Halva Cookies or Easy Tahini Cookies
These halva cookies often referred to as tahini cookies are melt in your mouth delicious. Unlike traditional halva cookies, these are based on my butter cookie recipe and use grated pistachio halva, before being baked until golden and delicious. These make great gifts during the festive holidays or to serve with a cup of tea of coffee.
Buttery Halav Cookies, Best Halva Cookies, Tahini Cookie Recipe, How to make Tahini Cookies
What is Halva?
Have you heard of Halva? Well, if you are middle eastern or associated with Middle Eastern cuisine then you probably know what Halva is.
Quite simply Halva is a Middle Eastern confection made of sesame flour and honey. There are many many flavors and variations now. And it can be added to many many different desserts. I have Pistachio halva here today. You also get almond, caramel, pecan – yup.. lots of different variations. Of course, you can always get the classic plain halva too.
One of my favorites is – Over Vanilla Ice Cream. Yes, just place two scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream in a bowl and grate a generous amount of Sweet halva over it. Yum!!
Buttery Halva Cookies, Tahini Cookie Recipe, Middle Eastern Buttery Halva Cookies Recipe
Not your traditional halva cookies
These are Halva Cookies but they are not traditional Nope! They are even better!! Based on my butter cookie recipe.
Unlike traditional halva cookies where you add tahini and honey in the cookie dough, I prefer to use already prepared halva. I then grate these into small pieces and carefully add them to my cookie dough. I barely incorporate the halva so the cookie dough tastes like cookies with a burst of this delicious sweet halva in between. Told you there were better!!
Buttery Halva Cookies, Tahini Cookie Recipe, Middle Eastern Buttery Halva Cookies Recipe
Buttery Halva Cookies or Tahini Cookies (Save/Pin)
Tools
- Mixer – Kitchen-Aid / K-Mix /
- HandMixer
- or just a whisk will do too
- Bowl
- Wooden Spoon
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- Oven
Buttery Halva Cookies, Tahini Cookie Recipe, Middle Eastern Buttery Halva Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter – 169 grams (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
- Eggs – 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
- Sugar – 200 grams (1 cup)
- All purpose flour – 330 grams
- Halva – 1 cup (any variety nuts or plain )
- Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
- Baking powder – 1 tsp
- Salt – 1/2 tsp
This is what store bough Halva looks like
Method
Prepare
- Sift all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Grate the halva and set aside.
Make dough
- Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add egg and egg yolk.
- Followed by the vanilla.
- Add flour and combine well.
- Gently fold in the grated Halva. You want the halva to just be incorporated, not rubbed in.
- Divide dough into two discs and wrap in plastic or cling wrap.
- Let rest in the fridge for an hour or until the dough is firm enough to roll.
Roll cookies
- Roll one disc at a time just like you do with butter cookies.
- Cut cookies using a 3-inch cookie cutter or any desired shape.
- Place them on a parchment lined cookie tray.
Bake cookies
- I prefer to chill my cookies, in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking them.
- Preheat the oven at 180 C / 360 F.
- Bake at cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes – Baking time will differ with the thickness of the cookies.
Storage
- These cookies will stay at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
- You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 4 days, Or
- You can freeze the dough for up to 2 months – thaw in the fridge overnight before you roll.
- This recipe can be halved or doubled successfully.
Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
Buttery Halva Cookies, Tahini Cookie Recipe, Middle Eastern Buttery Halva Cookies Recipe
Buttery Halva Cookies or Tahini Cookies
These halva cookies often referred to as tahini cookies are melt in your mouth delicious. Unlike traditional halva cookies, these are based on my butter cookie recipe and use grated pistachio halva, before being baked until golden and delicious. These make great gifts during the festive holidays or to serve with a cup of tea of coffee.
Ingredients - Choose (Metric or US Customary) below
- 169 grams Unsalted butter
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 200 grams Sugar
- 330 grams All purpose flour
- 1 cup Halva nuts or plain
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Instructions
Prepare
-
Sift all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
-
Grate the halva and set aside.
Make dough
-
Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
-
Add egg and egg yolk.
-
Followed by the vanilla.
-
Add flour and combine well.
-
Gently fold in the grated Halva. You want the halva to just be incorporated, not rubbed in.
-
Divide dough into two discs and wrap in plastic or cling wrap.
-
Let rest in the fridge for an hour or until the dough is firm enough to roll.
Roll Cookies
-
Roll one disc at a time just like you do with butter cookies.
-
Cut cookies using a 3-inch cookie cutter or any desired shape.
-
Place them on a parchment lined cookie tray.
Bake cookies
-
I prefer to chill my cookies in the fridge for 15 minutes before baking them.
-
Preheat the oven at 180 C / 360 F.
-
Bake cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes. Baking time will differ with the thickness of the cookies.
Storage
-
These cookies will stay at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
-
You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 4 days, or
-
You can freeze the dough for up to 2 months - thaw in the fridge over night before you roll.
-
This recipe can be halved or doubled successfully.
Do you like Middle Eastern Food? Israeli Food?
I have some amazing recipes like quick Sheet Pan Shawarma Chicken and <ahref=”https://veenaazmanov.com/quick-homemade-shawarma-chicken/”>Shawarma Pita Pockets to Heart Healthy Classic Hummus and Tahini Sauce as well as indulgent falafel and Passover favorite Chocolate Pecan Cake to summer classics Kebabs and festive latkes. You can find them all here Middle Eastern Recipes. Alternatively you can find a whole list all all my recipes here on this Recipe Index
Middle Eastern Recipes or Israeli Recipe Collections
Love Cookies? Me too! You may like to check out some of my other cookie recipes.
Or Click here to see a Recipe Index of all recipes on my blog.
Must have cookie jar recipe collection by Veena Azmanov
I didn’t know what halva was but I do now. The cookies look fantastic and I think they’d be great to make at Christmas time. We love tahini and I’m looking forward to making a batch. I’m always learning something new with your posts!!
Thanks, Marisa. If you like tahini you will love halva. It’s the sweeter version of tahini but in a block. So glad you like my posts.
This is a great idea for my breakfast! Its fantastic! YUM! This looks so delicious!
Thanks Mahy. Absolutely great anytime.
I’ve never worked with halva before, never heard of it actually, but I love the flavors you’ve described in using it and can see why it’s a favorite. I think these cookies look spectacular!
Thanks Jenni, if you love tahini you will love halva. Halva really is so delicious.
Darn I wish I saw this before I tossed my sesame paste. I bought it and had no idea what to do with it! I used it to make eggplant with baked. These sound perfect. The jar got very old and I didnt know how long to keep it. Next time at least I will have another recipe to try it out on thank you
Oh nooo. Halva is so delicious. You can even grate it over vanilla ice cream!! These are delicious. You must try these next time.
I absolutely love discovering beautiful recipes from different cultures! These Halva Cookies look so delicious. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe one day next week.
Thanks, Denay. I think you will love these.