Flourless Tahini Cookies

This cookie makes a nice alternative for people who are trying to avoid flour in their diet. I have eaten 3 of them in the past hour since they came out of the oven. I'm not avoiding sugar or flour in my diet but my jeans tell me that I should consider doing that. Hip hip hooray that spring is here because I need the burst of energy and longer days to do some outside work and drop a few pounds. Will I give up cookies in this effort to be wearing my skinny jeans? Probably not!

Do you remember the Bit O' Honey candy bars! This cookie reminds me of that texture and sorta the same taste. Imagine a Bit O' Honey with oatmeal in it. Okay, you get the idea. Chewy, but not like a chewy oatmeal cookie. This is a sticky sort of chewy texture. The biggest bonus for me was the use of dried fruits.

I like it when a recipe offers a new experience for me. Rolling the cookies into balls with wet fingers, and then flattening them slightly with wet fingertips made this a pleasurable new experience. The dough smelled great prior to baking and while baking. If I ever make these again, I will bake half a batch because, Mister and Aimee are pretty traditional in what they enjoy eating. This recipe would be a treat exclusively for me.

It made great use of my homemade tahini paste and I'm satisfied with the outcome. I also had several mis-match packages of instant oatmeal with dried fruits such as blueberries and apples that added a nice twist to the 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Another added benefit is the total use of honey as the sweetener instead of sugars. As I mixed the honey and tahini together I had my doubts. But, they came out just fine.

Flourless Tahini Cookies
from Bob's Red Mill 

1 cup of tahini
1 cup of honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup, chopped dried fruit, soaked and drained
3 cups of Quick Oats
1 cup of nuts ( I used slivered almonds)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper ( I would imagine this is a must do because these cookies are pretty sticky until they cool.)

In a medium bowl mix together the tahini, honey, vanilla and ground cinnamon. Add re-hydrated fruit and oatmeal to this mixture and then add the nuts.

Using wet hands roll the dough into 1" balls. Flatten the cookies slightly with damp fingers. Bake for 10 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. Mine took 13 minutes to be exact. Allow to cool on the parchment lined bake sheets.

The Tahini is easy to make at home.