Techina Cookies

Sharon Mann
Recipe by
Sharon Mann

My husband introduced me to techina (tahini), a staple found in most Israeli kitchens, as soon as we made aliyahaliyahעֲלִיָּה"Going up." The honor of being called to recite the blessings before and after the Torah reading. Also refers to immigration to Israel, to "make aliyah" to Israel; plural: aliyot. Lit. "Ascent."  in 1992. You can choose to halve all the ingredients for a smaller batch or freeze some for a later date. These cookies also taste great straight out of the freezer!

Ingredients
3 cups flour (half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour)
1 cup raw tahini* (techina gol'mit)
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup melted unsalted butter or margarine
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, white and brown sugars) in a large bowl. Add the techina and then the melted butter (or margarine). Mix with a large spoon. At some point you will need to switch to mixing the dough by hand until it is fully mixed. The dough will have a sticky slightly crumbly consistency.
  3. Take approximately one teaspoon of the batter at a time, and roll in your hands to form small balls. Place each cookie ball, evenly spaced, onto the baking sheets. Techina cookies don’t spread when baking, so there is no need to leave much space between each cookie.
  4.  One at time, flatten each cookie ball by holding it with one hand and with your other hand gently pressing down gently with your thumb or using the back of a small fork to make a criss-cross shape. Because the batter will be crumbly, you may need to reshape the cookie if pieces fall off.
  5. Bake until golden brown (approximately 15 to 20 minutes depending on how crispy you like your cookies). Let cool to room temperature and serve.

*If oil is floating on top, mix it in and then measure 1 cup.