Vegan Sesame and Cardamom Shirini

A Taste of Persia: Easy Vegan Sesame and Cardamom Shirini

There is nothing quite like the ritual of a proper afternoon cuppa, but if you are looking to elevate your biscuit tin game beyond the standard digestive, I have something truly special for you today.

Meet my Vegan Sesame Seed Shirini—a Persian-inspired sweet treat that is delicate, melt-in-your-mouth gorgeous, and completely plant-based.

In Farsi, shirini simply means sweet or biscuit, and traditional Persian baking relies heavily on fragrant aromatics. For this recipe, we are pairing the warmth of ground cardamom with the nutty crunch of toasted sesame seeds. It’s a wonderful twist on a classic butter biscuit, and they pair beautifully with a pot of Earl Grey or a strong cup of black tea.

The Secret to the Perfect Melt

When testing this recipe, I made a few crucial tweaks to ensure absolute perfection. First, stick strictly to plain flour. While some recipes suggest self-raising as an alternative, the raising agents will make the biscuits spread too much in the oven, erasing those lovely piped definition lines. We want a tight, shortbread-like texture here.

Secondly, I highly recommend toasting your sesame seeds in a dry frying pan for a minute or two before adding them to the dough. It coaxes out the oils and turns the nutty flavour up to eleven.

Finally, a quick note on piping: this dough is beautifully rich, which means it can be a little stiff. If you don't have a sturdy canvas piping bag, don't fuss! Just use two teaspoons to dollop neat little mounds onto your baking tray. They will taste just as spectacular.

Vegan Sesame Seed Shirini

• Prep time: 15 minutes

• Baking time: 12–15 minutes

• Makes: 16–20 biscuits

Ingredients

• 100g soft vegan block butter (look for a 100% plant-based block rather than a spreadable tub)

• 100g icing sugar

• 150g plain flour

• 20g sesame seeds (plus extra to sprinkle)

• 20g vegetable oil or sunflower oil

• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

• 1/4 tsp fine salt (to balance the sweetness)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Prep the oven and trays: Preheat your oven to 170°C (150°C fan/Gas Mark 3). Line two large baking trays with baking parchment and set aside.

2. Toast the seeds: Pop your 20g of sesame seeds into a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Toast them for 1–2 minutes, shaking the pan constantly, until they are fragrant and lightly golden. Remove from the heat immediately so they don’t burn, and let them cool.

3. Cream the base: Put the soft vegan butter and icing sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on a medium-high speed until the mixture is beautifully pale, creamy, and fluffy.

4. Mix the dough: Add the vanilla extract, plain flour, toasted sesame seeds, ground cardamom, and salt to the bowl. Mix on a low speed until just combined.

5. Bring it together: Pour in the vegetable oil and give it one final, light mix until a cohesive, soft dough forms.

6. Shape the biscuits: Spoon the mixture into a sturdy piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (a Savoy nozzle works perfectly). Pipe neat star shapes onto your prepared trays, leaving a 2cm gap between each to allow for a little spreading. Top tip: If the dough is too stiff to pipe, simply use two teaspoons to drop round mounds onto the tray.

7. The finishing touch: Generously sprinkle the tops of the biscuits with your extra, untoasted sesame seeds.

8. Bake: Pop the trays into the oven for 12–15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them from the 12-minute mark—Persian shirini should remain relatively pale on top, with just a lovely, delicate golden colour on the undersides.

9. Cool and enjoy: Remove from the oven and leave them to firm up on the baking trays for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Storage: Once cooled, store your shirini in an airtight tin. They will keep beautifully for up to 5 days—if they last that long!