Sesame Halva Biscuits: Flavours of the Middle East
Recipe for crunchy sesame halva biscuits which really do taste like Middle Eastern halva. Only they’re not as tooth-achingly sweet.
When I first visited Egypt at the age of seventeen, I was already addicted to halva. An ancient and ubiquitous Middle Eastern sesame confection. My mother acquired the taste on her youthful travels and from time to time, whilst I was growing up, she managed to find an occasional box of it. I’m not quite sure how she achieved it in the remote and craggy reaches of Cornwall.
Our tiny boxes were completely put to shame by the massive tubs of halva I found in Alexandria and they were so much cheaper too. I lugged one home with me and and it lasted us an entire year.
Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds are the main ingredient in halva, other than sugar and they account for its rich and oily nuttiness. They’re an excellent source of copper, calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, antioxidants and polyphenols. They’re said to help alleviate or even prevent rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, high blood pressure and colon cancer.
Guess what? Sesame seeds are a superfood – well I never. As an advocate of whole foods, I always use the unhulled variety as the nutrient density is much higher as is the fibre content.
Halva Biscuits
Nowadays I find halva far too sweet, my mother does too. But in memory of our former passion, I made her some sesame halva biscuits to go in her Christmas stocking last year. They’re quick and easy to make and I’ve been promising myself I’d make another batch soon But somehow it hasn’t happened yet.
Tahini and honey are such strong tastes, a little goes a long way. These Middle Eastern flavours combined with ground almonds and just a little cocoa powder really did the trick. I coated mine with a mixture of black and white sesame seeds for an interesting contrast, but I couldn’t actually tell the difference in taste. Crunchy, but with a sort of similar texture and taste to halva, they were absolutely delicious. Luckily my mother thought so too.
Other Biscuits Reminiscent Of Halva
- Chocolate tahini cookies via Nadia’s Healthy Kitchen
- White chocolate halva flapjacks via Tin and Thyme
You can find more Middle Eastern inspired recipes in my Flavours of the Middle East series. And I have heaps of biscuit recipes too.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these sesame halva biscuits, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
For more delicious and nutritious recipes follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard or Pinterest. And don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to my weekly newsletter. Or why not join the conversation in our Healthy Vegetarian Whole Food Recipes Facebook Group?
If you’d like more tahini recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Sesame Halva Biscuits. PIN IT.
Sesame Halva Biscuits – The Recipe
Sesame Halva Biscuits
Ingredients
- 65 g unhulled sesame seeds
- 25 g black sesame seeds
- 75 g golden caster sugar (I used cardamom sugar)
- 125 g unsalted butter softened
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp dark tahini (made from unhulled sesame seeds)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 75 g wholemeal flour (whole wheat)
- 75 g plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 25 g ground almonds
- 15 g cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch fine sea or rock salt
Instructions
- Toast 40g of the unhulled sesame seeds. either by dry frying in a pan or by baking in the oven for 3-5 minutes at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4). Leave to cool.
- Cream the butter, sugar and honey together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the tahini and vanilla extract.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and mix in together with the toasted sesame seeds until all is incorporated.
- Cover and leave in the fridge or a cool place to firm up.
- Place the black and white sesame seeds onto separate plates. Roll the dough into small walnut sized balls and then roll in either the black or white sesame seeds to coat.
- Place a little apart on a lined baking tray and flatten slightly.
- Bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 8-12 minutes until they are firm and golden, but not brown.
- Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then place on a baking rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Sharing
Love is in the Air for Treat Petite this month. Whilst these sesame halva biscuits were not made for romance, they were very much made with love in mind. So I’m sending them off to The Baking Explorer and Cakeyboi and United Cakedom who is hosting this month.
These sesame seed cookies also go to Helen at Casa Costello for #BakeOfTheWeek.
Too sweet!! Never!! Well, I can’t comment because I have never had a Halva Biscuit, but I would like too! I have always liked sesame seeds and don’t use them enough in my cooking and baking! Thank you for sharing them with this month’s Treat Petite!
Thanks Lisa. Have you never had actual halva? It’s not a biscuit and it really is very sweet, but well worth trying.
I may have the most horrific sweet tooth but even I appreciate when a recipe has reduced sugar. Thanks for sharing these – most timely as we have a huge jar of tahini open! Thanks also for joining in with #Bakeoftheweek New roundup now open x
Thanks Helen. I have a sweet tooth too, but I still don’t like things to be overly sweet – if that makes any kind of sense.
I adore tahini and love the idea of baking it into biscuits. The different colour sesame seeds look fab too!
Thanks Natalie. I realised after saying I’d not had it in biscuits before, that I made some flapjacks with it a few years ago. They were fab, so I’m not sure how I forgot about them – eek!
I agree Halva can be rather sweet, but the idea of a biccie which is flavoured with its base ingredients sounds lovely. Fab recipe Choclette!
Thanks Kate. This recipe is definitely a keeper and would be a great way to finish off a Middle Eastern feast with little cups of coffee.
These look interesting – think I’ll have to give them a go!
They are interesting Cathy, but also quite delicious – as long as you like sesame seeds of course.
Why have I never heard of Halva before? These sound incredible!
Indeed Sus, where have you been hiding all these years? 😉
oooh, these sounds so good. I love halva but haven’t had any for years… there’s a lovely little healthful shop in our local town that sells it and i’m going to make a special visit this weekend to get that wonderful taste! or I could make your biscuits…
Oh make the biscuits Dom – go on!
Superb! As you may now I’m crazy about Middle Eastern flavours. Take a look at our pistachio halva ice cream if example… I’m so gonna try thes, but with agave cos of being vegan. Thanks
Oh yes, your pistachio halva ice cream sounds delicious. Middle Eastern flavours are definitely up there as one of my favourites, if not the top spot. Agave, or better still maple syrup would be fine.
I really love tahini, so think I will really love these. I’ve never tried baking with it funnily enough so think it’s time I started.
It’s one of those flavours that go equally well with sweet food as with savoury Jemma. Give it a try.
I adore both black and white sesame in desserts. Your halva biscuits look really crunchy and delicious!
Thanks Daphne. I’ve only recently started using black sesame seeds, though I have been a fan of white ones for a very long time.
Looks delicious – I love halva though I don’t think I ate it til I was an adult – though I agree it is really sweet. But now I want some. And I really love the sound of these biscuits – especially if they are not too sweet.
All this talk of halva has made me want to try it again too Johanna. In Egypt they used to eat it sandwiched in flatbreads, that took some of the sweet edge of it, but I never really took to eating it that way.
I love tahini and sesame seeds! And these biscuits look incredible! Would love to try one, or a dozen!
Haha Diana, thank you. A virtual dozen are now flying your way 😉
I don’t really know halva very well even though I have tasted it years ago. Need to give it a re-try!
It’s delicious, but very rich and sweet, so a little goes a very long way Heidi.
I love sesame seeds, tahini and anything related to them 😀 I add tahini almost everyday to my porridge for some sesame goodness. Sesames are such an underrated food! These halva cookies sound so delicious! I can guarantee I would inhale the whole batch in a second 😀
Thanks Nadia. I know some people add tahini to their porridge and I keep thinking I ought to try it, but much as I love sesame I can’t quite bring myself to do it.
Halva is too sweet for me, too, these days. These sound like a marked improvement! 🙂
Thanks Rachel. It’s quite astonishing just how much sugar I could take when I was a wee lass.
These look really delicious I bought some halva in Cyprus and we are still eating it 6 months later.
Haha Nayna. Is that because you don’t really like it or are you savouring it like we used to do?
How much butter ?
Not sure yet whether I’m going to try these. I was tempted because you’ve done such a nice job with how they look ! But I am not very keen on the taste of tahini. Once every five years I buy a jar and try one or two recipes and after that the jar disappears in the back of the kitchen cupboard. I love to sprinkle sesame seeds on salads though, or add some to a bread dough.
Eek, butter is a rather crucial ingredient. Glad you spotted its absence and thanks for letting me know. Does this mean you are not a fan of hummus?
No, not really a fan of hummus, but if the recipe is good I will eat some in combination with a delicious piece of bread.
It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but one the West has recently embraced with gusto. I remember how surprised I was the first time I saw it for sale in a supermarket.
Lot of interesting combinations in the biscuit. They look nice and crunchy.
Thanks Mukta, they were delicious.