Tahini Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

These Tahini Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies are SUPER fudgy and have delicious swirls of tahini and peanut butter evenly spread throughout. I’m even sharing a handy trick to get those swirls just right. And if you’ve never baked with tahini before, THIS is the recipe to start with!

peanut butter swirl brownies scattered on parchment paper

Why I love these super fudgy brownies

These Tahini Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies are seriously SO fudgy and soft! It took me quite a few tries to get these brownies just right but it was definitely all worth it in the end.

For starters, I’m using an annoying amount of butter here. I know, who uses 7 tablespoons?? Why not just use the whole stick? I hear ya. But that’s just what worked best to get these brownies just right!

Like many of my brownie recipes, I begin by whisking together the sugar and eggs until they get light and silky. This creates that super smooth and almost creamy texture.

Then, whisk in the 7 tablespoons of butter along with 2 tablespoons of tahini. I love adding this into the batter because it’s another ingredient that helps to make these super fudgy brownies. It also pairs well with the chocolate!

brownie batter for tahini and peanut butter swirl brownies

tahini and peanut butter for swirling into brownies

How to swirl peanut butter into brownies

The biggest struggle I have with making swirled brownies is getting an even distribution of the swirls. Sometimes you’re left with a glob here, a glob there, and some completely bare areas.

Lucky for you, I created a very simple solution to this problem! All you need is a ziploc bag and a toothpick.

Once you’ve mixed together your peanut butter, tahini, and powdered sugar, spoon it into a plastic bag and snip off one of the corners.

Pipe on some random lines and squiggles, like you see below, until you’ve run out of the tahini and peanut butter mixture. Make sure you’re distributing it as evenly as possible.

Using a toothpick, run it through the batter to create the swirls. Less is more here, so stop when your brownies look a little something like the picture below.

Now your tahini and peanut butter swirl brownies are ready to bake!

tahini and peanut butter swirled into brownie batter

What is tahini?

Tahini is toasted and ground sesame seeds. It’s creamy and a bit thinner than peanut butter. And just like peanut butter, there can be good and no-so-great tahini’s out there so make sure to purchase a good one.

What used to be a pretty obscure ingredient has now become a regular on grocery store shelves. More and more people are finding ways to utilize tahini in their savory and sweet recipes.

My favorite is by Soom Foods because it’s not too bitter and bakes really well. A couple other favorites include the Trader Joe’s tahini and the Whole Foods brand tahini.

The flavor of good tahini is nutty, rich, silky, and just slightly bitter and acidic. That’s why it’s grown in popularity as a baking ingredient because it compliments sweetness so well.

Ways to use tahini

If you can’t justify buying a jar for just one recipe, let me share with you just how much use you can get out of tahini! I use it in my Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, and in my Chocolate Hazelnut Tahini Brownies.

My favorite way to utilize tahini, besides baking, is to make homemade hummus. It’s so much more flavorful than store bought and you can adjust the spices to your liking. Here is the hummus recipe I really like.

You can also make delicious salad dressings with tahini. This is a super simple recipe for hummus sauce that I use on everything! Salads, grilled chicken, or as a dipping sauce.

It’s also just great to keep around when you see a tahini recipe pop up that you’d like to try. It keeps in the fridge for up to 6 months!

The best way to cleanly cut fudgy brownies

Since these peanut butter swirl brownies are super fudgy, it’s important to practice PATIENCE! Cutting into these brownies right away or while they’re still warm will just leave you with an ooey gooey brownie mess.

When you take them out of the oven, they might look a little underdone in the center which is exactly what we want. Then, pop the pan in the fridge on top of a cloth so you don’t damage your shelves.

This halts the baking process and brings down the temperature of your brownies much quicker… meaning less time you have to wait to dig into your brownies!

Once the brownies have cooled completely, about 1 hour, you’re ready to slice. A good test for this is to see how much the brownies bend when you left them out of the pan. If there’s too much give in the middle, they need to chill for a bit longer.

Using a large knife, make a clean slice down the middle with very little sawing or lifting motions as possible. Wipe your knife and continue to slice each of those halves in half. Continue again on the other end, remembering to wipe down your knife between each cut.

And there you have it! Perfectly sliced fudgy tahini and peanut butter swirl brownies.

a stack of fudgy tahini and peanut butter swirl brownies

FAQs

Can I use this swirl with boxed brownies?

Yes, and it will still be totally delicious. I do love this brownie recipe though, so I urge you to give it a go!

Do I need to keep tahini in the fridge?

I’ve always known to refrigerate it just so it lasts longer. You don’t HAVE to but I don’t use it enough to keep it in the cupboard so I store it in the fridge!

Can I skip the peanut butter in the tahini swirl?

You could but the tahini may be too thin. If it’s a nut allergy reason, I recommend swapping it with sunflower butter.

For more delicious brownie recipes, check out my:

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♬ Sunny – Boney M.