I love these sesame seed cookies. They are a nice change from the kind of cookies we usually see in stores.
These cookies are not too sweet and have the nice addition of the crunch of sesame seeds when you bite into them.
The recipe originates from Armenia, where sesame seeds are a common ingredient in baking. That’s great for us because they are healthy and delicious.
We don’t see very many recipes for cookies with sesame seeds on them or in them. If you have one to share, just post it in the comments section below to share it with the Cookingnook.com community.
These little cookies may look like they would be difficult to make but they aren’t at all. They are quite easy. Once the batter is made, and it’s a stiffer batter than for many cookies, you just form the cookies, dip them in milk and then into the sesame seeds.
If you are using milk alternatives like almond milk or coconut milk they would probably work fine. I just can’t guarantee it because I haven’t tried it.
The recipe calls for the sesame seeds to be “toasted”. If you are a beginner baker you may not know what that means yet so here are a couple of tips.
How to “Toast” the Seeds for Sesame Seed Cookies
Toasting just means heating the sesame seeds until they turn color a bit.
For this recipe you just heat the seeds until they are golden. Other times you may want to brown the seeds a bit but not here. For these cookies you want the sesame seeds to retain much of their nice light color.
You can toast sesame seeds in an oven or in a sauté pan on the stove.
Oven Method:
Heat the oven to 350ºF (or 180ºC).
Put the seeds in a dry pan or on a baking sheet with no oil. Place the pan in the hot oven and toast the seeds for 5 to 8 minutes or so, until they are a light golden color. Watch them VERY carefully as they can burn quickly.
Take the seeds out of the oven and set aside to cool slightly before using them.
Once cooled, the toasted seeds can be kept for several days in a sealed container.
Stovetop Method:
Put the seeds into a sauté pan/ frying pan over medium heat. Stir them occasionally as they warm and watch them carefully as they can burn quickly. Remove the seeds from the heat when they are a light golden color.
See the image below. They should look similar to these:
These wonderful little cookies are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee for a quick break. They would also work really well on a dessert tray with a variety of other cookies and sweets.
Armenian Sesame Seed Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, large (if you have medium size eggs use 4)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups sesame seeds
Instructions
- Break the eggs into a bowl. Let them sit while get our your other ingredients and toast the sesame seeds.
- Spread the sesame seeds on a baking sheet and bake them for about 10 minutes or until they are just lightly toasted. Watch them very carefully as they can burn quickly. Check and shake the tray as they toast so they brown evenly. Once the seeds are a light golden color, let them sit and cool while you prepare the cookie batter.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Beat the eggs until they are fluffy, then slowly add the sugar and beat them together. Add the salt, the oil and vanilla. Mix it all together well. Add the baking powder. Sift the flour, 1 cup at a time, into the mixture. The mixture will be a bit stiff.
- Knead the dough and incorporate it into a ball. Shape the cookies either into a round or cigar shape. Dunk each cookie in milk and then the seeds.
- Place on an unoiled cookie sheet. If you have four levels of shelving in your oven, place the pan on the 2nd from bottom shelf in the 375°F oven and bake for 5 minutes, then move the baking sheet to the 2nd from top shelf and bake 8 minutes longer. If you have a regular oven with 2 shelves, just bake the cookies in the middle of the oven.
- This recipe makes about 3 to 4 dozen cookies, depending on the size you make them.
Nutrition
If you enjoy these sesame seed cookies, try our date and walnut pinwheels found here. They also use Mediterranean ingredients.
You can browse all of our cookie recipes here.
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