Chocolate Tahini Cups with Miso

These are like the chocolate peanut butter cups of my youth but far more sophisticated. For one, the main ingredient is not sugar, rather it is dark chocolate. Another difference is that I wanted to use tahini which has a decidedly more savory and nutty flavor than peanut butter. Of course, I am rarely one to not add miso when I could have miso. If the old adage of “you are what you eat” is true then I suspect I am 5.2% miso… not too shabby for a condiment. 

Some advice: they might look set but they aren’t if you try to peel the muffin cup away and the chocolate sticks. Wait another hour. You’re almost there. I intentionally do a poor job cleaning the bowls so that I can have a pre-proper cup snack.

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Ingredients

• 235g (~1 ½ c) 70% dark chocolate chips 
• 125g (~½ c) tahini 
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 tsp white miso
• Finishing salt (See Notes)

Directions

1. Heat chocolate in a double boiler (I use a stainless steel bowl over a pot partially filled with water) over medium high heat until it is all melted. Set aside.
2. Set out small molds for the cups. Either paper or silicone is fine.
3. Add tahini, water, coconut sugar and miso to a small bowl and mix together. You should have a thick paste that you can loosely ball up. Set aside.
4. Pour about 1 tsp of chocolate into each cup. 
5. Ball up about 1 tsp of the tahini mixture and flatten slightly. Place in the center of each cup.
6. Pour about 1 tsp of chocolate into each cup so that the tahini is completely covered.
7. Sprinkle with finishing salt and set aside (preferably where you can’t see them) for about 2 hours or until set.

Yield ~22

Notes

• It’s really your call as to how much chocolate you are using and how much filling you have. If you prefer a serious bit of chocolate then perhaps start out with 2 tsp. If it is all about the filling for you then 1 tsp should be sufficient.
  
• Regarding the finishing salt, any ol’flaky salt will do. If you are feeling avant garde, then I recommend Umami Sea Salt from Oaktown Spice Shop. Who knew that a hint of mushroom enhanced chocolate so much?