Blood Orange Tahini Blondies

Dressed up, rich blondies with hints of blood orange zest and undernotes of tahini swirled through with a dark chocolate portion. The magical pairing of sesame and citrus brings a savoury note to these blondies, balancing out the sweetness.

Little bits of blood orange bake on top for bright bursts of flavour through each bite of these swirled blondies. Barely more work than a regular dark chocolate brownie but with so much flavour.

These blondies start with a base of tahini batter. Like all good blondie and brownie recipes, the secret to getting that perfect crust on top is to fully dissolve the sugars in the liquids – in this case the eggs. It is very important to beat the eggs and sugar together until very pale and no longer grainy to the touch. This is going to provide most of the structure and lift (theres only that tiny bit of baking powder to help it along).

Dividing the butter. It may be tempting to add all the butter in one go in this recipe, but keep to the instructions. You know I will never add extra steps if they aren’t important. In this case it’s because tahini is a fat in itself – so when you add it with some of the butter you are still adding plenty of oil. The chocolate portion of the batter needs extra butter or it will be heavy and sticky. Chocolate does contain some fats, but a good quality dark chocolate (60-70% is great) will weigh down the batter and be cloying – unless you lighten it with extra butter so it becomes a ripple of chewy brownie.

Feel free to brown the butter if that makes you happy. This recipe already has a lot of flavour going on, but don’t be afraid to add more. Brown butter and flaky salt on top are both great additions.

Blood orange vs regular oranges. Any type of orange works in this recipe. Blood oranges will provide the most dramatic colour when placed on top and have a deeper, almost savoury flavour. But navel or valencia oranges also work (navel are preferred due to fewer seeds), or even mandarins. Mandarins will have the sharpest citrus flavour.

Print Pin

Blood Orange Tahini Blondies

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, California

Keyword bars, blondie, brownie

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 9 large pieces

Ingredients

• 10 tbsp /145g unsalted butter divided, melted
• ½ cup /120ml tahini
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup /200g granulated sugar
• ½ tsp /2g baking powder
• ¼ tsp /2g salt
• 1 ¼ cups /150g all-purpose flour
• 1 large blood orange or regular navel zested + peeled and cut into small pieces (About 1 tbsp/6g zest)
• 2 oz /56g dark chocolate melted
• Sesame seeds to top optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F/175 C. Line an 8”x8”/20cm x 20cm baking pan with parchment.
• Beat eggs and sugar together until pale and ribbons form.
• Add in tahini and 4 tbsp/60ml melted butter. Beat until smooth.
• Fold in flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Separate out 1/3 of batter into a smaller bowl. Add melted chocolate and remaining butter. Stir until smooth.
• In the larger portion, add the orange zest and stir to evenly distribute.
• Place alternating globs of mixtures in the lined baking pan, layering slightly. Swirl the mixtures together with a knife.
• Place a few chopped pieces of orange on top of the batter, pressing them in slightly. Do not cover the batter as the orange will release moisture.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the edges of the orange mix are slightly browned and a skewer inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
• Allow to cool completely before cutting.