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Vegan Tahini Cookies

ByElena Paravantes, MS, RD

This recipe is from a Greek Monastery Cookbook, that I use often as it has a lot of vegetarian recipes. These cookies are made during fasting periods as they do not contain any animal products or olive oil (which is also not allowed during the week during Greek Orthodox fasting).

Vegan Tahini Cookies

INGREDIENTS

  • 7 ½ cups self-raising flour
  • Juice from 4-5 oranges
  • Lemon zest from 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons tahini
  • ½ cup brandy or cognac
  • 4-5 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 cup toasted ground almonds (without the skin)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl mix the the tahini and the orange juice.

3. Add all the ingredients except the almonds, and a knead until the mixture is mixed well.

4. Add the almonds and knead until incorporated.

5. Shape the cookies in any shape you like.

6. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden.

Elena Paravantes, MS, RDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist by the U.S. Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). She is an expert on the Mediterranean Diet. She has been active as a clinician, consultant, author and lecturer for 20 years, both in the U.S. and Greece. An expert on the Greek Mediterranean Diet, her interviews and articles have been published in many publications including CNN, U.S. News and World Report, Prevention, NPR, and Shape. Elena has collaborated with a number of organizations including Loyola University, Yale University, University of Missouri, Louisiana State University, and the American College of Greece. Elena earned her Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and her Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She holds has a Master’s Degree of Science in Health Management.

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7 Comments

  1. Hi Elena, I love tahini so had been looking forward to trying these cookies… I halved the recipe and when it came to mixing, the mixture was terribly dry. So dry that there wasn’t enough moisture to absorb the flour. I added a third orange, still dry, even after kneading. Then I finally threw in a lot more tahini and got it to come together. I cut them into rectangles like in your photo… But they turned out very strange, just wrong. Dry and tough. Do you have any advice? I assume you’re talking about US cups? 125g per cup, so almost 1kg is called for in this recipe.

    Reply

    1. Hi Diana,
      I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work out for you. Try watering down the tahini first, by adding a bit of water to the tahini and blending. Depending on the tahini, some types are thicker and some are more fluid.

    2. Hi Elena, thanks for your reply. I halved the recipe and only used 2 tbsp of tahini in the beginning – my tahini was not particularly thick. I don’t think watering down the tahini would make much difference, because even after adding the juice of a 4th orange (when halving the recipe would call for 2 to 2.5 oranges), the mixture was so dry that most flour hadn’t been absorbed. I am thinking that the cups listed are not US cups but Greek tea cups? Do you think that is what went wrong? Thanks again!

    4. I weighed my flour at 125g per US cup, and used 450g in the recipe since I halved it. Ah well, I’ll try again someday… after I finish the tahinopita I made after these didn’t work out (I obviously had a tahini craving!!). Thanks again