The many options for cooking with tahini, as well as its health benefits, were discussed here . Now I want to talk about tahini’s sweet side.
Tahini, a hulled sesame seed paste, is the key ingredient in sesame halva. This popular type of halva is made from a mixture of cooked tahini, sugar and soapwort, that’s known in the Middle East as halva root (shish al halwah, in Arabic). By the Way, the U.S., halva is usually made with egg white powder instead of the soapwort root, since the root was not approved by the FDA until recent years.
The process of making real halvah at home is too complicated and time consuming, but you can easily make a halva-flavored spread by mixing 1/2 cup tahini with 1/3 cup water and 1-2 tablespoons honey or date syrup (silan). Adjust the thickness of the spread by adding more tahini or water as needed. This healthy spread is great in sandwiches for school lunches or as a snack.
Another quick use for sweet tahini is drizzling it over ice cream together with date syrup or honey, as in this recipe.
In baking, tahini adds moistness and a chewy character to cakes and cookies, as in this Tahini, honey and date cake and tahini cookies, Israel’s national cookie.
