So, nowadays I’ve been very much into brownie baking. But so far it was always with regular all-purpose flour. This one is both gluten free and one of the most delicious ones I baked!

 

 

I don’t know about you but tahini is a must-have ingredient for me. There is always some in my kitchen. As I was looking at the tahini jar a few days ago, I started to wonder how it would taste in a brownie.

 

At the same time, I was craving for halva and so I found the perfect combination of tahini and halva in a brownie form – and it was gluten free! The recipe I found was in a blog called “The Nosher”. It was a fudgy, dense brownie without any kind of flour. I did a bit of change.

 

 

First of all, I used some gluten free all-purpose flour – just a bit. Second, I changed the amount of chocolate and the use of it within the recipe. The original recipe uses chocolate chips. I used dark chocolate chunks (but melted them). Also, I changed the steps as well.

 

 

 

My brownie was more cakey type, which was what I wanted (that’s why I put the gluten free flour). It is cakey but it’s still a brownie. There is a hint of cinnamon and cardamom, which is just enough. And you have the halva as aftertaste, which makes the whole experience of eating – and after – a big pleasure (I LOVE halva!!). And yet, neither tahini nor halva makes the brownie heavy. They only make it delicious!
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Ingredients:

 

Difficulty:  ★☆☆ (Easy)
(makes 1 brownie in 23cm diameter pan)

 

Printable PDF-recipe (no photos)

 

100 gr dark chocolate (53%)
3 eggs
1/2 cup (or 1 dl + 5 tsp) tahini (light and more fluid one)
1/2 cup (or 1 dl + 5 tsp) maple syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup (or 1 dl + 5 tsp) cacao

50 gr. (or 1 dl) gluten free all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 dl crumbled halva* (I used plain halva, but feel free to use other kinds if you like)

 

*You can find halva in ethnic stores like Kimene or Alanya in Itäkeskus in Helsinki. You might also find it in big K-market or S-markets (nowadays they sell lots of ethnic stuff!).

 

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1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Grease a 23cm pan (I used aluminium pan, but if you use something else, you might also want to cover the bottom with baking paper).

 

2. Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl bain-marie style (which means on top of simmering hot water). See such melting in my other brownie recipe: https://mydearkitcheninhelsinki.com/2018/05/01/raspberry-and-pistachio-brownie-and-chocolate-overdose/ When the chocolate melts, take away from heat and put aside while making other things so that it cools a bit.

 

 

3. In a mixing bowl, put eggs, tahini and syrup and beat in medium to fast speed until all ingredients are mixed well and turns into a smooth paste.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Add apple cider vinegar and beat in medium speed for just half a minute.

 

 

 

5. Sift all the dry ingredients (the ones starting with cacao and ending with cardamom in the ingredients list above) into the mixing bowl.

 

 

 

6. Add melted chocolate and beat them all until all ingredients are well mixed. You might need to scrape the sides in between.

 

 

 

 

7. Transfer the brownie batter into prepared pan. Smoothen the surface if needed. Spread crumbled halva on top of the brownie. Put in the oven, in medium rack and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean. When it is done, take out of the oven and let it cool down to the room temperature for couple of hours, then take it out of the pan. Brownies will be good in room temperature in airtight container for up to 5 days. Enjoy!