Sesame Tahini Cookies
Updated Oct 08, 2025
Sesame Tahini Cookies are chewy and gluten-free with Middle Eastern flavor. Instead of butter, tahini paste is used to add a nutty taste!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Easy Tahini Cookies
If you’ve tried my Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies, then you’re going to love these Sesame Tahini Cookies that also use tahini instead of butter. Tahini is a sesame seed paste often used in Middle Eastern cooking and baking. It adds a creamy, savory taste to the cookies, that balances so good with the honey.
These sesame tahini cookies are like a Middle Eastern version of my peanut butter cookies. They’re made with a handful of ingredients, quick-to-make, dairy-free and gluten-free since I make them with almond flour! I think you’re going to love them!
Happy Baking!
– Yumna
How to Make Sesame Tahini Cookies
Tahini Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup sesame seeds
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup tahini
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the sesame seeds in a pie plate.
- In a small bowl, whisk the almond flour with the baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, mix the honey with the tahini and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated.
- Using a spring-loaded cookie scoop, scoop the dough into balls. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds, then flatten them into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Transfer the rounds to the baking sheets, arranging them so they’re about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes, until the bottoms are golden; shift the pans from top to bottom halfway through. Transfer the cookies to a rack and let cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Variations
- Make the tahini cookies vegan by substituting the honey for maple syrup. It will slightly affect the taste and texture but the cookies will still turn out chewy and delicious.
- Make these a thumbprint cookie. Once the cookies have been flattened, use your thumb or a spoon to make an indentation in the center of the cookie. Once it has been baked, press again to further develop the indentation. You can fill it with jam, more tahini or even melted chocolate.
- Use black sesame seeds. For a spooky twist, black sesame seeds can give these a dramatic look and slightly different flavor.
Recipe Tips
- Use high-quality ingredients. Aside from the salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract, there are really only 4 ingredients so it’s important that you use high-quality ingredients that have no fillers. Look for single-ingredient type of products.
- Check the consistency of your tahini. I like to use this brand of tahini which is quite runny. If your tahini is chalky or not pourable, you might want to buy a new bottle or else the cookie dough will be too dry.
- Allow the cookies five minutes to finish cooking on the baking tray. Once you remove them from the oven, they may still look soft and slightly undercooked. But they will firm up once they cool.
FAQs
Tahini is a condiment that is made by grinding toasted, hulled sesame seeds to create a creamy, smooth spread. It’s a similar process to making peanut butter. Once it’s in paste form, it has a nutty flavor, but more slightly more bitter than nut butters. It’s a popular ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes.
Tahini paste gives these cookies a very slight hint of pleasant bitterness which makes them so tasty! However, if you can’t find tahini, you can substitute it with another nut butter such as cashew, almond or peanut or sunflower seed butter works well too. The taste of the cookies will be affected, so use tahini if you can!
Comments
Can I substitute almond flour with coconut flour? Will it work the same?
I haven’t tried making these cookies with coconut flour but others have had success with oat flour. If you end up making them with coconut flour, please let me know how they turn out!
How will one added egg affect the cookies?
Hi Doren! I haven’t tried making these cookies with an egg before, so I’m not sure. I’d love to hear how they turn out if you end up trying it though!
Could you soak these after in a syrup?
Hmm, I haven’t tried that but I think it would make them pretty soggy.
Absolutely delicious! I substituted the maple syrup as per the notes for my vegan SIL and they turned out delicious. I couldn’t check for a golden bottom as they were not firm enough in the oven but they firmed up as they cooled – in my oven, they needed around 9.5 to 10 minutes. Lovely!
Yay, so happy you liked them!! Thanks so much!
Love, love, love them. As suggested, swapped out honey for maple syrup, and did a triple batch, using slightly less maple syrup as I don’t like too sweet. Amazing and full of goodness. So easy to put together. Five stars for true recipe instructions, effortless, texture, taste, goodness! Thank you
Aww, yay!! So glad you love the cookies, Mezza! Thanks!
The mixture for these cookies was so dry. I tried adding an extra teaspoon of peanut oil, still they wouldn’t begin to hold together for rolling. Then I tried water; it took about 2.5 Tablespoons before I could get them to roll at all, and then the sesame seeds barely stuck. I’d like to make these cookies work; what else can I try?
Oh no! Sometimes the oil in tahini separates, so I’m wondering if you had a dry dough to begin with due to dry tahini? Others have mentioned that they live in a dry climate and high altitude and had to adjust the recipe by adding some extra oil and tahini because their dough was also too dry. Could this be the case for you? Next time, try adding more oil instead of water—that should help the cookie dough roll up better.
Instead of rolling the cookies in the sesame seeds, can I slightly grind the seeds and incorporate them into the dough?
I haven’t tried making them that way myself but I’m sure it would work! Let me know how they turn out for you.
See All Comments