Test Kitchen: Tahini Cookies

Easy, healthy recipes tested for you weekly at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen

Kelley Magill, Graduate Dietetics Student, SAR ’20

About the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen: We’re all about making healthy taste delicious here at Sargent Choice.  That’s why we’ve teamed up with faculty-in-residence Dr. Karen Jacobs to offer students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to trial and taste-test new Sargent Choice healthy recipes each week at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen.  Dr. Karen Jacobs invites students of all majors (not just nutrition) into her home on Boston University’s campus to cook up a recipe developed by Sargent Choice Registered Dietitian, Jennifer Culbert.  Feedback from the weekly Test Kitchen gets incorporated into future Sargent Choice recipes and helps shape the face of healthy dining at BU.

The Sargent Choice Test Kitchen met this week to bake Tahini Cookies! Although it was a small turnout due to the World Series, the cookies made for a perfect, healthy, game-worthy snack.

What we liked:

  • The easy preparation and short cook time of the cookies
  • Very rich and satisfying despite the small size

What we would change:

  • Shorter cook time — We realized the cookies only needed 10 minutes at most to cook
  • Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes after coming out of the oven. They taste much better once they harden!

Nutrients you are getting from the cookies:

  • Protein
  • Fiber
  • Vitamin B6
  • Magnesium
  • Iron
  • Potassium
  • Copper
  • Healthy fats

Sargent Choice Tahini Cookies

Recipe modified from: https://epicurious.com
Yield: 24 cookies; Serving size: 1 cookie

Ingredients:

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup (1 ½ cup sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons honey
¾ cup tahini
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

  1. Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350⁰F.
  2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, and honey in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in tahini, then add dry ingredients in 2 batches, beating after each addition until fully combined. Dough will be slightly sticky.
  3. Place sesame seeds in a small bowl. Scoop out heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into balls. Dip tops of balls in sesame seeds, pressing to adhere, and place, sesame side up, on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2” apart.
  4. Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until golden brown, 13-15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets (cookies will firm as they cool).