Extra gooey chocolate brownies with a generous swirl of creamy, nutty tahini. This recipe changes the brownies game in the best way!
The occasional addition of nuts or a swirl of peanut butter to gooey chocolate brownies is nice, but if you’re really looking to step up the brownie game, then look no further than tahini!
What is tahini?
Most folks have only experienced tahini in a creamy hummus dip or a tangy tahini sauce atop a juicy kabob, which I highly recommend.
If you’re not familiar, tahini is a paste that is made roasted and pressed sesame seeds offering a creamy texture and a delicious nutty flavor. Aside from its rich taste and decadent, creamy texture, tahini is also nutritious with a good dose of fiber, protein, iron, and vitamins. I love to use it in many savory applications like hummus or this tahini tomato cucumber salad, which goes with nearly anything grilled, particularly kofta kebabs.
But my friends, it’s time to expand the tahini experience to desserts, because something magical happens with you mix nutty, rich tahini with chocolate to create the perfect gooey brownies with a special twist!
Extra gooey brownies with tahini!
The point of this tahini brownies recipe is not to simply swrill a bit of the nutty stuff into the brownie batter. No, it’s actually the other way around!
Here, tahini is a key ingredient. First, you’ll make a melty chocolate mixture, then you’ll stir it into a tahini-based batter. Game changer! You’ll be using less butter because tahini adds a good bit of moisture. And you’ll only be using about 1/3 cup of flour in this recipe, which results in extra gooey fudge brownies with a rich, nutty flavor–better than any peanut butter brownies you’ve tried.
Where to buy tahini?
If you can’t find quality tahini near you, check out our online shop for Organic Soom Tahini made from roasted and pressed Ethiopian sesame seeds. And, there is even chocolate tahini that you can spread on your toast (you may say goodbye to nutella!). For a full guide to this incredible Mediterranean ingredient, check out our What Is Tahini article.
More recipes using tahini:
Mediterranean Diet Recipes
Creamy Tahini Date Banana Shake
Desserts
Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Middle Eastern
Easy Baba Ganoush Recipe
Tahini Brownies Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp salted butter plus more for the skillet
- 4 oz bittersweet dark chocolate chips
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup tahini
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square pan with 2 pieces of foil (crossed, and with excess hanging over on all sides of the pan). Lightly brush the foil with butter.
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and immediately add the chocolate chips and cocoa. Whisk until smooth.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt to form a slightly thick mixture. Add the tahini and whisk to combine. Now fold in the flour, stir until just incorporated (do not over-stir). Reserve half of the tahini mixture in a separate bowl for later. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the remaining tahini mixture, stir until batter is well combined.
- Pour the batter into the pan you prepared. Spread evenly.
- With a spoon, dollop the reserved tahini mixture over the top (imagine a grid, and add one dollop of tahini mixture to each square on that grid). With the tip of a butter or pairing knife, swril the tahini dollops into the brownie batter.
- Place the pan on the middle rack of the 350 degrees F heated-oven. Bake for 28-30 minutes, until the edges are set but the center remain moist. Remove from the oven. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Lift the foil edges up carefully to transfer the brownies from the pan. Cool for another 30 minutes (do not remove from the foil yet). Cut into 2-inch squares. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Recipe slightly adapted from Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine (March-April 2017 issue).
- You need to fully bake these brownies, they are very tender (even wet) if you don’t bake them through.
- Make these brownies the night before, if you like. The tahini flavor will intensify!
- Visit our Shop to browse the best tahini and other Mediterranean ingredients including extra virgin olive oils and spices.
I used the Soom chocolate tahini…SO GOOD! Not too sweet, stays soft and husband wants more! Shared with friends at work and they loved them as well!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, April!
Very confusing–what is “tahini mixture?” And how much of it do I use and when? Thanks
The tahini mixture is made in Step 3 (In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt to form a slightly thick mixture. Add the tahini and whisk to combine. Now fold in the flour, stir until just incorporated). Set half of this mixture aside to use as a topping later. Add the melted chocolate to the other half of the mixture to complete the brownie batter.
New fave brownie recipe. Had three people out of seven at the party ask for the recipe. Yum!
Yay! Love to hear that! Thanks, Kiki!
Made these for the second time and they remain one of my favorite things to bake! They’re perfect and the flavor is unreal. If you ever feel like your brownies are missing anything, tahini is the needed ingredient. I’ve tried it with Soom Tahini and Joyva Tahini. I like the taste of the Soom ever so slightly better but I found the Joyva much easier to mix and incorporate.
Awesome! I agree, tahini is a GREAT addition to brownies!
This is a recipe is definitely a keeper. I was watching Christopher Kimball on milk street and was intrigued by the recipe. I researched some recipes and went with this one, am sure glad I did. Easy and delicious. Will be making again.
Yay! Thanks, Lisa!
I’ve been interested in tahini brownies for years but never tried them. I made these subbing evoo for the butter and only used half the sugar. Plenty sweet for me. Cold, these tasted a bit like Cosmic Brownies (which I was surprised to find, given such quality ingredients used), but warm these are very fudgy. The tahini doesn’t change much, but adds a nice, subtle break in the flavor. I can’t speak for what the original recipe tastes like, but these are pretty decent (though not the best I’ve had – I’ll stick to making an egg meringue for a crunchy film on top).
Thanks for this base recipe! I think I may experiment in the future with simply adding tahini after the rest of the batter has been poured into the pan. This would help it contrast more, as the tahini mixture is quite similar to the rest of the brownie.
These were delicious! I doubled the recipe & used a 9×13 pan.
So glad you enjoyed them, Lisa!
Would love to make these, but a whole cup of sugar is a bit much for me. Do you have any suggestions for either substituting it or lowering the amount?
Hi, Aliza! I have not tried the brownies with less sugar or an alternate, so it’s hard to give you advise here. Maybe for a first try, you can cut the sugar by a small amount, see how it works, and go from there.
Hello from New Orleans! Followed this recipe to make my husband some tahini brownies as a part of his birthday celebration. He absolutely loved them and has since said that it’s become his favorite dessert. The flavor is rich, without being overly sweet and the texture is dense, just like a brownie should be! We love the balance the tahini brings to the chocolate brownie.
I baked them in muffin tins (because that’s all that I have) and it actually made so that we had a “corner” brownie with every piece(: I baked for 20 minutes at 350. Overall, this recipe was really approachable and really delicious.
Thanks, Suzy for sharing!
Thanks for sharing, Lahaina! Great idea to use the muffin tin!
Hi Suzy! I love your recipes, I have done a lot this year…. speacially Baklava!
With this recipe, its still in the oven but I know it will turn great, when I was making them the batter was very thick and sticky… I don’t know if I have to dissolve a little bit the Tahini or its normal?? In the video it looks like a very light batter but mine was very thick…
any comments that could help next time?
regards,
Lourdes ( from Mexico )
Hi, Lourdes! The batter is always thick for me when I make it. I don’t think you did anything incorrectly here. Hope you enjoyed the brownies!!
I made them this morning… They are exactly what I hope for – chewy, chocolaty, tahini-ny 🙂 They will be my go to and I will love to share!
Yay! Thanks, Rachel
Hi from England – I would really love to try this recipe, but although the chocolate chips are listed as 4 ozs, I have no idea what weight your ‘cup’ is. Could you possibly add the weight of flour, tahini, and sugar in ozs to the recipe (in brackets) for those of us in the UK who rely on weight to measure out our ingredients. If you do, I promise to make the recipe within 24 hours, as I have all the ingredients on stand-by! Here’s hoping! Carol.
Hiya, haven’t made this recipe yet but I have values for cups to grams that always work for me. I’m from the UK but make a lot of American recipes. Large eggs in America is the equivalent weight to medium eggs here but I use large eggs because that’s what I have to hand. Kosher salt is a bigger grain than regular/table salt so 1tsp kosher salt = 3/4tsp regular salt. 1 cup sugar = 200g, + 2tbsp (11g x2) = 222g. 3/4 cup tahini = 187.5g (1 cup = 250g). 1/3 cup of plain flour = 40g (1 cup = 120g). Happy Baking!
Excellent recipe. Easy to follow, great results! Delicious! If you like halvah you will love these brownies.
I just tried this recipe tonight. It is great! Lots of chocolate decadence and nutty flavoring from the tahini. I will be sure to check out your other recipes as I love middle eastern food!
So glad, Teressa! Thank you for sharing
Transferring my chocolate mixture into my tahini mixture caused it to seize, any idea why? Made sure my chocolate mixture wasn’t hot but wasn’t completely cooled down either!
That’s interesting, Cheryl. I have not had this issue in the many times I made this recipe but let me do some research.
Hi! I made your hummus recipe last night (I’m from Dubai, now in the US, and have high standards for hummus – it was the best hummus I’ve ever made.)
I now want to try these brownies but am wondering if they would still work with half the sugar?? Thanks!
Oh that’s wonderful to hear, Kay! I have not tried the brownies with less sugar so I can’t tell you for sure if they would work. For a first try, you can cut the sugar by a small amount and see how it works.
Did halving the sugar work? I’m curious, as most desserts are too sweet for my stomach.