I mentioned that I made tehina shortbread rounds in my last post. Making tehina shortbread has been on my to-do list for a long time now but I never really got round doing it. And I didn’t want to make it last week but it ended up being tehina shortbread anyway. What I really wanted to do was make regular shortbread and use a plastic cookie mould I bought in Jordan 4 years ago. The friend I wanted to make them for (the same one I made the strawberry tartlet for) bought the exact same mould but as far as I know he hasn’t been able to produce pretty cookies either. I say either because I had the same problem, I tried out the mould soon after I bought it but I couldn’t get the dough out of the mould. So after 4 years I thought I’d give it another go….didn’t work 😦 again the dough stuck even though I floured the mould. So I was stuck with shortbread dough…. I thought regular unflavoured shortbread dough was was a bit boring so I just added ¼ cup of tehina and mixed it in. I chilled the dough for about 20 minutes and rolled it out in order to make tehina cookies.
The cookies have a pleasant slightly bitter tehina taste. Definitely not your regular shortbread cookies. There’s not much sugar in this recipe so the cookies weren’t very sweet. You have to love tehina to love these cookies though because they really do taste of tehina. N texted me that he thought the cookies were a bit too tehina-y for his taste. But when I talked to him a couple of days later he told me that he liked them better the next day (or he got used to the taste 😉
I have some more of the dough in the fridge and I’m still thinking about using it is some kind of dessert….not completely sure how and what though.
Tehina shortbread rounds (adapted from The Ultimate Cookie Book by Catherine Atkinson)
200 g (6 oz / ¾ cup) flour
25 g (1 oz / 2 ½ tbs) cornflour
50 g (2 oz / ¼ cup) caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
115 g (4 oz / ½ cup) butter, diced
¼ cup tehina
Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F).
Sift the flour and cornflour into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix it in. Rub in the butter. Add the tehina and knead into a dough. Form a disk shape and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to chill for about 20 minutes.Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper until about 1 cm (½ in) thickness. Cut out the cookies and transfer to a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Bake the cookies for about 30 minutes or until just pale golden. Sprinkle with caster sugar and allow to cool on the baking sheets.
lindakovacevic 
I love Tahini!!! Those perfect cookies must taste heavenly!
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh my that is the coolest spoon I have ever seen!!! It’s a snake isn’t it? Cool! You shortbreads look very good and I’m curious about using the sesame paste in them. I’ve been seeing some peanut butter and sesame paste cookies and have them on my to-do list as well. Can’t wait to see what you’re gonna do with the rest of the dough!
these look nice. Pity I don t like sesame seeds.these look really the perfect shortbread cookies
I like the spoon! Since you have dough left and it isnt to sweet, perhaps a savort tart with the shortbread crust? Ground lamb, raisins, etc?
I’ve made similar cookies before, using Alice Medrich’s recipe. Heavenly. But then again, I am a huge fan of tahini.
You shortbreads look very good Linda.. :)The spoon is so Cool!
They sound really interesting and looks delicious. Maybe you could use the leftover dough as some sort of vessel for ice cream? *shrugs*
They look really pretty, Linda!
Tehina is Tahini, yes? I have a jar in my fridge and I’d like to try these as an experiment but I’d probably halve the quantity because I’m guessing the 5 year old may not take to these. Having said that, he surprised me by loving the Mentaiko Pasta, so you never know.
By the way, I want that spoon! Where did you find that treasure?
I love that spoon of yours!! And your cookies look gorgeous!! I’ve never had Tehina before, but maybe I should start now!!
Tahini shortbread! Oh if only I could grab some from the screen 😛 Those look perfect, Linda!
How interesting. I always associate tahini with savoury dishes.
these must be so delicious… i can imagine the taste. i am a big fan of shortbreads so i will keep this one in mind.
Oh, these look so delicious… And beautiful too. Lovely photographs!
It’s a snake indeed 🙂
Great idea but it’s not enough for a pie or tart…I think I’ll make mini cookies to complement a dessert.
Tehina = tahini. I’m used to calling it tehina because that’s what they call it in Israel (where I used to live for a few years).
I bought the spoon about 15 years ago in India, I believe in New Delhi at some kind of touristy jewelry market. I’ve used it as a sugar spoon for years and sometimes it can act in one of my photographs 😉
Love sesame seeds-tahini-tehina and I love shortbread anything…I am bookmarking this one! Great shots Linda!
Love the spoon and glad to know how you came by it. As a sugar spoon playing in your photos, it must now have the patina of history. The shortbread looks wonderful and the tahini sounds extraordinary. Would love to try.
Oooh, these look amazing! I love the idea of shortbread, and these sound intriguing. I’ll have to try, especially since I happen to have some tahini that needs to be used up!
Wow! These cookies sound uber delicious. And they are so perfectly made!
These are new to me, Linda! Tahini in cookies? I have got to try it too!
Yum! I adore tehina cookies, yours look wonderful! Love their perfect shape.
I have to make those. They look perfect. I tried your Khatai cookies and really loved them.
aaaaaahh that is so cool!! we have tons of tahini at home i definately need to try these out!!