Abadi…Savory sesame cookies

"Abadi"... reads: delicious savory cookies

If you know me longer than 5 minutes, you’ll probably come to understand my deep love of fresh fruit, produce, and markets. So of course I am a little too obsessed with the shuk (everyday open air produce market) here in Tel Aviv. To say that I frequent the shuk is a bit of an understatement. I have my preferred vendors and stalls and am thoroughly proud to say that I’ve become a usual face in the market community. So I’m pretty keen on what’s going on in the shuk, I often contemplate opening my own stall there when I see vacancies. Anyways, when someone decided to open a stall dedicated to abadi cookies, I was inspired to try my own hand at making them.

 

Abadi is really the name of the brand of the cookies, let’s say like Oreos, even the weird flavors are still called Oreo cookies. And like Oreos, there’s just one brand. These cookies come in a various types, different shapes, toppings, and are offered in both sweet and savory versions. But of course the originals are the best. They are flakey and flavorful, and come in delicious little O shapes. After an intense amount of searching I finally came across a recipe in Hebrew, from one of the online newspapers here. And I must say that these turned out pretty close to the originals.

These cookies are pretty easy and fun to make (ie. good activity for the kids). You can make them into sticks or circles, top them with za’atar, sesame, or sea salt. They are perfect for when you want to a snack for coffee with company or to calm the afternoon munchies. Just be warned, they are addictive.

Click for the Recipe

Abadi Recipe
As translated from the original  hebrew recipe

Yields a lot of cookies (easily halved…I forgot to count how many I baked… opps)

Ingredients
1 kilo (8 cups) flour
1 tbsp sea salt
2 cups sesame seeds
2 cups white beer (I used Heineken)
1 cup oil*
1/2 cup water

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)

2. Mix all the dry ingredient together.

3. Add in the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until you get a dough with a consistency that will be easy to handle.

4. Roll walnut sized balls from your dough and place on baking sheet.

5. Poke each ball with your finger, slowly widening the hole, until you get nice round puffy O’s. Or you can make sticks… which are also nice. If you plan to top your abadi this is the time.

6. Place in the oven and bake for a half hour. You can put in two trays at once, just set your oven to turbo.

The cookies should be golden and dry looking.

Dry ingredients

Adding the hole

Ready for the oven

Bake until golden brown

Topped with za’atar

“Abadi”… reads: delicious savory cookies

* I tried two batches, one with olive oil and the other with canola. The canola was definitely better, but I think soybean will be the best.