Tahini Swirled Skillet Brownie

Brownies are great on their own, but being able to eat them warm out of a skillet with creamy ice cream on top seals the deal. Enter the tahini swirled skillet brownie. While using tahini in brownies might surprise you, the nuttiness works perfectly against the rich chocolate. Served in mini skillets for two, its the perfect late night indulgent treat.

Every year for new years I usually make slutty brownies, but I knew I wanted to end 2020 with a bang. After all, we deserve a treat after all this years craziness. Tahini has been all over my Instagram feed, so I thought my New Year’s dessert had to include it. The result, a Reeses peanut butter style dessert.

The Ingredients:

• AP Flour: Keep it simple with plain flour. Very little is used to create fudgy, dense brownies.
• Butter: Be sure to use unsalted butter that way you control the salt added to your dessert.
• Semisweet chocolate chips: Any chocolate will work in this recipe, but I like semisweet because it keeps it sweet while adding a bit of bitterness.
• Sugars: Both brown and white sugar are used. White sugar ensures the structure of the brownies while brown sugar gives them a nice chew.
• Eggs: I’m not picky, but Vital farms are my favorite because of the large yolk size.
• Flour: I keep it simple with All Purpose, not a lot is used to keep them dense.
• Cocoa powder: This recipe uses both chocolate chips and cocoa powder so they’re super chocolatley.
• Baking Powder: Be sure to use powder, not soda, so they rise ever so slightly.
• Salt: I use a full 1/2 teaspoon because of how well it compliments chocolate.
• Tahini: Be sure to use unflavored tahini or else your brownies may taste like salad dressing. Check your local Middle Eastern Market or order online.
• Marbled Halva: Another tough find, but it’s the perfect nutty sesame topping.

The Process:

Start by melting the chocolate and butter in the microwave together, stirring every 30 seconds, until glossy and combined. I got this technique from the one and only Ina Garten.

Then, add in the sugar and whisk until combined, it’s still going to be grainy but that’s okay. Then whisk in the eggs and vanilla until a thick batter forms. Finally add in the pre-mixed dry ingredients.

Pour the very thick batter into two 6.5 inch cast iron skillets greased with softened butter. Use an ice cream scoop going back and forth between the two to keep them even. Then drizzle tahini on top of the batter and swirl it around using a toothpick. It doesn’t have to be perfect because it will change as it bakes. Bake for 25 minutes at 350º until only a light crumb appears on a clean toothpick. It won’t come out completely clean because of how fudgy these brownies are.

My cast iron skillets:

And that’s the recipe. A super simple tahini swirled skillet brownie, but super delicious. Plus, anything with tahini makes you feel fancy.

Untested Swaps:

• If you don’t have the tahini, you can really use any melted down nut butter, or omit it completely.
• This recipe mathematically should transfer to an 8×8 pan, but it hasn’t been tried so please let me know if you go for it.
• Add honey to the tahini if you don’t like the bitterness. It should sweeten things up

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Recipe inspired by:

• https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/skillet-brownies

Like Chocolate? Try These:

• Chocolate Mint Biscotti