Recipe from Amy Chaplin
Adapted by Charlotte Druckman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(640)
- Notes
- Read community notes
It was said that the recipient of the very first batch of these brownies polished them off, alone, in one sitting. There is no proof of this. What we do know is that they are vegan, deeply dark and fudgy. The recipe, which is based on one in Amy Chaplin's cookbook, “At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen,” uses everyday ingredients to reach that fudginess: olive oil (a proven amplifier of chocolate’s complexity) and dates (to round out the bitterness of the cocoa powder, and to act as a binder). But tahini and halvah are the two surprise players here, taking the recipe in a rich direction. The tahini disappears into the brownies, making them shockingly moist, while the halvah lends something familiar and unexpected. Regular almonds are fine; Marconas are better. You could replace the spelt flour with all-purpose for a less savory, more traditional effect. —Charlotte Druckman
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Ingredients
Yield:24 brownies
- 4ounces/115 grams pitted dates (⅔ cup packed)
- 2cups/480 milliliters boiling water
- ¾cup/180 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1½cups/270 grams spelt flour
- ¾cup/90 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- ¾cup plus 2 tablespoons/210 milliliters unsweetened almond milk or oat milk
- ¾cup/180 milliliters maple syrup
- ¾cup/120 grams coconut palm sugar (see Tip)
- ½cup/120 milliliters tahini
- 1tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4ounces/115 grams vegan bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 3ounces/90 grams vegan halvah (see Tip), finely crumbled (about ⅔ cup)
- 4teaspoons white sesame seeds
- ½cup/70 grams finely chopped toasted Marcona almonds or roasted cashews
- 1teaspoon flaky sea salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
242 calories; 14 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 18 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 193 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place dates in a medium heatproof bowl and pour boiling water on top to cover. Let soak until dates are softened, about 20 minutes, then drain well.
Step
2
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper; brush paper and sides of pan lightly with olive oil and set aside. Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into a large bowl; whisk to combine and set aside.
Step
3
Place drained dates, almond milk, maple syrup, coconut sugar, tahini, vanilla, fine sea salt and ¾ cup olive oil in a food processor; blend until smooth. Pour into the sifted flour mixture and whisk just until combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate and halvah. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and spread out in an even layer using an offset or rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds, then almonds.
Step
4
Bake until edges pull away from the sides of the dish and a toothpick comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and let cool completely. Refrigerate until cold and firm before cutting. Bring to room temperature before eating, or enjoy them cold, straight out of the fridge.
Tips
- If you want sweeter brownies, you can increase the amount of coconut palm sugar to 1 cup.
- Some halvah may contain egg whites or honey, so be sure to check the ingredient list on the packaging if you’re vegan.
Ratings
4
out of 5
640
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Cooking Notes
Brews
We just made these w/ Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free and they were great. A really nice vegan/ gluten free treat for a birthday. Top it off w/ coconut ice cream and it would be decadent. (Re: people commenting about all the sugar, just take a small piece, for heaven's sake!)
bob
They taste good in my mouth on my birthday
gab
These seem like they have a lot of sweetener - anyone have tips or experience for just relying on the dates?
Louise
There were so many comment with modifications (many of which were conflicting) that I decided to make exactly as specified. Totally delicious. Making again one week later.
marti z
if i were going to try cutting back on sweetener, i would double dates, halve maple syrup, and omit coconut palm sugar entirely. my thought in omitting the palm sugar is to cut out one of the more processed ingredients. but, please know, i have not tried it so it is just a suggestion as to a direction in which to experiment. if you try it, please post, it would be most helpful to know your experience. thanks for raising the issue.
Vivian Olkin
Halvah is made with tahini and sugar--no eggs.
EMatthews
I’m going to try it with no sugar and see what happens. Between the dates and the Halva I feel like they will be plenty sweet...
Alex C
Made this for a dinner party and they were great. Modifications I made: I goofed and forgot to add the oil but they were not chalky dry just a little dense. No complaints. I had only 2/3’s of the sugar called for in the recipe but since others in the comments complained of it being overly sweet I didn’t worry about it. I goofed again and didn’t have sesame seeds so I chopped up almonds and made that the topping instead.All in all I would totally make this again.
Elizabeth Clark
I wa thinking the same thing. I’m going to skip the coconut sugar and just use dates
Mags
There is no lemon in the recipe.
neeners119
These have a great taste but are more cakey than fudgy and prefer a moister brownie.
Diane Moore
These were delicious and interesting. I used a large amount of black cocoa from King Arthur and reduced the (plain)sugar to 100g after reading some reviews that the tahini/halvah taste didn't come through strongly. I used a 70% dark chocolate. They were very chocolatey and had a definite tahini yum factor. This might just be my new favorite brownie recipe. Because I was making them for GF friends, I used Bob's Red Mill 1:1 GF. Just writing this makes me want to go grab yet another.
Kristina
These are the best brownies I have ever had. And I’m not a vegan.
Alexa Weibel, Senior Staff Editor, NYT Cooking
Thank you for your attention! There are vegan varieties of halvah and there are non-vegan varieties, as some may contain egg whites or honey. We have adjusted the recipe to specify "vegan" halvah, and added a note to suggest that readers check the ingredient list of the product to ensure that it's vegan. Thank you for your insight!
Judy
Joyva marble Halvah is not vegan. It contains dried egg albumen. I imagine the other flavors do also.
Lisa
They were definitely tasty!! Made them as directed but w gf flour -I wonder if there’s something else I should add to keep them a little more moist?
Eileen
good gracious these are delicious and downright heavenly with a glass of milk. I especially liked the dates in the batter. It seemed to take forever to bake though. Like 40-50 minutes.
Ilene
I made them exactly as written (without the nuts on top, as I was making them for a nut-free organization). I baked them for 35 minutes and found them very DRY.
jeanclaire
I left out the coconut sugar and halva but used almond flour instead of spelt. Perfect!
Kathleen Delaney
I wanted brownies and was out of eggs. I used one cup of cocoa powder, regular granulated sugar, all purpose flour, substituted raisins for dates and pecans for chocolate chips. These are fabulous, even out of the freezer.
Gabrielle Washburn
They came out dry
caraline
This recipe is great! I’ve made it with GF flour everytime with some changes and it has worked. I substituted apple sauce for the palm sugar. First half. Then all of it. Both times it was sweet enough. Next time I substituted equal parts for roasted quartered beets (puréed) and it was delicious. Next time I’m going to use the cooled pumpkin.
amy_r
These are outstanding! I used all-purpose flour and brown sugar since those were on hand. Delicious, rich, kept in fridge for a good while.
Shawna
Could someone help me figure out how to incorporate Soom Chocolate Tahini sauce as a substitute? It is made of tahini (sesame seeds), powdered pure cane sugar, and cocoa powder!
MegsSister
Err on the side of under- rather than over-baking. Mods: Noom chocolate tahini, chocolate oat milk, melted v dark chocolate instead of chopped, extra vanilla, less maple syrup, Bob's gluten-free blend. Delicious! Next time: more dates, coconut.
TKG
Made this exactly as directed and they were totally delicious. For those wanting to cut back on sugar, make a different recipe. They're vegan, not health food!
Joy
Cannot make it as it calls for olive oil. Tahini is enough oil. Will look for a more Plant Based Brownie version that has no oil. If I could substitute applesauce for the oil, I would make it. I love the dates and the maple syrup as the sweetener.
Alex C
Made this for a dinner party and they were great. Modifications I made: I goofed and forgot to add the oil but they were not chalky dry just a little dense. No complaints. I had only 2/3’s of the sugar called for in the recipe but since others in the comments complained of it being overly sweet I didn’t worry about it. I goofed again and didn’t have sesame seeds so I chopped up almonds and made that the topping instead.All in all I would totally make this again.
Louise
There were so many comment with modifications (many of which were conflicting) that I decided to make exactly as specified. Totally delicious. Making again one week later.
heather
Made the recipe as written - except that I baked for 30 minutes thanks to notes from others. We had halvah from seed and mill in the fridge. They are good but not fudge at all. Cakey. Not bad if you like cakey brownies just not the type of brownie I like.
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