By Sarah
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These little Tahini Bon Bons take just minutes to make, and taste like candy bars, even though they are secretly dates in disguise! Bonus: they’re nut free + gluten free!
Tahini Bon Bons
Growing up, I remember my mom often using the expression “sitting around and eating bon bons”—always in the sense that she was NOT sitting around! Gee, with 5 kids—I wonder why! It totally caught on, and I find myself telling Irving all of the time “oh yeah, I just sit around and eat bon bons all day, not busy at all.” Irving finally called me out on it and said that no one really says that anymore. But why not? Could we just sit around and eat tahini bon bons? Or at least eat them while we run around doing a million other things? I think we could.
Allergy Friendly
I follow along on the Facebook page What Fat Vegans Eat and a few weeks ago I saw one post after another about people stuffing dates with peanut butter and calling them a vegan snickers bar. I was intrigued, as we’ve been trying to reduce sugar, and it seemed like a fairly decadent treat, yet still pretty healthy. So I created my own version that is allergy friendly—nut free, gluten free, low sugar, paleo, vegan—the works!
Sweet caramel dates are stuffed with creamy cinnamon swirled tahini and dipped in chocolate. It doesn’t get any more decadent than that! And they are easy to make too! Just 6 ingredients!
Tahini
Tahini is my new go to nut butter replacement. I used it in my salted caramel granola a few weeks ago, and I have a new Mac and Cheese recipe coming up for you that uses tahini. I found a brand called Alexis that is nut free (many brands are produced on the same equipment as nuts, so be sure to check if you have a sensitivity to nuts).
I brought a plate of these tahini bon bons to my moms’ night in this week and they were snatched up quickly—everyone loved them! They have a more adult taste with the tahini, but are also really kid friendly. My boys really liked the few I shared with them!
Look how easy they are to make!
So, without further ado, Tahini Bon Bons. 6 ingredients. Easy prep. Delicious. When you make these, take a picture and postonInstagram,and tag me! I love to see what you make! {#frieddandelions // @frieddandelions}
Print Recipe
Tahini Bon Bons
These little Tahini Bon Bons take just minutes to make, and taste like candy bars, even though they are secretly dates in disguise! Bonus: they're nut free + gluten free!
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Total Time15 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Servings: 18 bon bons
Author: Sarah De la Cruz
Ingredients
- 18 dates
- 1/4 c tahini or other nut or seed butter
- 1/2 t cinnamon
- 2 t maple syrup
- 1 heaping c chocolate chips I like Enjoy Life
- 1 T sesame seeds
Instructions
Using a small paring knife, carefully slice each date lengthwise and gently remove the pit. Set aside.
Mix the tahini with the cinnamon and maple syrup (if you use another nut or seed butter you can probably get away with skipping the maple syrup, but tahini tends to be a little bitter on it's own).
Place the tahini into a small ziplock bag. Slice off a very tiny sliver of the bottom corner of the bag to make a quick piping bag. Squeeze a small amount of the tahini spread into each date, filling the space where the pit was. Gently squish the date back together (it does not need to close all the way.). Set the dates into the freezer to chill the filling and help them hold together while you get the other ingredients ready.
Place 1 T of sesame seeds into a dry skillet and toast over medium heat for a couple of minutes to brown them slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.
To melt the chocolate, you can either microwave in 15 seconds intervals and stir, or place them in a double boiler (heat safe bowl set over a pan with an inch of hot but not boiling water) over medium heat until they melt. Once the chocolate is melted remove the dates from the freezer. Place each date into the chocolate one at a time and turn to coat. Remove from the chocolate and carefully set on a piece of parchment paper, trying to set it down as directly as possible to avoid making a "foot." Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Repeat with all additional dates, keeping an eye on your chocolate—not too hot, not too cool. Once all dates are dipped place them in the freezer to let the chocolate set. Store the set dates in a sealed container in the fridge to keep the chocolate from melting.
Remove from the fridge just before serving! Enjoy!
Don’t forget to pin this recipe!
