Hey Friends !!
🙂 I am really excited about sharing this recipe. Because the result was a superhit !
This is an Oil free, Gluten Free & Vegan recipe. I had been on the lookout for some healthy crunchy snack when my friend suggested I try these cookies made with Tahini (butter made from roasted sesame seeds). Crunchy, buttery cookies which you can have without any guilt. Fresh Tahini made from scratch at home, no refined oils, no gluten, no preservatives. Isn’t that amazing 🙂 to me it is!
I’ve been wary of buying cookies/biscuits from store shelves. A lot of ingredients don’t clearly tell what goes into making them. One isn’t sure what kind of fats/oils are used. Besides I am working on reducing the trash I create.. that’s work in progress..! Also reducing my intake of refined foods. I feel this is one of the healthiest cookies I’ve ever made and ever eaten. 😀 which is why my excitement to write this blog.
Tahini instead of oil makes it so much healthier and a bonus if you like the nutty taste of roasted sesame. Sesame seeds are rich in calcium , magnesium , phosphorus , potassium. As I type this I am realizing I need to add this amazing food to my daily diet ! Tahini makes a great replacement for butter. You can flavor it salty / sweet and spread it on your toast , use it in dips, in salad dressings. Overall it is an amazing food for us vegans. Oil, if at all required to make tahini is needed in very less quantity.
And I am not kidding when I say they are crunchy , they are super crunchy just like those bakery biscuits you love to dunk in your hot cuppa, only much healthier! You could compare them to nankhatai. I read somewhere a lot of vegan bloggers don’t use readily available ingredients making it hard for a reader to follow the recipe. Well this recipe is the complete opposite! I don’t believe in buying special or overtly expensive ingredients just to make one dish. Here I have replaced and used easily available ingredients for Indian consumers. This version is inspired by – https://nadiashealthykitchen.com/tahini-cardamom-cookies-vegan-gluten-free-eid-cookies/
Tahini Recipe
1 Cup Sesame seeds & 2-3 tsp Olive Oil/vegetable oil
Steps
- Start by roasting sesame seeds in a thick bottomed pan till they turn slightly brown. Keep moving the seeds around to get them evenly roasted. Pay attention not to over roast as that could make your tahini bitter.
- Allow the roasted seeds to cool.
- NOTE :If using a food processor, you may not need oil to grind the seeds into paste. I used a normal dry grinder to prepare tahini.
- Grind the seeds in bursts of power of your dry grinder. Avoid running grinder for too long which causes overheating. The seeds will slowly change into powder, to thick sticky paste to a softer paste. You need to keep scrapping the contents from the sides in between. Once it reached a thick paste consistency you can add about 2 teaspoon oil to emulsify contents into a smooth paste.
Recipe for Cookies (Makes 8-10)
1/2 Cup Jowar Flour
1/2 Cup Ground almonds
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 Cup Tahini
1/4 Cup Lion Date Syrup
2-3 Tbs of Cane Sugar/powdered Jaggery (depending on desired level of sweetness)
Sesame seeds for topping
Steps
- Preheat convection oven to 180 C. (Use both top & bottom heating )
- In a large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.
- Add Tahini & Date Syrup. Combine with your hands. Check sweetness and add some cane sugar if desired and mix again.
- Shape into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Gently press down and make flat thin discs from these. Thinner cookies will be more crispy.
- A lavish sprinkle of sesame seeds. Press down the seeds to make them stick.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes till the edges are golden brown.
- Cool completely.. As they cool they become crispy.
I had the shock of my life when I munched on my first one.. 😀 .. something so healthy yet so drool worthy. I had to go back for a second one just to let the feeling settle in 😀 Let me know your experience.
THE VEGAN BIRDIE 