I was in Seattle this past weekend visiting my best friend. We celebrated her birthday, explored the city, and were so happy to be reunited after a crazy 2.5 months of not seeing each other.
The great thing about a best friend (or any really good friend for that matter) is that you can pick up right where you left off and 2.5 months can seem like it had only been 2.5 hours. We all need people like this. People who get you when you don’t make sense, who support you when you’re feeling a little unstable, who laugh with you at stupid things that no one else things is funny, and who make you amazing Powerpoint weekend itineraries. It’s just the best.
Amiright?
Alongside of having a best friend and group of people you can forever count on, it’s also good to have chocolate.
And chocolate gets even better when it comes in this guilt-free tahini brownie bite form.
These little friends are made of a chia seed egg, oats, salt, cocoa powder, tahini, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and almond milk. This is why we can call them friends; no bad influences in sight.
I know that chocolate and peanut butter is like the ultimate BFF combo, but the mix of chocolate and tahini is pretty dern good too. Plus, they are vegan and can easily be made gluten-free, if that is what you need.
These bites will be there for you when you need a mid-afternoon snack or a post-dinner dessert. They are perfect for moments when you aren’t quite ready to indulge, but are craving a sweet treat that won’t wreck your week.
This is a good friendship to have.
Plus, they are easy to make! You just throw everything into a food processor and let it whiz away for a bit. Divide the batter into a 24-cup mini muffin tin and bake for 8ish minutes. Then eat, enjoy, and go meet up with your friends.
They will stay fresh in an air tight container for a few days, but you can also store them in the freezer. I love topping mine with a little bit of tahini, but almond and sunflower butter tastes great too.
So yeah, these tahini brownie bites are guilt-free and good friends to have!
And now some Seattle pictures.
We kicked off our Saturday with brunch at Tallulah’s and then went on a hike around Rattlesnake Lake. From there we belted out some karaoke at Rock Box, ate dinner at Tin Table, and had ice cream at Molly Moon’s.
On Sunday we grabbed coffee at Stumptown (!!), walked around Pike Place Market, ate some chowder, and enjoyed a beer at Fremont Brewing. Then it was time to part ways and go back to Denver. Weekend over. Sigh.
But you know what? It was exciting to fly back into Denver. I’m still getting used to the fact that I live here now, not Minneapolis. So strange! I like it 🙂
- 3 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
- 1 cup old fashioned oats (gluten-free if needed)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ⅓ cup tahini
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ⅓ cup tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons almond milk
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a mini muffin tin.
- In a small bowl, stir together the water and chia seed meal. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.
- Add the oats and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the oats reach a flour-like consistency, but there can still be some bigger pieces.
- Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add 2-3 tablespoons of almond milk if the batter seems thick.
- Divide the batter evenly between the mini muffin cups, about a heaping teaspoon.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, then let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
