I'm so excited about this month's Not Just Dessert collaboration with Tony's Chocolonely, sharing the story of slave-free chocolate through delicious desserts. We've partnered with Sqirl in LA who created this incredible Brownie Krinkle Whoopie Pie with Chocolate Tahini Buttercream. It's decadent, chocolatey, and the tahini and chocolate are a match made in heaven. Plus, it came with a side of sunshine and blue skies, which makes any dessert taste 10x better.
The collab with Sqirl and Tony's coincided with a food bloggers retreat in Palm Springs that took me down to Southern California. After the retreat ended, I headed down to LA to photograph the dessert at Sqirl and was joined by Sarah Britton, Eva Kosmas Flores, and Trisha Hughes. We shared an epic lunch together, where I fell in love with Sqirl's Crispy Brown Rice Kabbouleh. We ended the lunch splitting the whoopie pies and taking a million photos, aren't they something?!
It was a fantastic opportunity to spread the message of slave-free chocolate in the LA community and we were excited to work with owner Jessica Koslow and pastry chef Sasha Piligian. They've been playing around with the dark and milk chocolate bars and scheming up new ways to use them in the kitchen, including gluten-free hazelnut Tony Chocolonely cookies, which will be on the Sqirl menu Thursday, March 15 and Friday, March 16.
If you're not in LA, you can make this Sqirl creation inspired by Tony's Chocolonely slave-free chocolate at home: Brownie Krinkle Whoopie Pie with Chocolate Tahini Buttercream, recipe at the end of the post. Here's wishing you a side of sunshine and blue skies to go with the whoopie pie!
Krinkle Whoopie Pie with Chocolate Tahini Buttercream
Ingredients:
½ cup canola
1 ¾ cup sugar (390g)
4 oz Tony Chocolonely's dark milk chocolate
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup AP flour (139g)
¾ cup rye flour (59g)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp black cocoa powder (or regular cocoa)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp kosher salt
powdered sugar for rolling
Buttercream ingredients:
2 egg whites
½ cup sugar
Pinch salt
2 oz Tony's Chocolonely milk chocolate
2 Tbsp white sesame tahini
In a double boiler melt dark chocolate and have ready.
In a mixer with paddle attachment, mix the sugar and oil until combined. Stream in melted chocolate. Add eggs and vanilla one at a time. Mix until combined. Add all dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mixture will resemble brownie batter.
Put batter in refrigerator at least 30 minutes - 1 hour until firm. Roll into desired ball size. Roll cookie ball in bowl of powdered sugar. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.
To make buttercream, add egg whites, sugar, and salt in a heat proof bowl. Heat over a double boiler until sugar is dissolved and warmed through. Mix in stance mixer with whisk attachment on high speed until meringue forms and bowl is cool to the touch. Add butter slowly scraping bowl. Once butter is fully incorporated, add melted chocolate and tahini. Salt to taste.
This post was created in partnership with Tony's Chocolonely. All thoughts and opinions are my own.