Go Back
Stacked fudgy tahini date brownies on a dark marble board with melted chocolate chip pools and a scatter of flaky salt.

Fudgy Baked Tahini Date Brownies, Naturally Low Sugar

Fudgy brownies sweetened with blended Medjool dates and made rich with tahini instead of butter, baked in a 20 cm / 8-inch pan.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 18 minutes
Servings: 16 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Healthy
Calories: 103
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Date and Tahini Base
  • 200 g Medjool dates, pitted about 1 heaping cup
  • 120 ml hot water for soaking
  • 120 g tahini well-stirred, runny
  • 3 eggs large; room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients and Chocolate
  • 30 g unsweetened cocoa powder natural, not dutch-process
  • 50 g almond flour blanched, or sub oat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 60 g dark chocolate chips 70% or darker, divided

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 175 C / 350 F. Line a 20 cm / 8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving overhang on two sides.
  2. Place the pitted dates in a bowl, cover with the hot water, and let them soak for 10 minutes until soft. Drain well.
  3. Transfer the drained dates to a food processor with the tahini, eggs, and vanilla. Blend for 1 to 2 minutes until smooth and glossy, like a thick caramel.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa powder, almond flour, baking powder, and salt together.
  5. Pour the date mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula until no streaks of flour remain. The batter will be thick, closer to frosting than cake batter.
  6. Fold in half the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Scatter the remaining chocolate chips over the surface.
  7. Bake for 26 to 28 minutes, until the edges look set and a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter.
  8. Cool the pan on a rack for at least 30 minutes before lifting the brownies out. Cutting them warm will make them crumble instead of holding a clean square.
  9. Slice into 16 squares and serve.

Notes

  • Soak dates fully or blending will leave gritty bits.
  • Batter is thick like frosting, not pourable cake batter.
  • Cool a full 30 minutes before cutting for clean squares.
  • Use natural cocoa powder, not dutch-process, for the best rise with baking powder.