Gluten free tahini cookies
Gluten free, refined sugar free, gum free, starch free, vegan, FODMAP friendly, nut free *This recipe uses Australian cups and measures. Use ml and gram weights for international accuracy.1 Australian tablespoon = just under 4 American teaspoons
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- 160g (2/3 cup)* tahini, hulled or unhulled (see notes)
- 100-125ml (5-6 tbsp)* maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda (see notes)
- pinch of fine salt
Optional extras
- 100-200g chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (vegan if necessary)
- 1-2 cups seeds and mix ins (I used choc chips, pepitas, hemp seeds and puffed quinoa)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160C/320F. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Combine the ingredients for the cookie dough in a small mixing bowl. Mix, mix and mix until the batter is the consistency a slightly soft cookie dough. This can take 2-3+ minutes of mixing and some elbow grease - I promise it will get there. If need be, have a tiny break and then get back into it. It should hold steady on the spoon if you lift some batter into the air. Some batches I'm even able to pick the dough up and roll it into balls by hand (soft but firm is what we're going for).
- Add any mix ins you plan to use and stir to combine. Use a spoon to place the dough onto the baking tray, leaving room for spread. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies are golden and crisp. Allow to cool almost totally on the tray - they firm up as they cool.
- These cookies keep well in an airtight container on the bench or in the fridge for a number of days. They will become less crisp with time, but are still delicious.
Notes
Both hulled and hulled tahini work in these cookies. I prefer unhulled as the cookies are slightly darker in a nice way.
The dry odds and ends of a tahini jar will not create a spready cookie (nor will it be as good as the oilier version). Choose a tahini that has a slightly runny consistency, rather than a chunky dry one.
I have found that some tahini in Australia, both hulled and unhulled, is roasted. I then found that the roasted variety gave the cookies a slightly more prickly and less spready appearance. The taste is the same either way, but I found that untoasted tahini makes better looking cookies.
If you've got some oil on top of your tahini, add some! It makes for a better looking cookie, too. If you have the dry, crumbly dregs of a tahini jar, I recommend adding 2-3 teaspoons of oil (ideally sesame but any plain oil will work) to compensate.
The baking soda promotes a little bit of spread in the cookies, but it mainly to develop a golden colour at such a low heat. You can omit it if you like, but they're just a bit better with it, in my opinion.
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