It’s Saturday morning. It’s one of our big workdays at the Monastery. We pile into the green truck we’ve named Mojo and head down the road that loops around the Monastery. We trim back branches growing over the road, check in on far-flung hermitages, make necessary repairs to outhouses, and load the back of the truck with the trimmed branches and other fallen wood found along the roadside. The branches are moved to another location where they will be chipped and turned into mulch. Now we’re hungry. What’s for lunch?!
Today we find cookies on the lunch table. We draw some of the recipes we use at the Monastery from the Ayurveda tradition and especially love the cookbooks written by Kate O’Donnell. It is in one of her cookbooks we found this recipe for Sesame Cookies. In the Ayurveda tradition sesame is recognized as a tonic for increasing strength and immunity. A community of monks appreciates both of these qualities!
We hope you, too, enjoy this recipe!
In gassho,
Sequoia
Sesame Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup sesame tahini
¼ cup almond flour
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp. Everyday Sweet Spice Mix*
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
1 egg (or egg substitute)
2 tsp. sesame seeds, plus extra for decoration
*Everyday Sweet Spice Mix is made by combining
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. ground cardamom
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two baking sheets by lightly greasing with ghee or coconut oil, or line with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix the ingredients together in the order listed. If the batter is too runny to shape, put it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes (but batter that’s a little runny bakes nicely). Shape batter into tablespoon-sized balls or drop with a spoon onto the prepared cookie sheets. Leave a few inches between the balls, as they will puff up when they bake. Lightly press down on the balls with a fork. Sprinkle tops with extra sesame seeds. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they are firm enough to touch without your finger sticking.
Let them cool completely before removing from baking sheets and serving. Puffs will be soft when you eat them.