If someone offered me a “health-ish” cookie, the chances of me refusing are zero to none. So creating one, was not only a favourite afternoon pastime, but also one of my life’s necessities. This recipe is easy enough for a five year old. They are so aromatic, crunchy and delicious I ended up baking a batch once a week. And they are vegan! Managing to create successfully an eggless cookie was an achievement. They have an intense flavour of tahini and before you even finish eating the first one, you will know that grabbing a second one is inevitable. Enjoy (guilt-free!).

 Ingredients

• ½ cup tahini paste
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup soft brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup fresh orange juice
• 1 Tbs carob honey or honey
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or one sachet vanilla sugar
• 500 grams all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• Sesame seeds or coarsely ground almonds for sprinkling

Method

Preheat oven to 175 C. Line two baking sheets with “silpat” or greaseproof paper.

In a bowl mix together the tahini, olive oil, sugars, orange juice, carob honey, cinnamon and vanilla. In another bowl sift together the flour with the baking powder, soda and salt.

Add flour mixture to the tahini mixture. Mix until a soft dough forms. Don’t overmix or over knead as the olive oil may begin to separate. Mix only until you have a soft and pliable dough. You can mix in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

Roll the dough in about 10 cm long logs. Roll each log either in sesame seeds or coarsely ground almonds. Cut the log with a sharp knife into 0,5 cm slices. Lay slices flat on baking trays. You may sprinkle more nuts on the slices if you wish. Press them down slightly with your hands to hold nuts in place.

Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans 180 degrees after 10 minutes, for even baking. Biscotti may be soft when you take them out of the oven but will harden once cool.

Cool biscotti completely on wire racks. Store in biscuit tins. They keep (but don’t last) for many weeks.