Tahini Chocolate Chip Blondies

 You know I love tahini. You know I love a good cookie bar. And OBVIOUSLY I love chocolate.  In baked goods, I think more is more, so why not jam pack all that good stuff into a seriously addicting, slightly nutty, oh so gooey blondie? My thoughts exactly. These tahini chocolate chip blondies are seriously the stuff my dreams are made of.

I meannnnnnn…

LOOK AT THAT STACK.

We’re all friends here, and I gotta confess…I almost ate this whole pan by myself.

So, what is tahini?

Tahini is a super creamy, sesame seed paste. So basically, it’s like peanut butter, but it’s made with sesames instead of peanuts. Tahini is super poplar in Middle Eastern cuisine, and recently has taken off in the US. I love to use it in hummus, cookies, salad dressings, etc. It’s very popular in a lot of savory recipes, but you’re about to discover how incredibly amazing it is in desserts. And despite it’s impossible creamy consistency, it’s dairy-free. 

These cookie bars aren’t dairy free or vegan though because we added butter. Sorry vegans.

To read a little more on tahini, head on over to these tahini chocolate chip cookies. 

Tahini vs Peanut Butter

The great thing about tahini as opposed to peanut butter or other nut butters, is 1) it’s not overpowering and 2) it’s actually nut free, so if you have a peanut allergy it’s a great substitute. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE peanut butter, but you know when you make a recipe with peanut butter that peanut butter is automatically going to be the main flavor. Like yeah, we love peanut butter, but sometimes it can be too much. Tahini is slightly nutty, but it’s pretty neutral. So you get all that complexity without anything super distinct.

How to make the perfect cookie bar?

They key to these tahini blondies is under baking them. No one likes a dry cookie and I can tell you no one likes a dry blondie either. And blondies are essentially just cookies in bar form, so you should follow similar tips and tricks that you would with a cookie recipe!

I’ve broken it down into 3 DON’Ts

1. Don’t over mix: this will lead to a tough blondie and totally throw the texture off.
2. Don’t over bake: This is by far the most crucial thing you can take away here. Remember your baked goods continue to bake as they cool, so make sure you pull these out of the oven when they’re still underdone in the middle to keep them gooey and prevent from drying out.
3. Don’t skimp on the chocolate chips:  Equally important, but I don’t think I need to tell you guys twice to load these bars up with chocolate chips.

Hope these Tahini Chocolate Chip Blondies make this Wednesday go by a little quicker for you.

XX

Tahini Chocolate Chip Blondies

• Author: Sofi | Broma Bakery
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 1 8 x 8 pan 1x
• Category: blondies
• Method: baked
• Cuisine: tahini

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup tahini
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (seriously! it helps w the nuttiness*)
• 6 oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped (can also use 1 cup chocolate chunks or chips)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, tahini, and both sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in egg, salt and vanilla extract and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
3. Mix in baking soda and flour until just combined. Toss in chopped chocolate and mix to combine.
4. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes. They will look puffed and underbaked, but will continue to cook as they cool. Allow cookie to cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
5. Top with a sprinkle of sea salt and serve!

Notes

if you don’t want to use whole wheat pastry flour, you can substitute it with 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons AP flour