Tahini

Delicious Almond Sesame Cookies

Genevieve Leave a comment

I love this time of year… yes the holidays! Because there are always amazing vegan potlucks and great times to share with family and friends. I have always loved anything almond or sesame inspired especially when it is combined with sweet. These cookies are super fun and easy and are kind of cheating because I use a cake mix.

I typically don’t have sugar in the house and I was almost out of medjoul dates, but I really wanted something sweet. I did have Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Vanilla Cake mix so I used some of that to be the base of these super chewy cookies. I took these to a vegan white elephant Holiday Party and they were a hit, everyone kept asking for the recipe and here it is!!!!

Cookie Dough

Almond Sesame Cookies (375 for 8-12 minutes)

  • 2 cups Bob’s GF Vanilla Cake Mix
  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1/2 cup water (maybe slightly more if needed)

Mix all dry ingredients first and then add the tahini (ground sesame seeds) and water. Slowly mix it up and you may need a couple more teaspoons of water to achieve the right cookie consistency. Roll into balls (slightly smaller than ping pong balls) and you will get about 3 dozen cookies.

Almond Sesame Cookies

Loving the Falafel

Genevieve Leave a comment
Baked Falafel (coated in flax meal) with Tabouli

Baked Falafel (coated in flax meal) with Tabouli

Last week we had another great Creative Healthy Cooking Class… the theme was Lebanese cuisine, and WOW was it delicious!!! We made baked and lightly sautéed falafel balls. The baked ones (that look fried) are actually covered in freshly ground flax meal to really up the nutritional profile… not that the dinner needed it with all that parsley. We also made tabouli, tahini sauce (with unhulled sesame seeds to maximize the calcium content), and of course hummus.

Falafel (serves 4)

  • 2 cups garbanzo beans (sprouted first, then cooked 10 minutes)
  • 2-3 garlic cloves
  • ¼ small onion (chopped)
  • 1 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 TBS flax seed

Grind the flax seed to make flax meal and set aside. Then add all other ingredients into a food processor and blend until uniform in consistency. Should be able to form mixture into balls (slightly larger than golf ball size). Then take flax mixture to coat the outside of falafel balls and bake in oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes until crispy. Enjoy with tahini or in a sandwich, wrap or on top of a salad.

*Instead of baking you can also flatten balls slightly and sauté in coconut oil lightly on each side and enjoy! (Pictured below)

Tahini Sauce (serves 4)

  • 4 TBS sesame seeds (try to use unhulled)
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • ½ cup water
  • 1-2 garlic cloves
  • salt or liquid aminoes to taste

Blend ingredients together in blender until smooth consistency. Can add lemon zest for more lemony flavor as well. Makes a great salad dressing (if you add a little more water and vinegar) or use as a dip for veggies or to slather on steamed greens… delicious!!

Falafel lightly sauteed in coconut oil topped with tahini sauce

Falafel lightly sauteed in coconut oil topped with tahini sauce