Snack · 20 min · greek

Tahini Halvas

Well-stirred tahini does the heavy lifting here, with sugar rounding it out. A Greek snack that takes 20 minutes, start to finish.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 2 cups Well-stirred tahini
• 1.5 cups Sugar
• 3/4 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Honey
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Toasted almonds
• 2 tbsp Cocoa powder

Steps

1. Simmer the sugar, water, honey, and lemon juice to 250°F — the firm-ball stage. No thermometer? Drop a bit in cold water; it should form a pliable ball, not dissolve and not crack.
2. Warm the tahini to lukewarm and stir in the vanilla; cold tahini seizes when the syrup hits it.
3. Pour the hot syrup into the tahini in a thin stream, stirring constantly in one direction. The mixture will suddenly thicken and pull from the sides — that is the halva setting, and it happens fast.
4. For the marble effect, drizzle in the cocoa mixed with a spoonful of hot water and fold twice only; overmixing turns it uniformly brown.
5. Press into a loaf pan lined with parchment, stud with almonds, and cool 4 hours until firm enough to slice. Cut with a hot, dry knife. It keeps 2 weeks at room temperature and the flavor deepens by day three.

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