat the oven at 180 Degrees Celsius FAN. Weigh all your ingredients and set aside. Take a big bowl and combine your dry ingredients (soy flour, stevia, raw coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon) Stir well and set aside.
Step 2: Take another big bowl and now mix all your wet ingredients well until a smooth liquid like mixture has formed (orange juice, water, tahini paste, vanilla extract).
Step 3: Now add the liquid mixture into the bowl with your dry mixture which you set aside earlier and star mixing slowly with a spoon and when the mixture gets too hard to stir with the spoon, use your hands; once a sticky crumbly dough has been formed, move the dough on a clean surface and start kneading until all the ingredients are holding together. For in a ball and place in the fridge for half an hour to help it set and makes it easier for rolling out.
Step 4: While the dough is cooling in the fridge, set your bowls aside, prepare your baking trays layering them with parchment paper and get your cookie cutters in whichever shapes.
Step 5: Now we are ready to roll. Take your dough from the fridge and place it onto a non stick surface to be able to roll it out more easily; Gluten free dough is hard to mould as there is no gluten in its structure to give it the elasticity and hold it together. Once you have achieved about 1cm thickness you can start cutting out your cookies and roll them in the sesame seeds; Easiest way to do it is to pour the sesame seeds into a deep dish and roll each cookie you cut out individually.
Step 6: Once you cut out the first batch of cookies, take the leftover dough and roll it out again to make the second batch until your dough is gone.
Step 7: Once you have all cookies layered on the trays, bake the cookies for approximately 30 minutes more or less depending on the thickness of the cookies and how crunchy you would want them to be. Once you remove them from the oven, allow them to cool down before filling the up with chocolate spread.
You can store them for up to a week in an airless Tupperware container and ideally consumed within 2-3 days for best taste.
Now as per usual, enjoy the video which shows you all the steps you need to follow in order to get those cookies up and running 🙂 Enjoy
Well that’s all for today I suppose, As they say all good things come to an end haha 😂 I really hope you try those recipes and tell me which one you liked the most and of course I hope you guys enjoy them as much as we did making them and eating them afterwards of course. As I promised, a blog post with all my homemade spreads and the different version of them will be posted sometime soon; at the end of the day my secrets are really worth sharing 😏
Talk to you next time..
xoxo
THE QUEEN'S CLOSET BY G. 