Tahini Recipes
and Raw Tahini

Tahini recipes will call for hulled or unhulled sesame seeds to make a Middle Eastern tahini paste or tahini butter. 

Unhulled sesame seeds used in raw tahini are thought to have double the nutrition of hulled seeds. 

However, unhulled sesame seeds will also contain more anti-nutrients which interfere with mineral absorption and digestion. 

There is also another choice to make when creating your tahini recipes - toasting vs. not toasting your sesame seeds.

Lightly toasting sesame seeds seems to bring out the flavor in these seeds, but it may also destroy some of its nutrients.

Sesame Seed Nutrition

Sesame seeds are an excellent source of copper, a very good source of manganese, and a good source of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and zinc.

These seeds also have a decent amount of vitamin B1 and selenium.

Sesame seeds come in many colors - whitish, yellow, brown, black, and red.  The darker seeds are said to be more flavorful, but beware of dyed sesame seeds.

Sesame oil is very resistant to rancidity and should keep for a while in your cupboard or in your refrigerator.  Hulled sesame seeds will not keep as long.

Sesame seeds with the hulls removed are called hulled sesame seeds and will contain almost 1/2 the amount of nutrients compared to unhulled sesame seeds.

However, they will also have less anti-nutrients that could interfere with digestion.  Hulled sesame seeds will make a lighter in color sesame paste or sesame butter.

And unhulled sesame seeds will make a sesame paste that looks more like peanut butter in color.

Tahini Recipes - Toasted Tahini

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of Toasted Hulled Sesame Seeds
  • About 1/4 cup of Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Cold-Pressed Organic Sesame Oil

Instructions:

  1. Add toasted sesame seeds to a food processor or high speed blender with half the amount of oil - blend.
  2. Shut off the machine and scrap down the sides - then add the rest of the oil to the blender.
  3. Blend until completely smooth in texture.
  4. Use immediately or store in an airtight glass jar for a few weeks.

Toasting your hulled sesame seeds on a very dry and hot skillet will help to remove even more of the anti-nutrients and give your tahini recipes a delicious flavor.

Tahini Recipes - Raw Tahini

Instructions:

Blend in a Vitamix using your tamper to push seeds down while blending.

Start on low speed and gradually turn up to a higher speed - be sure not to overheat your seeds.

Stop blending when the desired consistency of your tahini paste is reached.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Quart of Raw Sesame Seeds (will make about 2 cups of tahini paste.

You can make a raw tahini paste by not toasting your sesame seeds and using unhulled raw sesame seeds.

Remember, raw sesame seeds have a very high amount of anti-nutrients like phytic acid (but low in lectins) which you will need to remove in order to receive the nutrients found in sesame seeds.

You could soak your unhulled sesame seeds for at least 8 hours to help remove anti-nutrients that will make your raw tahini more digestible.

Then dehydrate them in your dehydrator at a low temperature to preserve its nutrients and give your tahini more flavor. 

How to Soak Sesame Seeds

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Sesame Seeds (hulled or unhulled)
  • 2 cups of Filtered Water

Instructions:

Soak sesame seeds for at least 8 hours. 

Drain the soaking water (using a fine sieve) at the 4 hour mark and re-soak the seeds using fresh filtered water.

Be sure to soak your seeds using room-temperature water and keep at room-temperature.

You can also add in a little salt to help remove anti-nutrients when soaking your seeds.

When your finished soaking, drain off the soaking water by pouring sesame seeds into a fine sieve. 

Then put the sesame seeds in your dehydrator (on parchment paper) set on a low temperature and dehydrate until completely dry.

They are now ready to make a healthier tahini paste.


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