Peanut butter tahini cookies

Peanut butter cookies are loved by everyone, any time. Well unless you are allergic to peanuts that is. It's such a simple yet delicious treat that goes well with tea, milk, or coffee. Though can be enjoyed anytime, something about the nutty cookie and soft chewy centre always make me think of autumn. And sure, this day and age you can buy cookies without all the effort, you can buy cookie dough and just cut the dough log and say you "made the cookies" (yes we've all been there). But making my own baked goods from scratch is still one of my favorite fall/winter activities so I can control the exact sweetness, nuttiness, flavors and ingredients that go into the cookie. If you are like me and want your cookie a little less sweet, a bit nuttier, and just a tad more fancier than the store bought version, try this recipe.

What you need:

- 2 1/2 cup flour

- 1/2-1 cup each of white and brown sugars (depends on how sweet you like your cookies, see notes below)

- 1 cup butter (unsalted)

- 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup tahini

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- optional: cinnamon, crushed nuts, coarse/flaked salt, and sesame for sprinkling

Recipe:

- mix butter, sugars, eggs, peanut butter and tahini together. the sugar and creamy ingredients will make a nice smooth creamy texture.

- mix flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda all together. 

- pour flour mix into creamy ingredient mix. mix well to make a dough ball.

- fridge your dough ball for an hour (approx.) to chill

- line the baking sheet, use a spoon and make 1/2 - 1 inch diameter balls/disks. this recipe can make 24 large cookies, I made 48-50 smaller cookies. I like the smaller cookies as they are easier to share and a bit firmer on the outside while still soft on the inside.

- use a fork to make marks on top and then rotate 90 degrees (or fork it however you want) to make another perpendicular mark.

- optional: sprinkle cinnamon, crushed nuts, flaked salt, or sesame on top - and call it the fancy stuff

- bake 375F for about 10-15 min. just check to see if your cookies are a bit golden on the sides

- let it cool and share it! 

Note:

- original inspiration came from Allrecipes, you can visit the link here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10275/classic-peanut-butter-cookies/

- tahini is sesame butter, or sesame paste. I like the sesame flavor a lot and it does add a tad bit more umami to this recipe. It's not a super common ingredient and it's possible you can't find it easily. If you don't have this don't worry, just use a whole cup of peanut butter as the original recipe calls for. 

- The amount of sugar doesn't matter that much. Somewhere between 1/2 cup to 1 cup of each brown and white sugar is all fine. Usually I cut down to 1/2 to 3/4 of the sugars on a regular basis for baked goods recipes. My pallet appreciates more flavor and less sugar, but sometimes it ended up messing up the recipe as the sugars does additional magic (like helps to activate yeast for bread baking for example). For the cookies though, the sugars is simply the sweetness however you like with your cookies. 

now who's ready to dunk cookies in some nice tea!