Flourless Tahini Brownies

Aside from watching Tiger King, Top Chef and walking my dog, there is one activity that I use to soothe me after a long day (there are a lot of long, anxious days right now)—Making something in the kitchen. I do love me some comfort food. I am not talking about fried chicken or chicken noodle soup (though those are delicious). My grandma had a little saying: when life is sour, eat something sweet. These most definitely qualify as sour times so I want something sweet. I always adore chocolate and these brownies are the antidote to everything. 

There are a lot of brownie recipes out there. I have made a lot of brownie recipes, but these ones are simple, don’t call for flour and give you the gooey, fudgy centers that we all love from brownies. 

Let’s just jump right into the ingredient breakdown and one step closer to brownies. 

Dark Chocolate 

I am a chocolate fiend. It may have something to do with the fact that my brother and sister-in-law have chocolate factory, but really chocolate is just the thing I always snack on. For brownies, I always want the best dark chocolate I can get. Like when you cook with wine, you want to bake with the chocolate you like to eat as is. I use a 95% cocoa content chocolate for these brownies. That means it is basically all chocolate with just a little cocoa butter and sugar added. 

Do you need to use such a dark chocolate? No. You could use a bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa content). If you want a really dark, deep chocolate flavor, I would not use anything below 70% cocoa content.

Tahini 

Tahini is having a moment in my life. I love tahini. Do not get me wrong, peanut butter or almond butter are delicious and I eat one of them daily. However, tahini is my favorite to bake sweet things with because it adds a subtle nutty, savory flavor to the finished baked goods. It is also rich is natural oils that give the necessary fat. 

When you are picking a tahini, make sure that you pick a good one. Some can be very bitter. But Seed + Mill or Soom Foods tahini are both delightfully smooth, easy to stir, made by women and easy to buy online. 

Coconut Sugar + Maple Syrup 

There are a lot of sweetener options out there. I have a mix of them in my pantry, but for these brownies, I wanted to stray away from adding refined sugar (aka cane sugar). Coconut sugar gives you the flavor of brown sugar, but it does not have the moisture of brown sugar. We want that moisture for these brownies, so, I added maple syrup for moisture and additional sweetness. 

If you cannot find coconut sugar, you can use brown sugar. If you use brown sugar, you may want to use slightly less so that brownies aren’t too wet. If you have cane sugar (granulated sugar or the organic variety), you can use the same amount as coconut sugar. You can certainly use all maple syrup, using about 1/2 cup. If you do use maple syrup only, then your brownies could be very wet so you may need to add 2 additional tablespoons of cocoa powder. 

Cocoa Powder

There are a lot of cocoa powders out there. They may seem like they are all the same, but they are not; however, they can be divided into two categories: dutch-processed and natural. Dutch-process cocoa powder has been process with alkali in order to neutralize the natural acidity in cocoa powder. Natural cocoa powder, as the name suggests, has not been neutralized (sounds like a line from an alien movie…). Natural cocoa powder will have a more pronounced chocolate flavor, but be lighter in color. Dutch-process cocoa is typically darker. 

For this recipe, I used dutch-process cocoa powder because that is what I have in my pantry. The brands I like (not sponsored) are Droste and Gerbs. Both are available online. You can certainly use natural cocoa powder if that is what you have. The most important thing to do when baking with cocoa powder is to sift it. Cocoa powder loves to clump together. 

And that is enough of my rambling. Let’s get into baking! 

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RECIPE

108g (4oz) dark chocolate 

68g (3 heaped tbsp) coconut oil 

49g (2 overflowing tbsp) tahini

65g (1/4c + 2tbsp) coconut sugar 

75g (5tbsp) maple syrup 

3 eggs

60g (1/2c) cocoa powder 

1 tsp espresso powder 

1 tsp salt

Optional: 1/4 tsp baking powder (if you like a cake-like texture in your brownie, then add la bit more leavening)

For topping: 

About 3 tbsp Tahini 

Preheat your oven to 350F and line an 8 inch square baking dish with tin foil (I use tin foil for brownies, but use parchment if that’s your jam). 

In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate, coconut oil and tahini. Melt together over a double boiler or the microwave. No shame in the microwave, but heat in 30 second spurts, stirring after each nuke session. 

Once the chocolate is melted, mix together until combined. Add the coconut sugar and maple syrup (and vanilla extract if you like) and stir together. Add the eggs and mix vigorously. I use a whisk since the eggs are the only source of leavening (unless you are adding the baking powder). We want to get a little air in there. 

Sift in the cocoa powder (don’t skip the sift since cocoa powder loves to lump together), add the salt and stir together. Cocoa powder can take a bit to mix in fully, so patience. 

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, drizzle more tahini on top of the batter. Get artsy and swirl it around with a butter knife (just make sure it has a rounded, blunt tip). 

Bake for 17-19 minutes (I under bake them so I get super gooey brownies). Let them cool completely before slicing. If you like super clean edges like me, put in the fridge for 1 hour and then slice. 

Store in a covered container at room temperature for 6-7 days. I keep mine in the fridge, but whatever floats your boat.