These may not be the prettiest holiday cookie, but I love them!

Last week, I saw a recipe for tahini cookies. Tahini is sesame seed “butter” and is an ingredient in hummus which I make often. Sesame seeds are chock full of good stuff and I have also been making a tahini salad dressing. The cookie recipe was very intriguing. I made it, they were good and the texture reminded me somewhat of Russian Tea Cakes.

I have no idea if Russian Tea Cakes are actually “Russian”, but that is what they are called in the Betty Crocker cookbook from WAAAAYYYY back. My mother made Russian Tea Cakes as part of the Christmas Cookie repertoire and although they were not my favorite as a kid, I did like them and haven’t had them since leaving the nest some 39 years ago. Yikes!

I looked at the Russian Tea Cake recipe side by side with the Tahini Cookie recipe and made my own Tahini Tea Cake recipe which I think is wonderful and since it is heavily adapted from two different recipes, I am violating no one’s copyright by disclosing it here!

Without further ado….Tahini Tea Cakes: (this is a smallish batch and is easily doubled)

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp (heaping) cinnamon
1/4 tsp (scant) nutmeg
1/4 cup finely crushed nuts (I used pecans…walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts…I think they would all be good)
1/4 cups coconut oil
1/4 cups tahini
2 T butter unsalted w/ 1/4 tsp sea salt or use salted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar divided 1/4 and 1/4 cups

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet (I used a half baking sheet) with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and nuts – stir well or sift together and set aside. The nuts can be lightly roasted which brings out their flavor a bit more.

Combine coconut oil, melted butter, tahini and 1/4 cups powdered sugar in a separate bowl and beat until creamy.

Add dry ingredients gradually, mixing well – use your hands if you want :)!

Take a teaspoonful of dough at a time and make a ball. Set on cookie sheet leaving about an inch between.

Bake 12-15 minutes until slightly brown/gold. Let sit on baking sheet 5 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and cool on a rack.

Store in an airtight container…I used a Mason Jar.

I am going to try another version with almond flour instead of wheat flour which makes them gluten-free…providing it works!