Fluffy single buns (tsourekia) with Macedonian Tahini with Cocoa

We stay at home and celebrate Easter with fluffy, single buns, replacing chocolate with the nutritious and delicious Macedonian Tahini with Cocoa #makedonikotahini #kaneikalo.

Ingredient

• 1 jar (350 gr.) of Macedonian Tahini with Cocoa
• 1,200g Flour for tsoureki
• 350g sugar
• 4 eggs (at room temperature)
• 140g of soft butter
• 1 sachet of yeast
• 450g milk
• 1 vanilla
• 10g mahlepi
• 1 tsp of mastic
• Zest from 1 orange
• ½ tsp of salt

For baking:

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of water
• Almond (peeled and cut in slices)

Execution

1. Weigh all the ingredients and put them in separated bowls.
2. Pour 250 gr. from milk and 50 gr. from the flour in a small saucepan and stir, until it sets, over medium to high heat – this mixture will help the tsoureki to become even more chewy.
3. Then put the mixture in a bowl covered with cling film so that it does not form skin over the top and leave it to cool.
4. In another saucepan put the rest of the milk (200gr.) and after it heats up a little, remove it from the heat and add the yeast, 2 tbsp. of sugar, 3 tbsp. from the flour, mix with a hand whisk, cover with cling film and let expand.
5. Put the eggs with the sugar in the mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until they become fluffy. Add the rest of the flour (keeping 100g. aside because we will need it later), zest, vanilla, dough we made at the beginning, the mixture with the hot milk and the yeast, the mahlepi, the mastic, the salt and the butter. Beat until smooth.
6. When the dough becomes a ball, transfer it to a counter after we have sprinkled it with a little flour and knead until smooth (if necessary, add a little of the flour we have kept aside).
7. Open the dough with hands and then with a rolling pin, taking care that the counter has flour everywhere. We estimate that we have “opened” our dough so much that, we can cut it into 9 vertical strips.
8. Open the jar with the Macedonian Tahini with Cocoa, transfer the tahini to a bowl and heat it in the microwave at 300-400 watts for 40 seconds.
9. Then spread it in the center of each strip of dough, and close well, joining the two sides. Wrap the stuffed dough like a snail.
10. Put baking paper in a pan and place 4 snails on top. Leave them covered with a towel for half an hour, spread with an egg that we have diluted and beat with water and bake at 180 degrees in a preheated oven for 18 minutes.