matcha tahini turtle cookies;
Happy St. Patty’s Day! I made these cute little cookies on a whim. With coronavirus spreading and a lot of uncertainty and social distancing, my brain has been on high alert for new recipes to distract and entertain me. I wanted something green to share for St. Patty’s Day, but I also wanted something a little off the beaten path. Luckily I saw this adorable post over by Remie at veggiekins and realized I already had all the ingredients in my pantry. All … five that is. Well, actually to be honest I didn’t have the oat flour, so I subbed with the almond flour and tapioca starch that I did have in my pantry. So it ended up being six + matcha, just a stunning seven ingredients for these crazy cute and delicious cookies.
The cookies themselves are crazy simple. Mix all ingredients together (excluding the matcha) until it comes together into a moist but not sticky dough. Separate out 2/3 of the dough and mix in the matcha powder for the green color and leave the other 1/3 separate as its natural color. Shape and bake! There, you don’t even need the recipe. (Just kidding I still included it. ^-^)
The most time-consuming part is making the little balls for the appendages. I tried to roll them out before constructing my turtles but I’m on the fence on whether that was the best use of time. On the one hand, I used the perfect amount by the time I got done with just under 20 turtles (with a few bites of cookie dough snuck in of course). But on the other hand my balls were definitely uneven and I generally made both the arms and head a bit too big in my preparation. Easy to fix with a pinch here or there as the dough is pliable but I had to adjust sizing on a large number of them so it might’ve been faster to just pull bits off as I needed them.
Also note that the dough sweats a little, a kind of oiliness, as it rests. It’s no problem, and didn’t really get in the way but expect your hands to get messy as you work! This recipe could be super fun with small hands to build cookies together. Although if you’re not keen on the time it takes for the details, then I suggest just taking a ball of each color and twisting them together to make more of a marbled effect. Still pretty, delicious, and less time consuming!
I love how the little turtles turned out though, they’ve got cute texture and just the right amount of matcha flavor. I used the lower end of the maple syrup originally suggested and found the cookies straight out of the oven were just the tiniest bit too bitter for me. So I decided to dip my finger in the last dregs of maple syrup from my measuring cup and just tapped a few drops on top of each cookie while they were still warm. And that was the perfect amount of sweetness for me!
matcha tahini turtle cookies;
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup tapioca flour or cornstarch
- ⅓ – ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp matcha powder
Instructions
- In a large bowl add maple syrup (suggest starting with ⅓), tahini and vanilla extract in a bowl. Whisk to combine until smooth.
- Add almond flour and starch (tapioca or corn, whichever you're using) and mix with spatula.
- Mix together until a dough forms. It should be moist, not sticky, and easily rollable. If you prefer a sweeter dough, can add more to bring the total to ½ c. maple syrup. You may need to adjust the flour measurements to ensure the correct consistency.
- Separate ⅓ of the dough to keep as is. Add the 2 tsp. matcha powder to the remaining ⅔ of the dough.
- Form turtles by using a large ball of green and using a fork to flatten crosswise. Use 6 white balls, 1 medium for the head, 4 small for the feet, and 1 tiny for the tail. Use a toothpick to poke eye holes in the head.
- Bake for 8 minutes. Can adjust for softness, but they will firm up when cool, so they will be slightly softer hot out of the oven.
- Dab the green shell with a tiny bit of maple syrup if you desire extra sweetness.
