Ingredients:

For the Dough:

• 1 kilo minus 2 cups of hard flour
• 2 cups plus 4 tbsp of soft flour
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 level tbsp of easy baking yeast
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 level tsp of powder cinnamon
• A pinch of ground mastic
• A pinch of ground machleb
• 3 cups of water or as much as needed

For the filling:

• 3 jars or 720gr of tahini paste
• 3 cups of sugar
• 3 level tsp of powder cinnamon

Dough Preparation:

• In a large enough bowl add the two kinds of flour and combine together.
• Add the salt, sugar, yeast, powder cinnamon and grounded mastic and mahleb.
• Mix well to combine all the dry ingredients.
• Gradually add the water as much as needed and knead into normal dough.
• Occasionally cut the dough vertically and horizontally and knead vigorously until the dough is shiny.
• Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set aside for about 30 minutes to rise.

Filling Preparation:

• In a large bowl pour the tahini paste, add the powder cinnamon and mix well to combine the two ingredients.
• Add the sugar and beat well with a metal spoon because is going to be very stiff.
• Divide the dough into 13 equal pieces and shape onto a ball.
• Cover the dough balls with kitchen towel to keep them soft while you work on one at a time.
• On a flowered surface roll out a dough ball into a sheet of about 12X30 cm.
• Place 2 heaped tbsp of the tahini mixture in the center of the rolled out dough sheet and spread all over the whole sheet leaving about 1 cm around the edge.
• Fold the long side of the sheet towards the center covering the 2/3 of the sheet and fold the other 1/3 over the top.
• Stretch the folded dough sheet a little, fold in half and using your hands, on a non floured surface, shape into a roll of approximately 80 cm long.
• Take the two ends and swirl them so that a rope-shape is formed about 117 cm long.
• Roll the two ends of the rope in the opposite directions to form two snail shells.
• Take one snail-shape piece, place it over the other and press it together with your hands to about 15 cm in diameter.
• Prepare all the tahinopites the same way following the above directions and place on a lightly floured surface.
• Sprinkle them lightly with flour and cover them with plastic wrap and set them aside to rise.
• Once they are risen, place them on a lightly greased baking pan and bake at 325-350 degrees Fahrenheit (see conversions) for about 1/2 an hour or until golden brown.
• Kypriakes Tahinopites (Cyprus Tahini Pies) can be eaten at any time and particularly during Lenten Times.