Chocolate Tahini Traybake

This recipe is from BBC Goodfood's magazine, December 2021 issue, page 13 by reader Janette White, find online here.

This recipe is great fun to make with someone else. I made them with my sister during half-term and they are not hard to make and you can learn lots of skills in this simple recipe. We left out the nuts and dried fruit, as she's not a fan, instead substituting for chocolate chips, which was particularly nice when they came out of the oven and were still warm as the chocolate was nice and gooey. Some other suggestions are: biscuit pieces, break up a few digestives or party rings and stir through the batter when it says to add the dried fruit or mini marshmallows too. Although, we did leave in the tahini and it added a nice flavour to the traybake, my mum said it wasn't as sweet as usual, in a good way. So, if you can, I recommend you try it with tahini.

If you have never had tahini before, it is a sesame paste that can be used in much the same way as smooth peanut butter and can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. Tahini is the flavour that gives hummus it's distinct hummus-y tang and can be used in many recipes. If, however, you don't want to use it, some alternatives are: nut butters, Nutella, honey or syrup, although these will add a different flavour to the traybake, resulting in a sweeter flavour.

Enjoy!

Hazel 

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Dietary Info:

-Vegetarian

-Unsuitable for Vegans

{See below for dairy. In place of the eggs, you could make a flaxseed egg with 2tbsp seeds and 6tbsp water, make sure this has been set aside for 5mins before using (BBC).}

-Contains Dairy

{Use a plant-based spread or butter in place of the unsalted butter and make sure to use either a dairy-free milk chocolate or ensure you are using dark chocolate. Serve with a dairy-free cream, yogurt, custard or ice-cream if you like.}

-Contains Nuts

{My traybake was actually nut-free as I didn't include the dried walnuts (my sister's not a fan), instead we used chocolate chips which was a nice crunch. If sesame is a problem, leave out the tahini.}

-Contains Gluten

{A gluten-free flour would be fine here such as Dove's or almond or oat flour would be fine too, add a bit extra baking powder if the alternative is not self-raising.}

-Pudding

-Snack

Makes: 9

Prep: 20mins

Cook: 35mins

Ingredients:

-125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin {I used Clover margarine.}

-125g dark or milk chocolate, roughly chopped {I used dark/plain chocolate.}

-125g self-raising flour

-1/4tsp baking powder

-75g walnuts, roughly chopped {I substituted for chocolate chips (75g).}

-100g mixed dried fruit (use any that you have to hand, such as sultanas, apricots or cranberries), larger pieces roughly chopped {I used chocolate chips in place, see above for total measurement.}

-125g light brown soft sugar {I had to top this up with 35g of white sugar as the brown ran out.}

-2 eggs

-2 heaped tbsp tahini

-vanilla ice cream, to serve (optional)

Method:

1: Heat the oven to 180℃ / 160℃ fan / 350℉/gas 4. Butter a 20cm square tin and line with baking parchment. {You may want to line so it goes up the edges of the tin (not just cover the bottom), it helps with removing the cake afterwards.}  Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water. {We used this method: bain marie.} Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. {I just turned off the hob, but left the pan over the hot water, so it didn't set entirely.}  Or, do this in 20-second bursts in the microwave.

2: Mix {I also sieved these.} the flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl, then stir in the walnuts, dried fruit {or alternative.} and a pinch of salt. Beat the butter and brown sugar together in a separate bowl until light and fluffy using an electric whisk. {I just used a wooden spoon.} Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding 1 tbsp of the flour mix with each addition to stop the wet ingredients from curdling.

3: Beat the cooled melted chocolate into the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. Mix in the tahini, then gently fold in all of the flour mixture, being careful not to knock out the air.

4: Tip the batter into the tin, level with a spatula and bake for 30-35 mins, {Ours only took 20-25mins, we checked with a toothpick and it came out clean, so make sure to check yours half-way done.} or until set with a definite wobble in the middle. Leave to cool for 20 mins in the tin. Lift out of the tin onto a wire rack using the parchment to help and leave to cool completely (the brownie will firm up as it cools). Cut into 9 squares and serve with ice cream, if you like. Will keep in an airtight container for three days.

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/5kIqm7a