Chocolate Chunk Tahini Cookie Bars
When you can’t decide between a cookie and a bar, make both into one delicious recipe! These bars are so yummy, incredibly low maintenance, and of course nutrient dense. They are so easy to throw together, made all in one bowl, and are perfect for when your sweet tooth strikes fast and hard.
I’ve been experimenting with various seed butters, both in recipes and in life, because I've unfortunately developed allergies towards certain nut butters - aka my favorite food ever. Tahini, or sesame seed butter, is one of those. It’s a great alternative to use in place of other nut butters, and works well in both sweet and savory dishes. Tahini is high in antioxidants and healthy fats, and is shown to have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. A dessert that’s both delicious and nutritious, my love language
I used a 100% cacao dark chocolate bar and a stevia sweetened brown sugar substitute, so this version is also completely sugar free. If you prefer a sweeter treat, feel free to add regular brown or coconut sugar - more or less than what I used below depending on your taste preference (I prefer on the less sweet side for reference). If you want to keep the recipe gluten free, use a 1 to 1 flour replacement but if not, any all purpose flour works. Also, if you don’t have tahini in stock, I’m assuming that any nut butter will do the trick, which will add more natural sweetness to the recipe.
But regardless of the ingredients and substitutions you choose to use, these can be thrown together with your eyes closed and take less than 30 minutes from start to finish - cleanup included. So basically, you really have no excuse but to make them.
Try them out!
RECIPE
Ingredients:
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 4 tbsp water)
1/2 cup creamy tahini
1/2 cup brown sugar replacement (sub regular brown or coconut sugar)
3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour (sub all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
Dark chocolate bar chopped into chunks (use 100% cacao for sugar free)
1-2 tbsp coconut milk (sub any plant based or regular milk)
Directions:Mix eggs, tahini, and sugar in a bowl until combined. Stir in applesauce and vanilla and continue to mix.
Fold in dry ingredients and mix until smooth, adding more or less milk as necessary.
Spread batter across a square pan, top with additional chocolate, and bake at 325 for 22-25 minutes. Let sit to cool completely and firm up before cutting into bars.