Salted Halvah Chocolate Chip Cookies

Amarante

Fri, Oct 02 2020, 10:53 am

When I saw this recipe I had to make it immediately Very Happy

I am that odd person who likes halvah as I remember my mother getting us one from the counter as a treat when shopping but also because my father claimed he almost married the Halvah Princess (or Heiress) of Brooklyn. I am not sure what or who that might have been but he always brought it up when we were eating halvah so halvah is my equivalent to Proust's Madeleines and brings my mind's eye immediately back to my childhood and lovely memories. Smile

And these cookies are delicious by the way. Like any cookie, they freeze well and you can even freeze the dough in balls and then cook one or two at a time to avoid temptation. Or keep the dough refrigerated as suggested.

The technique of refrigerating the dough for chocolate chip cookies is one that was "discovered" several years ago and does produces a great cookie. I have made more traditional chocolate chip cookies using this method.

Salted Halvah Chocolate Chip Cookies

Excerpt From: Grinshpan, Eden - Eating Out Loud : Bold Middle Eastern Flavors for All Day, Every Day: a Cookbook

Makes 12 to 14 cookies

It’s hard to improve on a chocolate chip cookie, but then I discovered that when you bake bits of halvah—a dense, flaky tahini confection—on top, it turns into caramelized marshmallow sesame heaven.

1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
⅓ cup tahini paste
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup small chunks of halvah
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

1 In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, kosher salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

2 In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer or a spoon), mix together the butter, tahini, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and airy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined. Reduce the mixer speed to medium, add half the flour mixture, and mix to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix to combine, scraping down the sides with a spatula, if necessary. Use a spoon or spatula to fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight. (You can actually do this up to a week in advance!)

3 Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

4 Using your hands, roll a golf ball–size piece of dough into a ball for each cookie. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and push down a little on each ball to flatten it slightly. Place a couple little pieces of halvah on top of each cookie and gently press them into the dough. Sprinkle with the sea salt.

5 Bake until the cookies are lightly golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week

Amarante

Tue, Oct 13 2020, 10:54 am

rivkam wrote:

Sounds so good! Love an israeli recipe! Do you have this recipe book? I'm tempted to buy it

I have it in digital format - if you are interested PM me. Smile

In terms of recommendations, I think the best thing to do is to look at a cookbook before committing - preferably at the library or in person at a book store - which is hard to do in these COVID days.

In terms of this specific book, it depends on what kind of recipes you like. This book is Middle Eastern but in more of a fusion sense as it takes Middle Eastern flavors and ingredients and incorporates them in unexpected ways.

It isn't a kosher book but in general one can just ignore recipes that can't be modified - for me besides the obvious shrimp dip, a not specifically kosher cookbook would include recipes for which butter or dairy integral to the final result. So most of my cookbooks aren't "kosher" but contain recipes which are suitable for a modern kosher family - if I am making sense. Smile

To clarify, I don't mean this specific book - I just mean any cookbook that isn't specifically kosher will contain many recipes which are easily adapted if necessary for a kosher family as well as a few which can't be. It doesn't take much to convert chicken broth to vegetable broth in a dairy recipe (for example) or using oil or a good plant based "butter" to sauté. There are even some good substitutions for some cream based recipes. However, some recipes are too reliant on butter as a flavor or sour cream or yogurt for the sauce and the substitution wouldn't work - at least not for me so I just move on as there are so many recipes that don't suffer from using substitutions. Sadly for me that eliminates a lot of wonderful cakes and cookies since there is nothing as delicious as a butter based cookie or cakes so I reserve those for parve or dairy meals Very Happy

Or Joan Nathan has several truly "Jewish" cookbooks including King Solomon's Table which is Jewish cooking from many different countries including truly unexpected ones like India.

Ottolenghi has a number of Mediterrean cookbooks which have created somewhat of a passionate following as well including Jerusalem which was his first cookbook and created his following. He owns a restaurant in London.

If you want a kosher modern Israeli cookbook, you might check out Sababa - The Israeli Soul Cookbook by Rinah Malka.

Or check out Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors From My Israeli Kitchen: A Cookbook by Adeena Sussman [/color]which I have and made some good stuff from. She is also more of a fusion cookbook writer as she is an American food writer who lives in Israel so she does interesting recipes which incorporate some western stuff like Green Goddess Dressing with more typical Israeli ingredients and preparations. I also have this one in digital format - if you are interested, PM me.

Here is the Amazon blurb for Adeena Sussman's cookbook

We should all be cooking like Adeena Sussman."
--The Wall Street Journal

"Sababa is a breath of fresh, sunny air."
--The New York Times

In an Israeli cookbook as personal as it is global, Adeena Sussman celebrates the tableau of flavors the region has to offer, in all its staggering and delicious variety

In Hebrew (derived from the original Arabic), sababa means "everything is awesome," and it's this sunny spirit with which the American food writer and expat Adeena Sussman cooks and dreams up meals in her Tel Aviv kitchen. Every morning, Sussman makes her way through the bustling stalls of Shuk Hacarmel, her local market, which sells irresistibly fresh ingredients and tempting snacks--juicy ripe figs and cherries, locally made halvah, addictive street food, and delectable cheeses and olives. In Sababa, Sussman presents 125 recipes for dishes inspired by this culinary wonderland and by the wide-varying influences surrounding her in Israel.

Americans have begun to instinctively crave the spicy, bright flavors of Israeli cuisine, and in this timely cookbook, Sussman shows readers how to use border-crossing kitchen staples-- tahini, sumac, silan (date syrup), harissa, za'atar---to delicious effect, while also introducing more exotic spices and ingredients. From Freekeh and Roasted Grape Salad and Crudo with Cherries and Squeezed Tomatoes, to Schug Marinated Lamb Chops and Tahini Caramel Tart, Sussman's recipes make a riot of fresh tastes accessible and effortless for the home cook. Filled with transporting storytelling, Sababa is the ultimate, everyday guide to the Israeli kitchen.

I will leave you with a cauliflower recipe from Eating Out Loud - I think it represents the kind of recipe you might find - it's a bit of a sophisticated upgrade using some typically Israeli flavors. It's what I would call a fairly easy recipe for a competent home cook who enjoys cooking new stuff and whose family is willing to eat different stuff. I don't generally cook "restaurant chef" type of recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower with Date-Parsley Gremolata

Excerpt From: Eden Grinshpan - Eating Out Loud : Bold Middle Eastern Flavors for All Day, Every Day: a Cookbook

Serves 4

You could roast a whole head of cauliflower … or you could break it up into florets so that you get tons of crispy bits of tender, meaty cauliflower. Its deep, roast-y deliciousness is the perfect counterpoint to the sweet, herbaceous date-parsley gremolata. You are going to be blown away by how much brightness you get from the preserved lemon and how the dates balance the tartness with their dense sweetness.

Roasted Cauliflower
1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons kosher salt

Gremolata

½ cup chopped pitted Medjool dates (about 5)
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1½ tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon rind, store-bought or homemade (see this page)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1Roast the cauliflower: Preheat the oven to 500°F.

2In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower with the olive oil and salt. Spread the mixture on a baking sheet (or two—you want to make sure that the florets have room to breathe so that they get caramelized and crispy instead of steamed) and roast until the cauliflower is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

3Make the gremolata: In a medium bowl, mix together the dates, parsley, olive oil, vinegar, preserved lemon, garlic, and salt. If making this ahead, leave out the vinegar until just before you serve.

4 Scatter the gremolata over the roasted cauliflower and serve.