Tahini in it’s pure form is the most versatile ingredient and I’m totally in love with it.

Throughout our travels in Israel we ate a lot of hummus and tahini (in Hebrew: טחינה‎ t’hina) every day. It is a staple food in most Mediterranean / Middle Eastern dishes.
Served as a dip with flat bread or pita, a topping for many foods such as falafel, sabich and shwarma, and as an ingredient in various spreads. It is also used as a cooking sauce for meat and fish and in sweet desserts like halva and tahini cookies.

I made these melt in your mouth tahini shortbread cookies that taste exactly like halva are so easy to make. I’m thinking that these cookies crumbled over coffee ice cream would be delicious, but I can assure you that they are perfectly more-ish all on their own.

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Tahini Shortbread Cookies

Course Dessert

Ingredients

• 7 oz. unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup tahini paste
• 2 cup all purpose flour
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking powder

Instructions

• Combine the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed or in a large bowl with a hand mixer and mix until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the the tahini and mix until well incorporated. Scrape down the bowl, the mix again to ensure tahini is combined.
• In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the tahini mixture and beat until just combined. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop the dough onto a pan lined with parchment paper in heaping tablespoon size rounds. They don’t spread much, so feel free to place them close together.
• Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. [The dough can be frozen at this point.]
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are light brown, and the center is set.
• Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week, although I can guarantee they will not last long.

  Recipe from Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking by Michael Solomonov