Virtual Vegan Potluck – sesame snap amaranth cookies and sesame milk

I’m very excited to be participating in the third Virtual Vegan Potluck. I decided to sign up for a dessert. Usually, when you think of dessert, you think of decadent, rich, sinful, and even vegan dessert can be quite indulgent. There is a large group of bloggers writing about desserts for Virtual Vegan Potluck, so I’m sure there will be plenty of decadence and indulgence, but also some healthy alternatives. I decided to go with simple, understated, and good for you – yes, good for you.

On top of that, this is a two for one recipe. First, you’ll soak sesame seeds to make milk, and the leftovers get used in the cookies. How’s that for thrifty?

unhulled sesame seeds

I really love sesame, and especially sesame desserts. I hope you feel the same, but even if you don’t, give these cookies a try, they may surprise you. If you don’t feel like making milk, you can just skip that part and use soaked sesame seeds.

sesame snap amaranth cookies

This recipe came about out of necessity and a bit of pure luck. I only had unhulled sesame seeds at home and needed to make milk. Our usual homemade favorite is a mix of oats and coconut (I’ll be sharing a recipe for that really soon), but I didn’t have oats or coconut flakes, so I decided to try sesame milk. I never throw away what’s left over; it seems like such a waste. Sesame cookies popped into my mind; I was thinking something that was a cross between sesame snaps and a cookie, and I got it right. I’ve tinkered with the proportions a bit since then to get the recipe just right for you. Every time I have made these, they have been a hit. I hope you enjoy them as well.

sesame milk leftovers

Sesame snap amaranth cookies

Sesame left over from making sesame milk (see below – picture above)

1-2 tbsp. tahini

2 tbsp. carob molasses (or your favorite sweetener)

½ cup popped amaranth

¼ cup amaranth seed flour

Instructions

1. In a bowl, mix all ingredients. Should form a fairly uniform mass that you can manipulate with your hands. Roll into a ball.

2. Roll out onto a cookie sheet with your hands or a rolling pin. It is best to moisten your hands or rolling pin first.

sesame snap cookie dough before baking

3. Bake at 175°C/350°F for about 15 min.

4. Remove from oven. Let cool for a few minutes. Cut into smaller shapes.

Yield: over two dozen

sesame milk

Sesame milk

½ cup unhulled sesame seeds

4 cups filtered water

Instructions

Soak sesame seeds in 1 cup of water for 4 hours. This will soften and expand the sesame seeds a bit. After soaking, add 3 more cups of water and blend for a good while. I use an immersion blender that works fine. Then pour through gauze, and squeeze any liquid from the pulp.

This milk keeps for about 2 days in the refrigerator, so you should use it up fairly quickly.

Yield: about 1 liter

Allergy/sensitivities information: This is free of wheat, gluten, nuts, sugar. Some people are allergic to sesame seeds.

I hope you enjoy my creation. Sign up to follow me through email, RSS or Facebook.

Now you can go forward to vixbakes to check out the next dessert.

Or you can go back to Baking Backwards.

To start at the very beginning, go to Vegan Bloggers Unite, the home base for VVP v.3.