Tahini Shortbread with Salted Honey Chocolate Ganache

If you've ever made hummus at home, there's a good chance that you will have a jar of tahini at the back of your cupboard... and now is it's time to shine!

This is an Edd Kimber (aka The Boy Who Bakes) recipe, the winner of the first ever Great British Bake Off, and it's a cracker. The biscuits are deliciously buttery and crisp and the sesame flavour of tahini works wonderfully with chocolate. The ganache is, of course, rich with chocolate but this is cut through with the salt and honey.

Some substitutions: use any sugar(s), just make sure the total weight is 85g; use maple syrup, golden syrup or agave instead of honey; make this egg-free by using chickpea water for the topping or forget the topping altogether.

Tahini Shortbread with Salted Honey Chocolate Ganache
Makes 12

100g unsalted butter, room temperature
50g caster sugar
35g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
50g tahini
190g plain flour

Salted Honey Ganache:
50g dark chocolate (65-75% cocoa solids)
50g double cream
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt

Decoration:
1 large egg white (or some chickpea water)
sesame seeds

Put the butter and sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer, along with the vanilla and salt. With the paddle attachment beat together for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Alternatively, beat them together in a bowl with an electric whisk.

Scrape in the tahini and mix briefly to combine. Add the flour and mix briefly just until combined, you want to avoid over mixing at this point as the biscuits will come out tough. Tip the dough out onto a clean work-surface or a large piece of cling film. Use your hands to bring together into a uniform dough then form into a thick sausage shape, roughly 5cm thick. Wrap the log of dough in clingfilm and refrigerate for about 4 hours until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line two baking trays with parchment paper. Using a thin sharp knife cut the biscuits into rounds, about 4-5mm thick and place onto the prepared baking trays. Don't worry too much about the biscuits spreading, you can leave just a couple cm's between each cookie.

Lightly brush each cookie with egg white/chickpea water and sprinkle liberally with the sesame seeds. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on the baking trays.

For the filling place the cream, honey, tahini and salt into a small saucepan and over medium heat bring to a simmer. Make sure to stir this mixture regularly as the honey will sink to the bottom of the pan catching and burning quite quickly. Once at a simmer pour the cream mixture into a bowl with the chocolate and sit for a couple minutes before stirring together to form a silky smooth ganache. Set aside until thickened enough to hold its shape.

Spoon the ganache onto half of the biscuits, sandwiching together with a second biscuit. Over the time the ganache will soften the cookies so keep these in a sealed container in the fridge, where they will keep for up to four days.

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