Halva حلوى شامية Sesame Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

A twist on one my favorite baked goods – these Halva Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk cookies are so special. Halva also known in Libya as “حلوى شامية” or “حلوى” in majority of Arab countries is made out of sesame paste that’s mixed with hot sugar syrup to form this dense candy. When you eat it, the texture of the halva is slightly aerated and melts in your mouth. It is a staple in the middle east and I grew up eating it ( and still do this now) every night during ramadan ( an Islamic Holy Month where you fast from sunrise to sunset) to break my fast. I would open a date in half and place a piece of pistachio halva inside and it is so GOOD!

brown Butter, halva, chocolate chunks, sesame seeds

The combination of the brown butter, bitter sweet gooey chocolate, halva and sesame seed coating just creates such a complex flavor profile. I used pistachio halva which has a hint of orange blossom water in it and that really enhances the flavor of the cookie. It is hard to explain the flavor, it is just really unique. Especially if you are Arab, South Asian or Persian and you are very familiar with flavor of halva, this cookie meshes two culture food classics: chocolate chip cookie ( American) and halva ( Middle eastern). You better believe I will be making these cookies during every holiday- it is just a really COOL chocolate chip cookie. It is a cookie that will IMPRESS anyone.

Some of the ingredients you will need

Pistachio Halva حلوى شامية

Brown Butter & Sugar

Semi-Sweet & Dark Chocolate Chunks

Sesame SEed coating

Baked for 12 – 14 minutes. I like my cookies chewy and gooey chocolaty in the middle.

Halva Sesame Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Print Recipe

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 13 minutes mins

Servings 15

Ingredients

• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup crumbled pistachio halva
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1&1/2 cups chopped semi-sweet and dark chocolate You can do a combination of milk, dark and semi-sweet. Also, you can adjust the amount of chocolate according to your preference.
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup raw sesame seeds you are going to use this to coat the cookie dough balls
• 1 cup unsalted brown butter

Instructions

• In medium saucepan, brown 2 sticks of butter. Make sure not burn it so keep an eye on it at all times. When the butter gets golden that means it's ready.
• In a large bowl, pour the brown sugar, granulated sugar, brown butter and stir well. Doing this will help to cool the butter before adding the eggs.
• Then add one egg at a time and whisk until fully incorporated.
• Add the salt and sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Fold the flour into the wet batter until fully incorporated and try not over mix.
• Add the chopped dark, semi sweet chocolate and halva and fold everything into the dough.
• Using an ice cream scooper, scoop some of the dough and then roll the dough ball in some sesame seeds and then place it on a large baking pan. Continue this step until you have to no dough left.
• Place the baking sheet in the freeze for 1 hour.

  TIP: I recommend you chill the cookies for 12-24 hours. The complexity of flavors really develop with time, the flour absorbs and the cookie really becomes so much better.
• Preheat oven 350 degrees.
• When ready, place 4 cookie dough balls at a time about 2 inches apart. The cookies will spread so you want to give them as much room as possible.
• Bake the cookies for about 12-13 minutes. Halfway through baking, I like to top the cookies with additional crumbled halva. Try not to over bake the cookies because they will continue to bake while they are cooling down.
• These cookies are best enjoyed warm. I suggest baking the amount of cookies you will eat that very same day and storing the reaming cookie dough balls in the freeze. Enjoy!