Halva Swirl Brownies

For some time now I had in my head that I wanted to make a brownie that involved halva, that delicious Middle Eastern sesame confection. I researched. I pondered.

And then when I got a jar of the brand-new Soomsoom Foods Tehina, I knew it was my sign to go for it. What I loved about using this particular sesame paste was the super smooth consistency, easy pour-ability and also the fantastic plastic container. Much less messy or tricky to open than the metal cans!

I used this recipe for Nutella Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies from Lovin’ in the Oven as the inspiration for my recipe.

While I chose to sprinkle the halva pieces on top of the brownies, you could also mix them into the brownie batter itself, or make a double batch of the brownies and do a layer of brownie filled with the tahini-cream cheese filling. The possibilities are endless.

Want to make this “semi-homemade” or pareve? Use some tried-and-true store-bought brownie mixmix and mix as directed. Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips to batter, and sprinkle 1/2 cup crumbled halva on top for another variation.

Halva Swirl Brownies

Ingredients

For the halva-cream cheese layer:

5 oz cream cheese

2 Tbsp butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp flour

½ cup tahini

For the brownie layer:

¾ cups flour

1/3 cup Hersheys Special Dark Cocoa

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

¼ cup butter, softened (1/2 stick)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

1/4 cup chocolate chips

For the top:

¼ cup – ½ cup crumbled halva pieces

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line an 8 x 8 baking pan with cooking spray.

For the brownie layer:

Sift flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt and baking powder into a medium sized bowl.

In a small bowl cream the sugar and butter together until smooth, add eggs one at a time, beat well then add vanilla.

Fold egg, sugar, butter and vanilla mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread 3/4 of the brownie batter into the bottom of an 8 x 8 baking dish.

For the halvai-cream cheese layer:

Cream together butter, sugar and flour. Add cream cheese and mix/blend until smooth.

Scrape bowl and add the egg and beat until light and creamy.

Scrape down bowl again and add the tahini. Beat one minute or until the tahini is mixed into the cream cheese mixture completely.

To assemble:

Randomly dollop the tahini-cream cheese topping over the brownie batter. Dollop the remaining brownie batter on top.

Sprinkle halva pieces on top. Swirl the topping together into batter using a butter knife.

Bake at 350 for around 40-45 minutes.

Allow to cool and cut brownies into squares.