No baking for this week. Just two really quick and easy recipes for moreish snacks. Tahini has featured in both our family cultures whether in hummus, halva, baba ghanoush etc. and is used widely in cuisines of the Middle East, Mediterranean, and North Africa. Popularised in another wave by chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi it’s become an almost universal kitchen staple. It contains more protein than milk and most nuts. It’s made from toasted ground hulled sesame, a rich source of B and E vitamins, as well as important minerals like magnesium, iron and calcium. The dark chocolate tahini crunch, is a healthy snack and simple to make.
Ingredients:
60g of natural peanut butter
or 50g of ground almonds
1 large overripe banana
1 egg
Oil or butter to fry
Method:
Mash the banana, beat egg, and add the ground almonds or peanut butter (I tend to use half and half).
Heat some oil/butter in a pancake pan. Once hot, drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan leaving space between each one. The consistency is thicker than traditional pancakes. Brown on one side, then flip over and cook for another few minutes.
Eat them plain as a snack, or with a dollop of yoghurt or ice cream and some berries, or a drizzle of maple syrup.
Chocolate Tahini Crunch
Ingredients:
130g tahini
240g dark chocolate
60g pumpkin seeds
3 tbsp chia sees
3 tbsp flax seeds
3 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tsp sea salt
Method:
Line a 12”x 8” baking tray.
Melt half the chocolate in a bain-marie (or the microwave). Pour this into the prepared tray, spread out evenly and freeze for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the tahini, flaxseeds, chia seeds and 2 tbsp of the hemp seeds. Spread this over the chocolate layer and freeze again for 10 mins.
Melt the remaining chocolate and spread this over the tahini layer, sprinkling the pumpkin seeds, remaining hemp seeds and salt over the top. Place back in the freezer for a few hours.
Take out of the freezer, cut it up and enjoy! Keep refrigerated or in the freezer to store.
