I love a good halvah as much as the next Jewish girl.
My first encounter with sesame–flavored sweets was in my Grandma Sarah’s living room in Reseda. Oh, the good times. You could always count on Grandma for two things: to yell at you about not going to law school, and then to ply you with halvah. Eventually, I came to adore the nutty, earthy flavor of ground sesame, tahina (or tahini). Grandma’s sweets were a familiar comfort, a taste of family, and a nice filler for awkward pauses.
These days, I’m all in when it comes to halvah. On a recent trip to Israel I found blocks of the stuff larger than my head, sprinkled with pistachios, marbled with fudge —the sweet possibilities delighted my palate, although the sugar hangover was formidable.
Typically those thick blocks of halvah candy are packed with sugar. A recipe from a popular food website lists 1 1/2 cups tahina to 2 cups sugar. Yikes! So you can imagine our delight when we found this amazing No Bake Salted Tahini Cookie Dough Fudge from Ambitious Kitchen. It uses only 2 tablespoons of maple syrup as a sweetener, plus chocolate chunks, because, … well yeah.
Just a note: Unlike regular halvah, these squares need to stay cold to hold their shape, so don’t dawdle too long. And we love a good sprinkle of coarse salt on top!
Link to recipe: No Bake Salted Tahini Cookie Dough Fudge by Ambitous Kitchen.
