It’s that time in life when most of my friends are in various stages of motherhood – Trying, Expecting, Just delivered, Coping with a toddler, Losing hair rapidly with 2 kids in tow! Basically, it is RAINING babies!
Just yesterday I was to meet two of my very dear friends who are soon to be mommies. I raked up these super healthy (okay, relatively healthy) sesame cookies for them. I had made these during Sankranti and they gave a stiff competition to its contemporary counterpart – til ke laddoos.
Sesame cookies
I’ve adapted this recipe from Saee Koranne of My Jhola with only slight variation. I absolutely LOVE her blog for jaw-droppingly gorgeous pictures and her down-to-earth style of writing.
Recipe adapted from here
Makes: 20 medium sized cookies
Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1/4th cup oats
1 cup + 2 heaped tbsp unpolished sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sesame oil (or any non-smelly cooking oil)
1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp butter (half a pack of 100 gms amul butter)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
Zest of 1 lemon
This is how I made it –
1) Lightly roast oats, cool to room temperature and powder them in a grinder.
2) Add powdered oats, baking powder to whole wheat flour and mix it with a fork. Keep aside.
3) Simultaneously, dry roast sesame seeds till golden brown. This should take about 5 mins on low gas. Remove from heat once done and allow them to cool down to room temperature.
4) Remove 2 heaped spoons of roasted sesame seeds and grind it in the mixie. Add oil and give it a quick whir to bring the powdered seeds to a thick paste consistency. (this can be substituted with Tahini).
5) Cream butter and sugar with a hand blender or a whisk.
6) Add egg, zest, vanilla, sesame paste/tahini and blend till frothy.
7) Tip in your dry ingredients (flour mix + sesame seeds) and mix well. You should get a sticky cookie dough consistency.
8) With slightly wet* fingers pinch off marble sized balls and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper about an inch apart. Lightly press each of them down with your fingertips to give a round cookie shape.
9) Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 mins at 175 degrees C
10) Remove from oven once they have a golden tinge at the bottom. Cool on a rack.
Army of sesame cookies cooling off.
**Notes:
1) Feel free to use refined flour(maida) instead of whole wheat flour and oats, I’ve made both variations but prefer the later for the texture it adds to the overall bite and the health benefits ofcourse.
2) Original recipe calls for Tahini, if available in the pantry, you’ll save yourself step 4 (sesame paste).
3) Wetting your fingers while shaping the cookies gives a lovely golden crust to the cookies while they are baking apart from making it easy for you to handle the dough without it sticking to your palm.
4) Cookies will be slightly soft when out of the oven, but they’ll harden as they cool down. It’s always better to slightly under cook cookies than overbake them. I over baked mine and hence they browned a tad too much.
FooDooF 