Tahini and Halva Brownies | Ottolenghi

There is a story behind the tahini and halva brownies. It starts with Seed + Mill at the Chelsea Market in New York city. It is my favorite place to stop for a special treat. The Arabic word halwa, meaning sweet, is one of the tastiest confections I love and crave. Seed + Mill is a women-owned artisanal maker of sesame products. They also sell freshly ground tahini at the store.

They make the halva desserts by mixing tahini (sesame butter) with sugar at high temperature while hand stirring in with some creative and unusual flavors. Since there are so many flavors to choose from: white chocolate, pistachio or cardamon, I’d be standing in front of the store paralysed by indecisions. So I have to get the fix by starting to make my own.

I first lay eyes on the tahini and halva brownies when I see it in Yotam Ottolenghi’s Sweet. I have no clue what halva is. After I discover tahini and halva at Seed + Mill, I don’t really need much convincing. Although I have to admit, for one reason or another, baking brownies is an infrequent occurrence in my kitchen. Moreover, the biggest hurdle has more to do with sourcing halva. However, with Amazon and the internet, nothing is off limits.

The halva comes in a can and it’s like a dense block of butter and sugar mix. It tastes like soft sesame candy and falls apart easily with a fork. In addition, tahini is becoming my pantry essential. Now I’m ready to make the tahini and halva brownies.

First make the chocolate sauce by melting the chocolate and butter over a bain-marie. In a stand-mixer bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the chocolate mixture and fold through gently.

Next, add the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder and salt) and fold into the chocolate mixture. Finally, incorporate pieces of halva in the batter until they are roughly combined. Pour the batter into the lined baking pan. Dollop small spoonfuls of tahini paste into the mix. This is more of a decorating step to create a marbled effect than anything else. Be bold and take the marbling right to the edges of the pan.

The bake time is about 23 minutes. It’s more fluid in terms of baking time than I expect. Afterall, it’s a balancing act between having the batter cooked and maintaining a slight wobble and gooeyness inside. It’s reassuring that the brownies firm up quite a lot once they start to cool down. Be forewarned that it may seem a little undercooked.

The cooking time is crucial if you’re to get the desired balance between cakey and gooey, but it can vary depending on both your oven and where you put your brownie tray. The difference between a cooking time of 18 and 22 minutes can be significant, so do stay alert.

On Ottolenghi’s website (but not in the book), walnuts are added to the brownies. By and large, I’m all for it. Walnuts is a healthful and desirable ingredients we should eat more of. Besides, a little crunch goes a long way to add some texture to the brownies. It’s all good!

Print Recipe

Tahini and Halva Brownies

Serves: 20 brownies

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch or 2-cm cubes
• 250g dark chocolate (70-75% cocoa solids), broken into 1 1/2-inch or 4-cm pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 250g caster sugar
• 120g all-purpose flour
• 30g Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 130g walnuts, lightly roasted and roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 150g halva, broken into 3/4-inch or 2-cm pieces
• 70g tahini paste

Instructions

1

Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Quarter-fill a small saucepan with water and place on a high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and sit a heatproof bowl on top of the pan, making sure its base does not come into contact with the water. Put the butter and chocolate in the bowl, leave for about two minutes, to melt, then remove the bowl from the heat and stir until you have a thick, shiny sauce. Set aside to come down to room temperature.

2

In a large stand-mixer bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy, and the whisk leaves a trail behind it – about 3 minutes with an electric whisk, longer by hand. Gently fold the chocolate mix into the eggs – don’t overwork the mix. Then fold in the flour, cocoa, walnuts and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

3

Finally, add the pieces of halva, gently fold through the mix. (Don't worry of leaving chunks of halva in the mix.) Pour into a 9-inch square or a 12x8-inch baking tray lined with parchment paper and spread out into an even layer.

4

Use a spoon to insert tahini into the brownie mix in about 12 places, then use the back of a clean spoon to swirl it a little through the mix – not too much: you want it uneven.

5

Bake for about 23 minutes, until the top is crisp and the middle still has a slight wobble and is gooey inside: check after 18 minutes. The brownies may seem a bit undercooked at first, but they will firm up as they cool down. Set aside for 30 minutes and cut the baked brownie into 20 pieces and serve warm-ish or at room temperature (and not quite so gooey).

Notes

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/tahini-and-halva-brownies