Turkish Tahini Sweet Rolls (Tahinli Ekmek)
Yeast bread flavored and filled with tahini, made into swirls. The first time I had these rolls was in Istanubul,Turkey! After our visit to Hagia Sophia at Sultanahmet square, we saw cart vendors selling simit and cinnamon rolls, where locals and tourists munching on them. Indeed they were not cinnamon rolls, that’s what I and the kids thought back then, they were tahini filled sweet bread “Tahinli Ekmek”. Say love at first bite! Yes! I was sold and instantly drawn to its flavor.
Turkish Tahini Sweet Rolls (Tahinli Ekmek)
After begging her, my friend Hilda sent me her 30 years old recipe of her mother-in-law, who happens to be Turkish. It takes precious little though to make, but really worth it!
I would enjoy tahini on literally anything, so if you are anything like me, you will devour these buns. Nothing like the aroma of freshly baked bread coming out of the oven, and the bonus here is the sweet tahini – the buns taste wonderful – yes I have to admit, I am a genius, but I can’t take credit for inventing these rolls! Many thanks Hilda to you and to your mother-in-law!
Divide the dough into 12 equal balls.
Roll each ball, using a rolling pin, on a floured surface into a circle with 20 cm/ 8 inches in diameter.
Spread a tablespoon of the tahini mixture almost covering the circle, leaving 1 cm boarder around the edges.
Roll up each to form a log.
Roll it back and forth a bit until it is about 30 cm/ 12 inches.
Use your hands to shape it into a tight spiral.
Transfer the rolls to a parchment lined oven sheet, leaving some space between one another (you may probably need to use two oven sheets). Set aside the rolls for another 30 minutes, for a second fermentation. Brush the top of each spiral with the egg wash.
Lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Nothing like the aroma of freshly baked bread coming out of the oven, and the bonus here is the sweet tahini – they taste wonderful!
- PREP TIME 1hr 15mins
- COOK TIME 20mins
- YIELD: Serves or Makes 12
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 4 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast
- 1 egg
- 11/4 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup tahini
For the egg wash
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- A drop of vinegar
Some sesame seeds
Directions:
- First off, check the expiration date of the instant yeast package.
- To make the dough: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, butter, olive oil, sugar, salt, instant yeast and vanilla.
- Beat the eggs in a bowl, and gradually pour the milk while stirring. Add to the flour mixture.
- Knead the dough thoroughly until it is of one texture. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside for 1 hour allowing it to rise and double in size.
- Meanwhile, mix together the tahini and sugar until well combined.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal balls. Working with one ball at a time, roll each ball, using a rolling pin, on a floured surface into a circle with 20 cm/8 inches in diameter.
- Spread a tablespoon of the tahini mixture almost covering the circle, leaving 1 cm boarder around the edges.
- Roll up each to form a log. Roll it back and forth a bit until it is about 30 cm/12 inches. Use your hands to shape it into a tight spiral. Lightly flatten each with your hands.
- Transfer the rolls to a parchment lined oven sheet, leaving some space between one another (you may probably need to use two oven sheets). Set aside the rolls for another 30 minutes, for a second fermentation.
- For the egg wash: In a small bowl combine together the egg and vinegar and brush the tops of each spiral with the egg.
- Lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 400°F. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Serve warm! How delicious!
Enjoy these buns with your morning coffee or your afternoon tea.
- Making these rolls, my mind traveled to our trip to Istanbul and Alanya/Turkey. Here are some pictures thought of sharing them with you! Nostalgic!
At Galata tower, a medieval stone tower.
A panoramic view from Istanbul’s Galata Tower.
The Spice Market: A century old trap! Love the smell of the various spices and sweets.
The Bosphorus bridge that connects Europe and Asia.
The Blue Mosque built between 1609-1617. It is known as the blue mosque because of the blue tiles used to decorate the walls of the interior.
Majestic Hagia Sophia.
Hagia Sophia.
My kids enjoying the beach life in Alanya, a spectacular peaceful location with a beautiful sea view and a relaxing sandy beach. If you are searching for tranquility, then this would be a good destination for you.
Check our second visit to Istanbul
Looking for more tahini based recipes, check our
- MOUFATAKA, LEBANESE TURMERIC RICE PUDDING,
- FRIED CAULIFLOWER WITH TAHINI SAUCE,
- BANANA AND DATE BREAD WITH TAHINI AND CAROB MOLASSES
If you make this recipe, share your pictures on Facebook! I would love to see your creations!Hashtag them #Hadia's Lebanese Cuisine
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Instructions
No Steps Found !
- Course : BREAKFAST
- Recipe Type : BREAKFAST, RECIPES FROM AROUND THE WORD
- Ingredient : Egg
19 Responses to Turkish Tahini Sweet Rolls (Tahinli Ekmek)
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Hadia Zebib
I am Hadia, the face behind Hadia’s Lebanese Cuisine. I grew up in Beirut Lebanon and I currently reside in Kinshasa, Congo with my husband and my three adorable sons, ...
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Amazing!
Thank you Christine.
Thank you for sharing. We spent April in Istanbul and loved everything moment!
The rolls look amazing and I am going to make them. Please tell me do you use bread flour or all purpose flour?
Yes Sharon, agreed, Istanbul is a lively and beautiful city! I used all purpose flour! I hope you enjoy the tahini rolls just like we do!
Vanilla is missing from your ingredient list, but it appears in your instructions.
this looks great. Do i make the yeast according to the package instructions?
Hi Angela, use instant yeast and add it directly with the flour mixture. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
Hadia, these buns look amazing! What a beautiful treat these would be on a weekend morning. And I’m enthralled with your pictures too. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Thank you so much, Ann, and absolutely, these are great for a weekend breakfast, thank you so much for taking the time to read the post. Xo xo
Respectfully, I ran into trouble with the recipe and thought I would post here to help others avoid the problems I ran into. These are the suggested changes I would make:
-Increase sugar/tahini mixture to 1.5 cups of each. Better to have too much than not enough.
-Decrease oven temperature from 400F to 350F.
-Decrease cook time to 12 minutes, continue to check for doneness every 2 minutes thereafter.
-Do not split the rolls apart onto 2 baking trays. They can safely cook on one, and they will be better for it.
With the recipe as written, unfortunately even checking at 15 minutes, the bottoms of the rolls were already burned. I used to work as a baker, and have made other varieties of sweet rolls without issue. When I reviewed multiple different tahini sweet roll recipes, a number were cooked at 350F, with a 12 minute suggested cook time. Given how burned mine were at 15 minutes, that makes sense to me.
The good part: after removing the burnt bottom of the roll, the overall flavor and texture of the roll and the filling was lovely.
It looks amazing and delicious, I will try it.
Great recipes!
Thank you!
The recipe as listed shows 2 tablespoons of instant yeast. Is this correct? That is a lot of yeast for such a small quantity of rolls. In America one package of Instant yeast is 9 grams which is approximately 1 tablespoon. This recipe needs 2 packages or 18 grams on Instant yeast. I’m just confirming this is correct before I make these.
Update to my question: I went ahead and made the recipe as written with 2 tablespoons of yeast. They came out perfect! I saw another comment about making 1 1/2 cup of the filling. I took that advice and it was a waste. If you put too much filling on the rolled out dough circle it is a mess trying to roll it up and make the swirl with it. I have left over filling which isn’t a problem because these are SO good I will be making them again.
Thank you so much, Gwyn for leaving your detailed review about the tahini buns, 2 tablespoons of instant yeast may sound a lot but it works well. The last time I made it, I added some chocolate chips to the filling, not authentic, just for a change. I am thrilled to know you liked, xoxo
Looks Delicious! Would mixing Tahini with either honey or date molasses (dibs) work? Trying to avoid white sugar if I can.
Hi Tahani, yes of course it works, honey is a great option