Why You Should Put Tahini In Your Blondies (And Other Sweets)

Tahini is a sesame paste most commonly used in hummus, baba ghanoush, and salad dressings, but it can add moisture and nutty goodness to a whole variety of sweets.

Photo by Joy.

I kind of view tahini in sweets the way I view miso in savories; it simply adds depth and dimension to everything it touches. Not only does it enhance caramel-y notes and balance cloying sweetness, but it adds roast-y, toasty flavours that sing in baked goods. Real Simple is a fan of putting the stuff in their blondies, but you can use tahini to jazz up any of the following:

• Caramel Sauce: This is a pretty obvious one. You can follow Bon Appetit’s recipe for salted sesame caramel, or you could try adding a 1/4 cup to your favourite sticky-sweet sauce.
• Chocolate Chip Cookies: The New York Times stirs in half a cup of the sesame paste into their chocolate chip cookies for the ultimate sweet and salty treat.
• Ice Cream: Not only does Butterlust make their ice cream with tahini, vanilla, and a bit of bourbon, but then they take the whole thing one step further by drizzling it with decadent honey caramel.

Those should get you started, but I’m having a hard time thinking of things tahini wouldn’t be good in. Are chocolate-covered tahini cups too far? I don’t think they are.

3 Surprising Ways to Use Tahini [Real Simple]