Tahini & Honey Cookies
These Paleo Tahini Cookies are chewy and so delicious! They have a wonderful nutty creamy texture with sesame seeds on the outside which gives them a slight crunch. These cookies are Paleo, Grain Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Specific Carbohydrate Diet Legal.
Are you guys in full Christmas baking mode yet? Holiday baking has always been one of my favourite activities in the lead up to Christmas and I am always on the lookout for interesting new cookie flavour combinations.
Unfortunately with chocolate not allowed for anyone following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, the flavour combinations become quite limiting. I love anything nut butter flavoured, and coconut and raisin will forever be my favourite, but I think I have finally discovered something unique and special.
Tahini cookies. To be more specific tahini and honey cookies, but tahini is the real star of the show here.
Why has it taken me so long to make these!?! They are sooooo good!
They are a soft cookie with a slightly chewy texture in the middle and sesame seed coating that give them a crunchy crust.
If you are unsure about adding tahini, an ingredient I used to only associated with hummus and middle eastern dishes to a cookie, fear not, the flavours totally work. The tahini gives the cookies a subtle nutty flavour that is perfectly complemented by the honey.
I am not a fan of overly sweet cookies and find that these are perfect. They are sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving, while also feeling slightly healthy (at least that’s what I keep telling myself each morning when I have one or two for breakfast).
If you are looking for a fun new cookie flavour to make this Christmas, you have got to give these Tahini & Honey Cookies a try, you won’t be disappointed!
Here are a few other cookie recipes that you might enjoy…
- Hazelnut Butter Cookies
- Chai Spiced Cookies
- Coconut & Raisin Cookies
- Dried Cherry & Macadamia Cookies
- Lemon & Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Tahini and Honey Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the tahini, honey, vanilla and egg and blend until smooth. Stir in the baking soda, salt and almond flour and mix until fully combined.
- Pour the sesame seeds onto a plate. Scoop out tablespoon sized amounts of batter and roll into balls. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds so that they are fully coated on all sides.
- Place the 20-24 sesame coated balls onto the baking sheet and press down firmly to flatten. Leave approximately 1 1/2 to 2 inches between each cookie as they will expand when baked.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the cookies are golden brown in colour.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for approximately 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
Nutrition
Has anyone made these at high altitude yet? Generally, in baking recipes I need to add an extra 1/4 cup flour and 2 Tablespoons of water. I’m wondering if I should try that with these.
Omg! I’m eating one right now! I literally just found this recipe because I wanted a sweet treat and these were pretty much all the ingredients I had on hand. They are SO good. SO tasty. And healthy! Thank you <3
These are fabulous!
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
THis looks so good! I love that they are gluten free too! I’ve never had tahini in a sweet dish before!
Loved these cookies! So soft and light with the crunch of the sesame seeds- perfect!
So good! thank you for the recipe!
Can you freeze these ?
Can I use regular flour instead of almond flour?
Delicious! A few things I learned while making these:
1. Almond flour is just sieved ground almonds in the UK.
2. The cookies end up larger than expected so make your balls small (and you’ll end up with more – win!)
3. Putting the dough in the freezer helps with the rolling.
4. I didn’t have an egg so I substituted with 2 tbsp water and 1 tbsp sunflower oil – consistency turned out perfect (phew!)
I just made a batch of these and they are amazing!!! I put the dough in the freezer for about half an hour to firm up a bit so it was easier to roll them and it worked a treat. I will definitely be making these again, probably very soon at the rate they are being eaten! Thanks for this recipe!
These are absolutely delicious! My son’s favorite dessert is halva but since starting SCD he hasn’t been able to have it. These are very reminiscent of that. Do you think using even more tahini would be ok (we love the sesame flavor!)? Or would it not work?
Yes definitely, extra tahini should work! So happy they are a hit with your son!
These are interesting. I made them for my son with lots of allergies. I omitted the egg and used oat flour. They were light and fluffy but the taste was bland.
I’m amazed that they were bland, they should have quite a strong sesame flavour.
These are absolutely amazing. I have a friend who is gluten free and one who is completely dairy free and another one who watches their sugar intake. You nailed it. All three boxes checked off. They were exactly how you described them.
I am attempting to make them with almond butter, almond liquor and almonds. Wish me luck lol
Yea!! I’m so happy to hear they were a hit Michelle! Let me know how they turn out with almond butter!
I added a few medjoul dates (put through the processor). They added an amazing flavor and were super moist.
These cookies are delightful! I substituted regular flour for almond flour as I did not have any. I made no other changes, and I ended up with around 30 cookies. Great recipe! Thank you! 🙂
So great to know that the recipe works with regular flour! I’m sure others will find that really useful to know! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Angelina, Did you use the same amount of regular flour that was listed for almond flour? Did you still use a little coconut flour? I made these but only substituted some of the almond flour with regular flour and it didn’t turn out as many cookies, plus they were really sticky and difficult to roll. I’m going to try them again next weekend and am looking for some help.
I had the same issue. Too sticky to roll into balls and it was did not yield 20 barely made 10. Help!
I recommend putting the batter in the freezer for 10 minutes, that will make it much easier to roll them.
Oh thanks for letting us know reg flour worked. I wanted to make these for school treats but almonds are prohibited…. Sesame is allowed. I also have chickpea flour but that might too strong a flavour profile….
Just made these. They are yummy!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Awesome! So happy to hear that!
Looks like amazing for sure I’m going to bake them soon but I have a question, can i use coconut sugar instead of the honey? will it change the texture of the cookies?
Swapping coconut sugar for honey will give the cookies a much dryer consistency. Ideally using a liquid sweetener will create the best texture for these.
These are so good! Light and fluffy, a little crunchy on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside. I may add almond oil next time but as an experiment, these are perfectly tasty just as they are. I did have to refrigerate the dough a few times while rolling out the cookies, they were sticking to my hands, not a big deal though. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed them! You could always add a bit more almond flour if you find the dough to be too sticky. Almond oil would be a delicious addition to these cookies, great idea!
These cookies are so wonderful. I’ve been following the SCD diet for 9 months now, and have been missing cookies something fierce. These have a wonderful chewy texture. They are not too sweet, and I love the sesame flavor. I needed to add a bit more almond flour in order to get the dough balls to hold their shape. I’m wondering if they’d be good with some dried fruit–raisins or cherries? I may have to try. Thanks for the great recipe! I’ll definitely be making these again soon.
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed these! I think dried cherries would be a fantastic addition for a bit of texture. If you are looking for other cookie recipes, these Coconut & Raisin are my personal favourite. Thanks for the kind comment Johanna!
Oh… I can’t wait to try those cookies too for my friends. Yum
Cookies looks amazing….but can someways is it possible to substitute egg with any other ingredient
Thank you! I haven’t tried it but I suspect that you might be able to subsititute the egg with 1 tbsp ground flax meal and 2.5 tbsp water. Let me know if you give it a try!!