Sweet Sesame Superfood Snacks: Your Vegan Family

We were looking for an Indian sweet treat we could infuse with some superfood goodness while eliminating the peanuts (for our nut-sensitive friends).  This Sweet Sesame Superfood Snack is a twist on the Indian Tilgul recipe for sweet sesame-peanut balls, and a vegan Greek pasteli. 

Our recipe experiment was turning out to be a fail for us because we didn't have the jaggery the traditional recipe called for. The coconut sugar wasn't melting. We added a bit of water but then the mixture wasn't holding together. In came the brown rice syrup and tahini to save the day. They were a pan full of chewy goodness, but we wanted some crunch. Ten minutes in the oven perfected the recipe. 

These sesame seed bars lasted about 30 minutes in our house! 

Bursting with sesame, flax, chia, cardamom, and coconut, these vegan Indian-fusion sesame bars are crunchy, sweet, and oh-so-good for you. They're a plant-based dessert you can feel good about eating!

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Toast the superfood seeds (sesame seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds) in a pan. Next, melt your sugar and heat until bubbly and dissolved. Add the Tahini and cardamom. 

Press the sesame bar mixture into a pan lined with oiled parchment paper. Trim the paper to the top level of the pan before baking. 

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Sweet Sesame Superfood Snacks Recipe

Prep

• 25 minutes prep
• Serves 8
• Suggested equipment: saucepan, mixing bowl, 8x8 baking pan, parchment paper. 
• Oven: 350 F

Ingredients

• ¾ sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp flax seeds
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds
• ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar plus 1 tsp water
• 1 tsp vegan butter
• 2 tsp ground cardamom (1 tsp if fresh ground)
• 3 Tbsp brown rice syrup
• ¼ cup tahini
• pinch of salt

Instructions 

1. Toast sesame, flax, and chia seeds in a pan over medium heat until the seeds start to pop and smell fragrant. Pour into a mixing bowl.
2. Toast the coconut in the same pan until it’s golden colored and fragrant. Pour into the mixing bowl with the seeds.
3. In the same pan melt the coconut sugar, water, and butter over medium heat until it bubbles and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the cardamom, brown rice syrup, tahini, and salt. Mix well.
4. Add the sugar mixture to the seeds and coconut. Mix until well combined.
5. Press the sesame bar mixture parchment paper into an 8x8 baking pan. Lightly oil it. Press the sesame mixture into the pan until it’s well-packed and smooth.
6. Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven. Picking up the edges of the parchment paper, carefully use it to lift the bars out and onto a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut the bars into squares. Let them cool.

Chef's Notes 

You can use cutouts to make these bars into fun shapes! Throw in some vegan chocolate chips for an extra special treat. 

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you have an article or recipe requests, let us know on our Facebook page: Your Vegan Family. While you're there, please like our page and share our posts!

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Written by Your Vegan Family 

Stacy and Markus live an adventurous vegan lifestyle and write articles about their experiences cooking global vegan cuisine, creating businesses, raising vegan kids, and traveling through more than 65 countries. They earned degrees in molecular biology and acupuncture, consulted over decades for healthcare companies and individuals, created businesses in Asian medicine, eco-tourism, cultural immersion, and taught yoga in myriad venues.

We’ve learned a lot from eating a plant-based diet for 25 years and are eager to share more with you. Learn more on our About Us page.

Vegan Sweet Sesame Superfood Snacks Recipe Grocery List: 

• vegan butter
• sesame seeds
• flax seeds
• chia seeds
• unsweetened shredded coconut
• coconut sugar
• cardamom
• brown rice syrup
• tahini 
• salt

Sweet Sesame Superfood Snacks Recipe Nutritional Analysis

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutritional calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. When exact ingredients are not available in this database, the closest substitution is made. 

Percentages are based on a 2,000 calorie daily diet for an adult. 

 * Some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. If you use them and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment. You will not be charged extra for this. Thank you for your support!