Turkish Cookies with Tahini and Walnut Filling

These cookies are perfect for anyone who loves rich, nutty, sesame-based flavors. The filling is made with tahini (sesame paste), which gives the cookies a deep, slightly caramel-like taste with a delicious aroma of roasted sesame. They are truly irresistible — crumbly, moderately sweet, filled with walnuts, and very aromatic 

Ingredients

For the dough

• 125 g butter (room temperature)

• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt (120 ml)

• 1/4 cup sugar (60 g)

• 1 egg yolk

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 2.5 cups flour (310 g)

• 1 tsp baking powder

For the filling

• 1 cup tahini paste (200 g)

• 1/2 cup sugar (125 g)

• 100 g finely chopped walnuts

• powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Steps

1. Beat butter, sour cream, sugar, and egg yolk using a mixer

2. Add vegetable oil and mix well

3. Add flour and baking powder and knead into a soft, pliable dough

4. Shape the dough into a ball

Filling

5. Mix tahini, sugar, and walnuts

6. If the filling is too runny, add a couple of tablespoons of cold water

7. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts

8. Roll each part into a log about 30–35 cm long

9. Flatten each log into a rectangle about 10×40 cm

10. Spread the filling along the center of each rectangle

11. Seal the edges to form filled logs

12. Place seam-side down

13. Cut diagonally into pieces about 2–3 cm wide (you can use a crinkle cutter)

14. Bake in a preheated 180°C (350°F) oven for 25–30 minutes

Optionally dust with powdered sugar after cooling