Yesterday, I found myself wandering through health food store, looking for a quick snack. There was the usual impressive fare of vegan and gluten-free goodies, individually wrapped and ready to melt in your mouth. But what started out as a “quick snack hunt” became a 15-minute long, infuriating label reading session (yes, I am that crazy person).

As much as I love sweet things, I’m always amazed by how much sugar is added to granola bars and cookies alike–even at the health food store. Most of the treats I surveyed contained over 10g of sugar per serving. I actually got excited when I saw that one cookie from a local company had “only” 9g of sugar–but then I realized that there were two servings in that single cookie. Ugh.

To be fair, a lot of these small companies were doing their best to create bars with unprocessed sugar like organic dates (as opposed to high fructose corn syrup)–but if you’re sensitive to sugar–sugar is sugar.

As yummy as everything in aisle looked, I sensed I’d have to whip up my own treat if I was going to avoid excessive sugar intake. (Trust me, I wish sugar played nice with my body, but too much sugar, and I turn into a shaky, broken-out mess! I mope about it sometimes (a lot), but the best fix is getting creative in the kitchen :)) Fortunately, I found solace in the baking aisle where I picked up a tin of pure cocoa and marched out the door.

Enter this vegan Sea Salt & Tahini Cocoa Spread. It’s not as cute as a scrumptious cookie, but oh, is it good! Serve alongside apples or flackers (flax seed crackers) for a quick, low-sugar treat.

Sea Salt & Tahini Cocoa Spread

Ingredients:

3 tbs. raw sesame tahini

1 tsp. cocoa

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

stevia to taste

coarse sea salt for garnish

Directions:

Combine tahini, cocoa, vanilla, and stevia in a small bowl. Garnish with coarse sea salt and serve. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Serving suggestion:

Photos: Mary Hood