Shortcut Tahinov Hatz
Թահինով հաց·(tah-heen-ov hats)
Coffee Hour (Sweet Endings & Baking Traditions)
If you grew up in an Armenian household, the smell of Tahinov Hatz wafting from a white bakery bag on a Sunday morning is permanently etched into your brain. Traditionally, this Lenten sweet demands hours of resting and stretching yeasted dough until it’s paper-thin. You probably don't have time for that on a Tuesday night. Swapping in a high-quality, all-butter puff pastry is a perfectly valid modern shortcut that hits the exact nostalgic nerve. It perfectly mimics those shatteringly crisp, caramelized layers of sesame and sugar, minus the all-day labor.
Before you start
Fixing stiff tahini.
American brands of tahini are notoriously inconsistent. If the oil has separated and left a cement-like block of sesame solids, empty the entire jar into a food processor and pulse until re-emulsified.
Ingredients
- all-butter puff pastry14 oz
- tahini1/2 cup
- granulated white sugar1/2 cup
- light brown sugar1/4 cup
- ground cinnamon1 tbsp
- egg1 large
- toasted sesame seeds2 tbsp
Method
- 01
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the white sugar, brown sugar, and ground cinnamon until no brown sugar clumps remain.
- 02
Roll out one sheet of thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface into a ten by twelve inch rectangle.
Use a rolling pin just to smooth the seams and elongate the dough slightly.
- 03
Spread half of the tahini in an even layer across the dough, leaving a strict one-inch border.
If your tahini is too thick to spread easily without tearing the dough, thin it with a drizzle of neutral olive oil. Leaving a clean border prevents the filling from oozing out and ruining the seal.
- 04
Sprinkle half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the tahini, then roll the dough tightly into a log.
Start from the long side like a jelly roll. Pinch the clean seam of dough against the roll to seal it tightly.
- 05
Cut the log into one and a half inch slices, place them cut-side down on the baking sheet, and smash them flat.
Using the palm of your hand, press each spiral down until it is about a third of an inch thick. This heavy compression creates the dense, caramelized layers. Repeat the filling, rolling, and smashing process with the second pastry sheet.
- 06
Brush the tops with egg wash, sprinkle generously with sesame seeds, and bake for twenty to twenty-five minutes.
Pull them when they are deeply golden brown and the sugar is bubbling at the edges. Let them cool on the sheet for five minutes to allow the molten sugar to harden into crispy layers before moving to a wire rack.
Notes
Expect some leakage.
It is entirely normal for butter and tahini to leak out and bubble on the parchment paper. Those caramelized, slightly burnt sugar edges are the best part of the pastry.
Make it traditional and vegan.
Tahinov Hatz is historically a Lenten food. To keep it entirely vegan, swap the all-butter pastry for a shortening-based commercial brand and replace the egg wash with a light brush of olive oil or almond milk.
From Cook Armenian in America.