Tahini & Chocolate Baked Oatmeal

Creamy indulgent tahini chocolate baked oatmeal that is sweetened with pure honey. They are a powerhouse of nutrition, the good kinds of carbs, fats and fiber too! They are gluten free, refined sugar free and vegan friendly!

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I made chocolate bars before , and I’ve add tahini to them. While this recipe has chocolate and tahini too, it’s way different. I’ve used before a different type of natural sweeteners which is date. Here we are using pure honey instead.

This chocolate baked oatmeal is out of this world, I just can’t find words to do it’s justice. The luscious creaminess of tahini and chocolate, the light oatmeal crispiness are in harmony and yet they are rich, and its gives you a high satisfaction, reward and comfort.

Tahini and chocolate combo is heavenly and you are missing a lot if you never tried it! And tahini makes extra indulgent desserts and I wanted to make another recipe with it, especially after I made these tahini mousse cups and they were so good too!

So in the first time, I started with the oatmeal base, and I baked it.  Raw oatmeal base is easy to do, but actually the baked one, is the next level of taste.  Then I poured tahini and honey mix over the baked layer. Everything went as planned so far, my heart started to sing, and I started to visualize the final products, and I couldn’t wait to taste it.

Then After less than 10 minutes, I checked the oven, and my dreams started to shatter in front of my eyes! The tahini layer looked weird, brown from the edges -actually caramelized- and started to crumble a bit in the center, and when I pulled out from the oven to check, that was the surface only! Means its still runny underneath a thin layer of brownish tahini.

I was sad and almost devastated, what a loss of pure honey and tahini, my time, my dreams…Everything!

I lowered the heat, and kept it in the oven for another 10 mins, kind of worked after that, and it’s got thicker and better, but it looked horrible, and almost the same color as the oatmeal base and kind of all thing had the same brownish color.

I was frustrated, I pulled it out from the oven, and left it on a rack to cool. After that, I cut a piece to try it, and here was the bomb! It tasted amazingly delicious! But so much of a concentrated taste of honey and tahini, and I felt it needed something to break this intensity. I left it on the counter for later. The smell of caramelized tahini stayed fresh for 2 days, and it was a pure pleasure to smell it, while I was working on the laptop near the crumbled tahini bars.

I wasn’t sure, what do next about the recipe, I thought of making granola. But oh , it’s so outdated. And actually, it’s not what I want, I love crunchy stuff but I would love more a creamy texture. And that’s when I thought of adding chocolate to the tahini layer, and maybe some toasted nuts for extra crispness, and yes I was right!

Tahini

I’ve talked a lot about tahini  here on the blog.  It’s a sesame seeds butter, that is a popular spread in the middle east .  So I grew up having tahini more in savory dishes than in sweets. Think Hummus, kofte bel tahini (meatballs with tahini ) Mudamas potato, (Arabic style mashed potato) and much more!

Here are some of the health benefits of tahini:

• Sesame seeds has good amounts of calcium, copper, and Vitamin B1
• It has polyunsaturated fats, and antioxidants.
• It can lower cholesterol, and can decrease risk of CVD in diabetic patients

When I was in the states, I used to use Ziyad brand for tahini, which is really good. Now when I’m back to the middle east, and there are so many options, I found . Al Nakhla (the palm) brand to be the best, you can buy it here 

Chocolate

It has known from the ancient times, since the Mayan, and Aztec civilizations. They found the beans, fermented them, roasted them, and grinned them into a paste. It’s Much likely the way the factories do with cocoa beans today.

It has many natural and chemical compounds that is good for you health:

• Tryptophan which is a essential amino acid . It plays a major role in serotonin production (a hormone has a significant role in balancing mood).
• Flavonoinds : In this study they found that cocoa enhance mood, but there is no effect on better cognitive ability. Even in this article of cocoa health benefits the researchers suggested that cocoa may have a role in prevention, or treatment for weight loss, cancer, allergies, and mood enhancing All of that is, because cocoa has compounds that effect neurons also, because of antioxidants contents. 
•  Polyphonylic compounds  : In this review cocoa has a potential role in  protection from cancer,its damage the free radicals interfere with the initiation and progression of cancer cells.

I used chocolate in few recipes on the blog, dark chocolate mostly, check them here  

If you made this recipe , I would love to see your creation, please tag me @Nutrizonia on Instagram and Facebook too, and use the hashtag #Nutrizonia

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Yield: 9 squares

Tahini & Chocolate Oatmeal Bake

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients

• Base* :
• 1 Tb tahini
• 2 Tb coconut oil
• 2 Tb pure honey (use real maple syrup for vegan version)
• 100 g rolled oats
• Filling:
• 76 g Chocolate , I used 70% ( you can use vegan chocolate too for vegan version)
• 150 ml tahini
• 1 Tb cornstarch (optional)
• 50 ml pure honey$$
• 1 tsp of tahini for garnish, swirled into the chocolate layer**
• Glaze***

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven at 160C , 320 F.
2. Grease the square baking dish 8*8 with 1 tsp of coconut oil
3. In small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the base.
4. Press the oatmeal firmly into the baking dish, and bake for 5 mins only.
5. Remove from the oven, and keep it aside until its cool.
6. While the pan in the oven, boil water in small pot, and put over it a glass bowl.
7. Add chocolate to the glass bowl with 1 tsp of coconut oil.
8. Melt chocolate on low heat until its completely melted.
9. Remove from the stove, add let it cool on the kitchen counter.
10. In another bowl, add chocolate, honey, and then add the cooled chocolate.
11. Pour the mix on the baked oatmeal, and put in the oven on 140 C, 285 F for 45 mins
12. Remove from the oven, when the chocolate layer is firm, and not giggly.
13. Cool on a rack, then refrigerate for few hours, or overnight, then cut it in squares or slices and enjoy .
14. You can add toasted nuts for garnish and extra crispness.
15. Keep in the refrigerator up to 1 week, if you can resists!.

Notes

* You can double the amount of base, if you love a thick crust, and you want more like bars
$$ If you want this recipe to be vegan you can use real maple syrup as a substitute for honey, but the taste won't be the same.
**Optional : For garnishing with tahini, before baking, add 1 tsp of tahini gradually by dripping mostly to the chocolate layer , then swirl it with a tooth pick or a fork,

***The glaze you see, it's just a mix of 1 part honey 2 part tahini glaze. It's just for the photo, as the bars don't need extra flavor, but you are still free to add it of course