These sweet tahini rolls are flavoured with ground cinnamon and topped with sesame seeds. I love how they turned out and I will use this recipe as a base for future sweet treats.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Sweet Tahini Rolls ♥
Let’s talk about tahini
Tahini is an essential ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush and halva. It is usually made from hulled sesame seeds that are ground into a paste. I have made mine with unhulled seeds which results in a slightly bitter taste, and from black sesame seeds. A sauce can be made with tahini, lemon juice and garlic and thinned with water. Added to vegetables and meats this adds a great depth of flavour. The best sauce I ever made was on the fly, without me writing down the ingredient ratios! One readily associates tahini with the levantine and eastern Mediterranean countries but did you know that it is also used in Chinese cuisine?
Tahini rolls
Tahini rolls are a sweet pastry that originated in Armenia. You will also find these in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. The Arabic word for these is khubz tahini and the texture should be bread like. The dough is leavened with yeast and requires only one proving cycle. To make them, the dough is rolled flat and the tahini is spread on top. Sugar is then sprinkled on top before the dough is rolled into a log and sliced. The slices are flattened before baking with the spiral showing. I have added cinnamon to mine, which is not essential, and you could play around with different spices. You could try allspice, cardamom, cloves, ginger, nutmeg or vanilla. I am also thinking some freshly grated orange zest would make for a nice flavour profile.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Sweet Tahini Rolls ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Sweet Tahini Rolls
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
for the dough
- 300 g flour, plus extra for dusting
- 110 mls milk
- 7.5 mls instant dried yeast
- 5 mls fructose
- 2.5 mls fine salt
- 75 g butter, melted
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- olive oil for greasing
for shaping
- 120 g tahini
- 100 g fructose
- 10 mls ground cinnamon
for baking
- 5 mls water
- 1 egg yolk
- 5 mls white sesame seeds
Method
for the dough
- Place the flour, milk, yeast, fructose and salt into a stand mixer bowl
- On a slow speed and with a dough hook, mix to combine
- While mixing, add the butter and once incorporated, mix for one minute
- Add the egg then increase the speed by one notch and mix until combined
- Continue to knead for 5 minutes before removing the sticky dough so that you can lightly oil the bowl
- Shape the dough into a ball, put it into the bowl and roll it around to coat the dough with oil
- Place it seam side down, cover the bowl and leave to prove until doubled in size
for shaping
- Once the dough has proved, remove it from the bowl and place onto a lightly floured surface
- Roll out to a large rectangle, about 50cm x 35cm
- Place the tahini on top of the dough and spread out using a small spatula, leaving a 1cm margin along the short edges
- Place the fructose and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix to combine
- Sprinkle as evenly as possibly over the tahini then leave to rest for 10 minutes
- With the long edge facing you, roll the dough downwards as tightly as possible into a log
- Trim the edges then cut into 10 pieces, each one 4cm wide
- One by one, place each slice cut side up onto a lined baking sheet and gently flatten using your hands so that the circle is 8cm wide
- Once you have done all 10, leaving a 1cm gap between each one, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rest for 10 minutes
for baking
- While they are resting, preheat the oven to 160° Celsius
- Place the water and egg yolk into a small bowl and whisk to combine
- When the dough has rested, brush this mixture over the top and the sides of each roll
- Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top then place into the oven and bake for 17 minutes
- Remove from the oven, place onto a wire rack, and leave to cool for 20 minutes before serving
See the links below for blog posts I published on November 7:
- 2023: Double Ginger Cake
- 2018: October 2018 Showcasing In My Kitchen
- 2014: Labneh
- 2013: Warwick Wine Estate
- 2010: Friday’s Food Quiz Number 39
Tandy these look absolutely delicious and quite a different style of sweet treat. I would like to eat one of these right now.
me too! Thanks for the comment Pauline 🙂
Ohhhh I bet the tahini adds such a great flavor!!
it really does 🙂
Yummy, yummy, yummy!
Thank you!
I too just baked some Turkish tahini rolls too. Totally adore the sesame paste. I actually could eat them just right out of jar with a tablespoon 🙂
I am looking forward to seeing your recipe 🙂
Oh, my gosh, these sweet pillows look so delicious!
Thank you so much!
I am definitely a tahini fan, and these look delish!
sherry
These are worth making 🙂
I was introduced to tahini on a trip to Israel in 1967 when I was 16. It was a totally foreign food for me. Then at 19, I met my Middle Eastern husband and it was a staple in his family. These rolls look delicious and look really pretty too.
I think I have the same first time experience with Tahini as you do 🙂
It never occurred to me to use tahini as a filling for cinnamon rolls – what an amazingly delicious idea!
Thank you!
I like the sound of these sweet treats, Tandy. I purchase Tahini.
It is easier to just buy it 😉