We are only a few days away from Makar Sankranti, and the winter spell has gripped the country! The kites are already soaring, and the grocers are stocked with sesame and special jaggery suited for the occasion! When we think of sesame seeds, the first thing that comes to mind is the delicious Til laddoo or the flat, sweet Til vadi! But there’s a lot more to these seeds than it seems! Here’s a look at some unique desserts you can make this winter using these oil-rich seeds to nurture your sweet tooth and keep you healthy!

Sesame seed barfi

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Roast sesame seeds over medium heat. Saute mawa, make a sugar syrup and mix everything together. Let the mixture cool and cut it out into small barfi pieces!

Apple sesame vadi

Source: https://www.maharashtrianrecipes.com/til-vadi-sesame-chikki-recipe/

This dessert is made with black sesame seeds. Small apple pieces are coated in a batter made of flour and eggs. The apple pieces are deep fried and dunked in a delicious sugar and sesame glaze.

Almond sesame pinni

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This recipe is loaded with the goodness of both almond and sesame! Made with wheat flour, semolina, ghee, white sesame powder, besan and roasted ground almonds. First, ghee, semolina and wheat flour are roasted till it’s golden, and then the sugar syrup is added to the mixture. After it dries up and cools down completely, roll into small balls to make pinni. Next, roll these pinnis into roasted white sesame seeds.

Granola sesame bars

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This makes for a healthy snack that you will love to nibble on! This unique granola bar is loaded with oats, wheat flour, jaggery, honey, almonds, dry apricots and, of course – sesame seeds!

Sesame seed cookies

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These bite-sized baked goodies need only roasted sesame seeds, brown sugar, softened butter and all-purpose flour! The dough is prepared with roasted sesame seeds and then baked on a well-greased tray.

Do you know any exotic desserts that use sesame seeds? Let us know in the comments!