nut free chocolate spread

Never in my wildest dreams could I have ever imagined having chocolate sandwiches as a child.  The fanciest we ever got was sprinkle sandwiches better known as fairy bread.  On the days that I opened my lunch to find sprinkle sandwiches, I thought all my Christmas’s had come at once.  In my book they bet marmite sandwiches hands down!  Our older school-aged children prefer salad wraps or filled rolls over a basic sandwich but thankfully our littlest is still easily pleased in the lunch department and after going through the various spread stages of marmite, jam and peanut butter he now favours chocolate spread. 

I started making nutella a year or so ago using an assortment of nuts as the base but now that our little one is at a kindy with a nut free policy I’ve had to substitute the base yet again to make it allergy friendly.  Enter nut-free chocolate spread.  I’ve used both sunflower butter and tahini to make a nut-free version and both go down a treat. 

This chocolate tahini spread is a cinch to make and is just as delicious as it’s namesake, if not more so, and those tears and tantrums that ensued over not being able to take chocolate sandwiches to ‘school’ are now a thing of the past.  I’m scoring big brownie points here people!

Nut free chocolate spread

Ingredients:
1 cup tahini (I use unhulled)
4 Tbsp coconut oil
4 Tbsp hot water
4 Tbsp cocoa
4 Tbsp maple syrup (or sweetener of your choice)
pinch of salt
splash of vanilla

Method:
Simply mix all ingredients together until well combined and smooth.  Store in the fridge. 

Notes:
-This recipe is easily adapted to suit your tastes.  It can be sweeter, more or less chocolatey, thicker or runnier depending on how much syrup, cocoa, water and coconut oil you use.  Play around and find your perfect balance. 
-Recipe can be easily halved.
-This spread is perfect for icing a cake with or for using as a dip with fruit.