For More Interesting Shortbread, Add Tahini

It may come as a surprise, but tehina is perfect in desserts because, in addition to adding nutty flavor, it helps modulate sweetness and leaves you wanting more.

For me, there's nothing as comforting as these shortbread cookies enriched with tehina. They are ridiculously easy to make and extremely satisfying.

Because the tehina replaces some of the butter in a traditional shortbread, they are actually quite light. (Or at least that's how I rationalize eating ten of them in one sitting.)

I love to crumble them on Turkish coffee ice cream or layer them with tehina semifreddo to the make the ultimate ice cream sandwich. But these cookies are perfectly delicious simply dusted with confectioners' sugar and served with coffee.

Tehina Shortbread Cookies

View Recipe

Ingredients

1 3/4	sticks (7 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1	cup sugar
1	cup tehina
2	cups all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking powder
1	pinch kosher salt

1 3/4	sticks (7 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1	cup sugar
1	cup tehina

2	cups all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon baking powder
1	pinch kosher salt

Recipe and text excerpted from Zahav: A World of Israeli Cooking (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2015).