With a layer of nutty, sweet, crunchy sesame brittle and a layer of rich dark chocolate flavored with creamy tahini, this sesame chocolate bark is the ultimate light dessert or snack. It's naturally vegan, easy to make, perfect to make ahead for holidays or special occasions, and not too sweet!
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🍫 Why We Love This Recipe
- So flavorful! This sesame chocolate bark is not your run-of-the-mill, too sweet dessert. The combination of nutty, crunchy sesame bark, velvety dark chocolate and flavorful tahini is SO. GOOD.
- Not overly sweet: This is a great recipe when you're looking for a change up from run-of-the-mill, super sweet desserts. You can also adjust this recipe to your desired level of sweetness by using different types of chocolate.
- Passive cooking: Most of this recipe comes together in the oven and the freezer, with minimal cooking involved. There's no chopping at all, and just a few dirty dishes.
- Allergy-friendly: this sesame chocolate bark is vegan, gluten free, tree nut and peanut free! Perfect for just about any dietary needs.
🍯 Ingredients
Here's everything you'll need to make this sesame chocolate bark:
📋 Ingredient Notes
- Chocolate: use semisweet or dark chocolate, depending on your appetite for sweetness/bitterness. The darker the chocolate, the less sweet and more bitter it will be. (If you're vegan, be sure to check the label for any sneaky dairy products!)
- Sesame seeds: If you have an allergy or just don't like sesame seeds, feel free to substitute the sesame seeds for finely chopped nuts of your choice (you can use a food processor) or sunflower seeds.
- Tahini: If you have an allergy or just don't like tahini, you can sub for a smooth nut butter of your choice. Cashew butter would be a perfect substitute.
- Agave: really any liquid sweetener would work well in this sesame chocolate bark. We also love using maple syrup. If you're not vegan, honey is also a great sub.
🔪 Step-by-step Instructions
(1) Preheat oven to 275˚F / 135˚C. In a mixing bowl, stir together the sesame seeds, agave, oil, and ½ teaspoon salt. Spread sesame seed mixture onto a parchment lined tray and bake for 23-25 minutes, rotating the tray once halfway through baking.
(2) Remove from the oven and let cool for 35-40 minutes at room temperature. Then place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
(3) Melt chocolate in a microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until fully melted. Whisk ¼ cup of tahini, cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon salt into the melted chocolate.
(4) Pour chocolate mixture over cooled sesame brittle, using a spatula to spread it into an even layer.
(5) Dollop about 1-2 tablespoon (total) of tahini in various places on top of the chocolate, then use a fork or knife to swirl. Sprinkle with more sesame seeds.
(6) Return to the freezer for 1 hour. Remove and cut or break into bite sized squares. Store in an airtight container in the freezer between layers of parchment paper.
🎥 Recipe Video
💭 Expert Tips and FAQs
- Let the sesame brittle cool completely: when you first remove the brittle from the oven, it may not look quite set. Don't worry! Once it cools completely, it will firm up and get super crispy. You can transfer to the fridge or freezer to speed this process.
- Tahini swirl optional: we love how the tahini swirl looks on top of this sesame chocolate bark, but feel free to skip that step if preferred. You'll still get plenty of tahini flavor since there's some mixed directly into the chocolate!
- Don't forget to line the baking tray with parchment paper! If you don't, the sesame bark will be very difficult to remove from the tray in one piece.
- How to break up the bark: As long as you use parchment paper on the baking sheet, you'll be able to easily remove the sesame chocolate bark easily. Transfer to a cutting board and use a large sharp knife to cut into shards. You can also slice into small squares if you prefer evenly-sized pieces. Alternatively, just use your hands!
- Storage: store between layers of parchment paper in the fridge or freezer. We don't recommend storing at room temperature. Since the chocolate has tahini mixed in, it will get soft pretty quickly if not stored in cool temps.
We prefer using hulled white sesame seeds in this sesame chocolate brittle, which are a bit softer and easier to chew. Black sesame seeds are typically unhulled, meaning their outer shell hasn't been removed. This makes them very crunchy and stronger in flavor.
Hulled sesame seeds have their tough outer shell removed and are best in this sesame chocolate brittle. It makes the brittle easier on your teeth and tastes a bit milder.
🍽 Related Recipes
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Print📖 Recipe
Sesame Chocolate Bark
- Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 10-14 Pieces
- Diet: Vegan
Description
With a layer of nutty, sweet, crunchy sesame brittle and a layer of rich dark chocolate flavored with creamy tahini, this sesame chocolate bark is the ultimate light dessert or snack.
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup hulled white sesame seeds
- ½ cup agave or maple syrup
- 4 tsp olive or sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 9 oz semisweet or dark chocolate
- ⅓ cup tahini, divided
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275˚F / 135˚C and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the sesame seeds, agave, oil, and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Spread sesame seed mixture onto a parchment lined tray and bake for 23-25 minutes, rotating the tray once halfway through baking. Remove from the oven and let cool for 35-40 minutes, until cool to the touch and crispy. (You can speed this up in freezer).
- Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring well between each interval, until fully melted.
- Whisk ¼ cup of tahini, cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon salt into the melted chocolate and pour chocolate mixture over cooled sesame brittle, using a spatula to spread it into an even layer.
- Dollop about 1-2 tablespoon (total) of tahini in various places on top of the chocolate, then use a fork or knife to swirl. Sprinkle with more sesame seeds.
- Return to the freezer for 1 hour. Remove and cut or break into bite sized squares. Store in an airtight container in the freezer between layers of parchment paper.
Notes
Let the sesame brittle cool completely: when you first remove the brittle from the oven, it may not look quite set. Don't worry! Once it cools completely, it will firm up and get super crispy. You can transfer to the fridge or freezer to speed this process.
Tahini swirl optional: we love how the tahini swirl looks on top of this sesame chocolate bark, but feel free to skip that step if preferred. You'll still get plenty of tahini flavor since there's some mixed directly into the chocolate!
Hulled vs. unhulled sesame seeds: Hulled sesame seeds have their tough outer shell removed and are best in this sesame chocolate brittle. It makes the brittle easier on your teeth and tastes a bit milder.
Agave: really any liquid sweetener would work well in this sesame chocolate bark. We also love using maple syrup. If you're not vegan, honey is also a great sub.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cool/Freeze Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Freezer
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Square
- Calories: 254
- Sugar: 12.1 g
- Sodium: 171.8 mg
- Fat: 18.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 20.1 g
- Fiber: 3.4 g
- Protein: 4.6 g
Jo says
Agree, this was wonderful and easy to make. Will definitely be ordering more of the needed ingredients to make it again. Thank you!
Linda says
This is absolutely, divinely delicious!! Can’t believe how easy it was to make. Yes, it must be kept frozen, but I got creative when taking it as a hostess gift. I took a small insulated bag and sandwiched it between two ice packs for the drive to my friends’ home. They LOVED IT!! Thank you, Crowded Kitchen, for helping me with creative, delicious baking and cooking ideas. Beth and Lexi, you rock!! Can’t wait to try another CK recipe.