Simple and Fluffy Tahini Rolls - The Lazy Low FODMAP

Fancy some fluffy, delicious and easy dessert treats? Well look no further! These tahini rolls are great balance of sweet and savoury- making them perfect for a snack or treat to hit that sweet craving! With only a few simple ingredients, a bit of time and patience, you too could have these fluffy tahini rolls to enjoy! I’m a big fan of these, since they are super customisable, and they’re a really great grab and go snack.

You want your milk to be warm, but not hot. I find that by microwaving the milk in a bowl for about 30-40 seconds is just right. You don’t want the milk to be cold because you want the yeast to be activated and grow by taking in the natural sugars from the milk. Ideally, you want to add the yeast to the milk, mix it slightly and then leave it on the side to rest for about 5 minutes whilst you prep the other ingredients. This will give the yeast enough time to become more foamy and bubbly before you add it to the rest of the ingredients.

If you like these tahini rolls, try out my other dessert recipes:

It is important that the melted butter is not hot, and the milk and yeast mix is also not hot. This is because you may run the risk of cooking and scrambling the egg- you do not want this! Ensure the ingredients are just warm, and that your egg is also room temperature. This ensures that there is a smaller temperature gap- decreasing the risk of scrambling! Once adding the egg and milk + yeast, you want to mix until all the wet ingredients are fully combined. Feel free to be quite vigorous with this- you don’t want any pockets of yeast in your dough!

Some tips for this recipe:

Gluten free flour can be quite tricky to work with. When rolling up the dough, I recommend you use a flexible mat, so you can use it to fold the dough onto itself. I would compare it to using a sushi mat to roll up your sushi rolls. This is what you want to mimic here as you’re rolling up your tahini rolls.
If you are very sensitive to gluten, omit the instant yeast and use 1 tsp of baking powder instead. This will also mean that you do not need to let the dough rest in between steps.
You can use a flax or chia egg in substitution for the egg. You want to mix 2 tbsp of water with 1 tbsp of chia/flax seeds.
If you feel like the dough is too wet or too dry, add more flour or milk respectively. There are various different gluten free flour blends, so some may be more moisture absorbent than others. You want to end up with a dough that is soft but not sticky. Adjust your ingredients accordingly, but the ratios below are a great base to start from.

I love making tahini or cinnamon rolls. The dough is usually really fluffy and warm to work with because of the multiple resting times. It is definitely a recipe which requires a little bit of patience, but it really doesn’t take much work. By letting the dough have these multiple resting times, you ensure that your end result tahini rolls with be super soft and fluffy- just what we want! The tahini layers inside the rolls help to keep in and add some more moisture to the rolls. One thing I would recommend if you want a glossy appearance on your rolls, brush them with some dairy free butter or egg wash before they go into the oven. This can help to give them a more golden brown, toasty look. I would then recommend sprinkling the sesame seeds on after the butter or egg brush rather than during the second rise period.

Like tahini? I recommend you check out these recipes:

Tahini is a great source of healthy fats. It is made from hulled sesame seeds and can carry a slightly bitter taste. I enjoy it in both sweet and savoury meals- either as a butter substitute, sweetness balancer in my bakes, or in salad dressings! I have also recently made roasted carrot hummus which uses a lot of tahini (so I was automatically a fan) and it was incredible. I highly recommend you check it out, I have linked it above!

If you find that dark brown sugar upsets your IBS (because these is more molasses in dark brown sugar), use light brown sugar, or white sugar. Although you won’t get the same rich and deep flavour, you will still have that amazing sweetness that pairs so well with the tahini in this recipe. Due to the fact that we do not have much sugar in our dough, the dough itself will not be particularly sweet. So don’t be shy with the sprinkling of sugar in the filling! The sweet tahini sauce you drizzle on after baking also helps to boost that sweetness, so just adjust the sugar level to your personal sweetness preferences!

What else you could add to your tahini rolls:

Peanut butter
Chocolate chips
Chopped nuts
Sesame seeds in the batter
Maple syrup drizzle
Scoop of dairy free ice cream
Drizzle of melted chocolate over the top
Dusting of icing sugar
Chocolate shavings
Fresh fruit

You will notice that the tahini rolls will have risen a little bit more after the second proofing time. But once in the oven, it is unlikely that they will rise much more. But, as you can see, between the photo above and the photo below (the before and after photos of baking), shows that they do indeed rise a small portion more. I love watching these rolls transform over the entire baking process. I feel as though these are very rewarding sweet treats, perfect to take with you to parties, coffee meetups or a picnic! They travel really well and are minimal mess (except for the sweet tahini sauce). You could always pack the sauce separately and apply at the destination- this could also help to preserve their pretty appearance and presentation!

You want to take your tahini rolls out when they start to go golden brown. You don’t want to leave them in for too long, or else they will get dry! I love to have a moist and fluffy tahini roll, with lots of moisture in the different layers. A lot of the moisture will come from the tahini and melted sugar, as well as the sweet tahini sauce that gets drizzled on after being baked. I think that these are such a well rounded sweet treat, and are a great twist on a classic- the cinnamon roll. Try these out and let me know what you think!

Ingredients: (makes 6)

3 cups gluten free flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup warm dairy free milk
2 tsp active dried yeast

Filling:

1/3 cup tahini
3 tbsp brown sugar

To top:

sesame seeds
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp water

Method:

Step 1: add the yeast to your warm milk. Set aside. (Skip this step if you’re not using yeast)

Step 2: in the meantime, cream together your sugar and butter.

Step 3: add in your egg and milk+yeast mixture. Stir together until fully combined.

Step 4: sieve in your flour and add the salt. Mix until fully combined. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover in cling film and leave to rest for 1.5 hours/ until it has doubled in size.

Step 5: on a floured work surface, roll out your dough to a 1.5cm thickness.

Step 6: apply an even coating of tahini to the dough, then sprinkle over the light brown sugar.

Step 7: roll your dough from the bottom to top, then cut into 2 inch wide slabs.

Step 8: place onto a baking tray, sprinkle on your sesame seeds, then lightly cover in a towel and leave to rise for 30-40 mins. Preheat your oven to 180° in this time.

Step 9: place into the oven for 20-25 mins or until golden brown.

Step 10: once the rolls are slightly cooled, mix the tahini, icing sugar and water. Drizzle over your rolls and enjoy!

Once out of the oven, you can dust your tahini rolls with some powdered sugar, sprinkle on some more sesame seeds, or enjoy as they are!

You can store these in an airtight container for up to 5 days (although they may become a little stale if you leave them out).

Feel free to send me pictures of your tahini rolls! My Instagram is TheLazyLowFODMAP- DM me your images or tag me in your posts so that I see them!