Savory Tahini Pistachio Cookies

Savory Tahini Pistachio Cookies

April 8, 2018

Servings: 2 dozen

Prep: 1 hr

Cook: 15 min

Total: 1 hr 15 min

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These savory cookies take everything that is so incredible about tahini (that rich nutty flavor!) and marry them with a buttery biscuit. Such a great party nibble, perfect to pair with a cheese board and a glass of wine!

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 8 TBSP butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup tahini paste
• 1/2 TBSP honey
• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios

Directions

• Step 1 In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
• Step 2 Beat the butter and sugar in a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, on medium-high until fully whipped. Slowly add the tahini and honey, continuing to whip at a medium-high speed.
• Step 3 Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture until a dough has just formed.
• Step 4 Transfer dough to a cutting board, rolling into a long tube (see below). Place in the center of a a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and the dough is firm.
• Step 5 Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Step 6 Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and side the dough until 1/4 inch thick slices (see below). Place the cookies about an inch a part on the cookie sheet. Top each cookie with a few pistachios. (Get creative with the design)
• Step 7 Bake for approximately 15 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets and completely before serving. The longer the cool, the less likely they are to crumble!

As much fun as I have researching and planning new recipes ahead (often weeks in advance!), sometimes some of my best recipes are ones that I get a flash of inspiration and wing at the last minute.  These cookies were exactly that!

I was in the midst of putting the last minute touches on our son’s first birthday party menu and although I was pretty confident I had all my bases covered, I kept feeling like I just needed one more thing. Whenever you’re planning a party, calculating the amount of food you need is easily one of the trickiest parts.  Since our party was 2-5 pm (theme menu coming soon!), I was going heavy on appetizers and leaving the cake to the pros. But I still felt compelled to bake something.  Once I ruled out rolls and biscuits – they seemed somewhat mismatched with the rest of my apps – I then started to envision some sort of cracker. For some reason, I just kept coming back to using tahini, so I set out to come up with a tahini cracker recipe, which ultimately became what I’m calling this Savory Tahini Cookie.

Baking with tahini had actually been in the back of my mind for a few weeks, ever since I saw one of my favorite bloggers – “Miss Finger Foodie” – post a tahini bread recipe that looked positively to die for! Her blog isn’t up and running yet, but if you follow her on Instagram, you’re sure to be as inspired by her feed as I am.

So here I was, the day before the party, dreaming up a last minute recipe, centered around tahini.  I originally wanted to bake them with pistachios, but I didn’t check the pantry inventory in advance and I only had a handful of pistachios left.  So I quickly subbed in pine nuts at the last minute and they worked out just fine. You can totally mix it up and play with whatever nuts or other accents that inspire you too!

Chilled “tube” of dough and slicing tips:

Just starting to brown after 15 minutes: