A chewy-firm bar or ball of toasted sesame (benne) and ground peanuts bound with a little honey or sugar syrup. Seed-dense, mineral-rich, built like an ancestral energy bar.
Tanfiri sits in the same family as the Gullah benne candy of the Carolina Lowcountry — sesame brought directly from West Africa by enslaved people, who planted it in kitchen gardens and made it into wafers and candy. The benne seed is a literal seed of memory carried across the Middle Passage.
This is the snack APEX wants on the rack. Sesame (benne) is one of the densest plant sources of calcium and magnesium, peanuts add protein and heart-healthy fat, and together they deliver zinc and copper. Calcium and magnesium together support the blood-pressure regulation that Black Americans need most. The only weakness is the binding syrup, so keep it minimal and lean on honey or date paste. A small tanfiri bar genuinely earns its place beside the nuts and seeds, not the candy.
Toast sesame seeds until fragrant and lightly grind roasted peanuts. Warm honey or a little sugar syrup to soft-ball, stir in seeds and nuts, press flat or roll into balls, and let set. Keep the sweetener fraction low so the seeds and nuts dominate.
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