This month I am sharing the yummy recipe for tahini Brownies from my friend Deann’s amazing cookbook- Easy Everyday Mediterranean Diet. I am excited to giveaway a copy! – Post a picture of your Thanksgving dish on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter and use the hashtag #StreatTdayDish and your name will be entered in the drawing.
Tahini Brownies
DAIRY-FREE, NUT-FREE, VEGETARIAN
Serves 16 | Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 20 minutes
Tahini is the special ingredient in these scrumptious, chocolatey brownies but it’s up to you if you want to share the secret. Much like peanut butter in desserts, the nutty, earthy, and slightly sweet flavor of the sesame paste is a terrific match for dark chocolate. Along with adding more heart-healthy fats and fiber, we’ve reduced the total added sugar and fat content—even with the honey-tahini icing.
- ⅔ cup white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons tahini, divided
- ½ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons honey, divided
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium lemon, cut in half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat an 8- or 9- inch square metal baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the tahini, the sugar, ⅓ cup of the honey, the eggs, olive oil, and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients. Mix together until a thick batter forms.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly to each corner. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the edges are visibly baked through and the center is just set. Remove the pan from the oven, place on a wire rack, and cool for 15 minutes.
While the brownies bake, squeeze 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a small bowl. (Save any remaining lemon for another use.) Add the remaining 6 tablespoons tahini, remaining 2 tablespoons honey, and 2 tablespoons water to small bowl. Whisk together until the icing is thick and smooth.
Once the brownies have cooled, spread on the icing over the top, then cut into 16 squares.
Healthy Kitchen Hack: While white whole-wheat flour is a staple in our pantries, Deanna also likes the lightness of whole-wheat pastry flour when it comes to baking sweet treats. In general, regular pastry flour is a lower-protein and lower- gluten flour that is milled to be lighter in texture than all- purpose flour. Whole-wheat pastry flour is just a touch denser and brings along some extra nutrients, but it is still very mild and can be a bit more palatable compared to other heavier whole-wheat flour options.
Per Serving: Calories: 159; Total Fat: 8g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 23mg; Sodium: 43mg; Total Carbohydrates: 21g; Fiber: 2g; Protein: 4g Excerpted from EASY EVERYDAY MEDITERRANEAN DIET COOKBOOK © 2020 by Deanna Segrave-Daly and Serena Ball. Photography © 2020 by Linda Xiao. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. |
