Ginger Studded Tahini Blondies

I’m an absolute sucker for a sweet & chewy blondie. The addition of tahini adds an earthy flavour to these simple-to-prepare squares. I hope you love these tahini and candied ginger-studded bars as much as I do!

Find candied ginger (sometimes referred to as crystallized ginger) at your local bulk food store (or in the baking section of the grocery store).

Ingredients

• ½ cup (125 mL) butter, softened
• ½ cup (125 mL) tahini
• ½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar
• ¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ tsp (7 mL) vanilla extract
• 1 cup (250 mL) flour
• ½ tsp (2 mL) salt
• ½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda
• ¾ cup (175 mL) diced candied ginger
• ½ cup (125 mL) white chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) toasted sesame seeds

Garnish

~ 2 oz (30 g) white chocolate, melted
~ 1 tbsp (15 mL) toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
2. Beat together butter, tahini, sugars, egg and vanilla.
3. Add flour, salt and baking soda and beat until just combined.
4. Stir in remaining ingredients until evenly combined.
5. Spread batter into a parchment paper lined 8 X 8-inch square baking pan (mixture will be thick) and place in center of preheated oven.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is just set.
7. Remove from the oven. Cool completely.
8. Cut into 16 bars.
9. Drizzle bars evenly with melted white chocolate and sprinkle evenly with toasted sesame seeds (for easy cleanup: place blondies on parchment paper, then drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with sesame seeds. This way you don’t have chocolate and
   seeds all over your countertop – simply pop the piece of parchment paper into garbage).
10. Store in an airtight container for up to one week (but they won’t last that long!).

Delicious & Doable Tip:

● Use natural peanut (or almond) butter instead of tahini
● Use dark chocolate chips instead of white chocolate

Watch clip below for parchment paper trick:

Charmaine Broughton is a Muskoka/Toronto-based cooking show host & guest expert and author of ‘Delicious & Doable ~ Recipes For Real and Everyday Life‘.

‘Delicious & Doable ~ Recipes For Real and Everyday Life’ is on Amazon! Get your copy today!