RECIPE: Raw Tahini Cups

It’s officially summer here in Bend, OR…and when you don’t have air conditioning, that pretty much means, no oven. My sweet tooth kicked in big time a few days ago, so rather than baking cookies, I opted to experiment with making some raw treats. Our love for tahini has grown even more over this last year, so I wanted to try to create something incorporating tahini…and cacao…my two loves!

Luckily, my little experiment was a success!!

 

RAW TAHINI CUPS: Vegan, Gluten-free, Soy-free, Raw

Makes approximately 8-12 mini cups (depending on the size of your molds)

What You Need:

• 3/4 cup melted cacao butter*
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup raw cacao powder (depends on how dark you want it!)
• 2 TBSP raw coconut nectar (I usually use maple syrup, but we were out)
• pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt
• 3-4 Medjool dates
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup unsalted creamy peanut butter (to keep fully raw, use any raw nut/seed butter – almond butter is my favorite)

How to:

1. Gently melt your cacao butter either by using a double boiler (heat on low) or in the dehydrator. Stir frequently, until completely melted.
2. Next, whisk in your cacao powder, salt, and coconut nectar. Taste it to make sure it’s sweetened to your liking – you can add more nectar or syrup if needed.
3. Carefully fill the base of your molds, about 1/4 of the way. I used mini silicone tart molds and silicone ice cube trays.
4. Put your molds in the freezer to set for about 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.
5. In a food processor, pulse/blend your choice of nut or seed butter, tahini, and dates. Mix until smooth.
6. Put a small dollop of the filling in each mold and then pour more of the raw chocolate mixture on top of that.
7. Let the molds set in the fridge for at least 1.5 – 2 hours.
8. Remove from the molds and ENJOY! We sprinkled ours with some extra cacao and coconut sugar. When eaten right out of the fridge, the outer part of the cup will be hard, so I recommend letting them sit for a few minutes at room temperature to soften a bit.

* If you don’t have cacao butter, you can use coconut oil instead, but from my experience, coconut will become the dominate flavor.

 

 

You’ll have leftover filling…which is a good thing! We eat it by the spoonful, add it to smoothies, use it to stuff dates, spread it on toast, and even add it to overnight oats!

 

Thank you for stopping by!