This new recipe is actually a combination of two different snacks: Tahini & Sesame Bark and Brown Butter Crispy Treats (adapted from Smitten Kitchen via Food 52). During the holidays, in addition to the roster of cookies he makes, Kyle whips up some type of chocolate bark and the Brown Butter Crispy Treats. During the strange holiday season that was 2020, a new idea came to light.
When Kyle when into the container that he stored both the Tahini Bark and the Crispy Treats in, a thought occurred to him. What if he could stack these two snacks on top of one another to see how they taste together? What were the results of this grand experiment you ask? Well, it was a deliciousness explosion. The nuttiness of the tahini in the bark and the brown butter in the crispy treats meshed well together, and the semi-sweet chocolate cut through the marshmallow sweetness of the crispy treats. In addition, the pop of sea salt on top added just the right salty touch, creating a treat that was simultaneously sweet and salty, nutty and chocolaty. It was crisp, chewy and crunchy – such a wide range of textures and flavors coming together for the most yummy treat possible.
This creation was way on top of Kyle’s to-do list for 2021. February seemed like the perfect time to introduce these Chocolate Sesame Crispy Treats to the world. These are perfect as a Valentine’s Day treat – a great way to share a homemade, chocolate snack with your special someone. Of course, if you are single or are just not that into Valentine’s Day, it is the perfect I-deserve-a treat type of snack. They are a snack that is good at any time and for anyone, delicious is always in season.
The goal was unifying the treats into a one recipe. Kyle decided to put the tahini in the crispy treats themselves, rather than in the bark layer (like in their original iteration). The nuttiness of both the tahini and the brown butter play so well together, it just made sense to include them in the same layer. In fact, they blended so well together, the the tahini wasn’t evident in the finished treats, the sesame, chocolate and brown butter primarily shine through. Kyle did consider doubling the amount of tahini in the second batch that he made.
Ultimately, he decided to leave the tahini alone because the tahini may not have been not super prominent because it married so beautifully with the other flavors. Why fix something that isn’t broken? If he increased the tahini in the recipe, it may have caused the other flavors to be off balance and end up having an overpowering taste.
The Crispy Treat layer gets a bonus bump of flavor from the addition of milk powder – Kyle’s favorite new flavor hack. In fact, Food 52’s Genius Dessert cookbook actually includes the milk powder hack in their recipe for Brown Butter Crispy Treats (where Kyle first learned about this incredible dessert addition), so, it would be somewhat of a dessert sacrilege not to include it in the recipe.
The chocolate bark layer very closely resembles our recipe for Milk Chocolate Sesame Bark, except that semisweet chocolate was used in place of the milk chocolate to better balance the added sweetness from the crispy treats. Kyle also cranked up the proportion of sesame oil to chocolate so that the sesame wouldn’t get drowned out by all the other flavors in the crispy treats. The same chocolate tempering trick was used when Kyle makes chocolate bark – melt about half of your chocolate in the bowl over a double boiler, then remove it from the heat and stir in the remaining chocolate until smooth.
This will yield perfectly tempered chocolate every time that won’t break (the dreaded fear of all chocolate temper-ers) and solidifies beautifully on top of the treats. This gives you a great Snap! when you bite into the dessert. With the combined Crackle! of the crispy treats and the Pop! of the flaky sea salt on top, all the original Rice Krispie mascots were properly represented in the Chocolate Crispy Treats.
Seriously, the hardest part of this recipe is waiting the hour or two for the chocolate to firm up before diving into the snacks. As hard as that may be, we highly recommend the wait. If you try to cut the crispy treats before the chocolate sets you will end up with a gooey, chocolaty mess.
Please don’t think we are speaking from experience when it comes to waiting for the treats to firm up, wink. Would we do that? Moving on, the flavors in these snacks are loaded with such complex flavors and textures you will want to make them for many a special occasion.
These treats are perfect for Valentine’s Day, or really, any day. They are packed with so many levels of flavor – so have a delicious time with these Chocolate Sesame Crispy Treats, I know I will!
- For the Crispy Treat Layer:
- 1 stick (1/2 cup or 115 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons milk powder
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 10-ounce (285-gram) bag marshmallows
- 6 cups (160 grams) crispy rice cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)
- For the Chocolate Sesame Layer:
- 1 cup (about 200 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 tseaspoon toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
- Coarse sea salt, for garnish
- Line an 8-inch square cake pan with parchment paper
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir frequently, as the butter melts, then foams, then finally start to turn brown and smell nutty, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do.
- As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn off the heat. Stir in the milk powder, tahini, and sea salt until the milk powder dissolves. Then, stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt the marshmallows, but if it is not, turn the heat back on low until the marshmallows are mostly smooth (I like to leave several large blobs of marshmallow in there, because they create some nice gooey streaks in the finished crispy treats).
- Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. Flatten the gooey mix evenly with a spatula or a buttered piece of parchment paper, pressing into the edges and corners. Let cool at room temperature.
- While the crispy treats cool, prepare the chocolate topping. Melt about ¾ of the chocolate (it doesn’t have to be exact) in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in reserved chocolate chips and sesame oil until the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Spread evenly over the crispy treats, then sprinkle the top with the sesame seeds and some flaky sea salt.
- Let cool until room temperature and chocolate has set, about 1 to 2 hours - you can speed up this process by popping the treats in the fridge for 30 - 45 minutes, but the finished treats are best served at room temperature. Cut into squares (I use a bench scraper to get cleaner, more even cuts) and store in an airtight container at room temperature.
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