Toasted Sesame & Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
Halva meets Ted Lasso in this cookie that could convince the most ardent shortbread skeptics.
Consider these the halva of shortbread. I developed them as a nutty-yet-nut-free cookie for my holiday collection this year, but I think they’d be appropriate for any occasion.
I have strong opinions about holiday cookies. For my taste, I want cookies that are not tooth-achingly sweet. I’d rather have buttery, nutty, spicy, or deeply chocolatey morsels. Usually, this desire means that I invite members of the shortbread family to the house, whether that’s the classic American spritz cookie, an Austrian Vanillekipferl, or a French sablé.
The best shortbread should give you the sense of rich butter held together with magic. It should shatter and melt and make a crumby mess. Shortbread can be summed up with a simple ratio: one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour by weight. That’s where this cookie started. To tenderize shortbread, I usually add a bit of cornstarch or rice flour. In this recipe, I swapped out the rice flour for freshly toasted and ground sesame seeds. The toasted seeds bring buckets of warm nutty flavor and keep the cookies tender. The chopped chocolate gives you hints of the classic (but severely overrated) peanut butter blossoms.
Instead of making these slice-and-bake cookies (which I bet you could), I went for thick British-style shortbread fingers (a la Ted Lasso) by pressing the dough into my trusty 9 x 9-inch square metal pan.
Toasted Sesame & Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
I got some halva from Seed & Mill and could not keep my hands off the Sea Salt and Dark Chocolate Halva. It’s ultra-nutty, with an undercurrent of pure chocolate and salt, plus that incredible, indescribable texture of good halva. I had to find a way to recreate those flavors for a new holiday cookie. However, this isn't just a holiday cookie: I want to make it all the time. I thought about using tahini, but it needed the toastier flavor and less-oily texture you can get with freshly toasted sesame seeds
100 g raw, hulled sesame seeds
227 g (2 sticks) good butter (salted or unsalted), like Kerrygold, at room temperature
133 g (2/3 cups) sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
280 g (2 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
90 or 100 g dark (60-75%) chocolate, finely chopped*
About 3 Tablespoons turbinado sugar
Big pinch of flaky sea salt
Put the sesame seeds in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until they smell deeply roasted and change to a the color of well-toasted bread. Transfer them to a plate to cool completely. Just before mixing the dough, pulse the seeds in a clean spice grinder or food processor until just powdery, about 2 to 4 one-second pulses in a spice grinder or about 10-15 pulses in a food processor. (If you over-grind the seeds, the nut oils will start to come out and the seeds will turn to clumpy paste, so err on the side of under-grinding.)
In a sturdy mixing bowl, beat together the ground sesame seeds, butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla until combined and creamy, but not light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes by hand or using a mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Add the flour and mix until just combined, but not overworked, scrape the bowl and spoon or beater, then add the chopped chocolate and mix until the chocolate just gets mixed in, no longer.
Press the dough into a lightly-buttered 9-inch square metal baking pan. Take your time to get the dough into a nice, even layer. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 300F with a rack on the upper-middle position. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and dock it all over with a fork. Using a bench scraper, score the dough into 18 rectangles (see photo below) and sprinkle generously with coarse turbinado sugar. The dough isn’t very sweet, so be generous! Finish with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Bake at 300F for 50-55 minutes, until just turning golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the sides of the tart pan and use a bench scraper or chef’s knife to cut the shortbread along the score marks. Doing this while the shortbread is warm ensures you won't shatter this crumbly cookie. Let cool for 20 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
These last for 3-4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
* I call for 90-100 grams of chopped chocolate because a quick scan of the good chocolate bars at the grocery store informed me that most bars are around 90-100 grams. I didn’t want someone to go and buy two bars when they only needed a bit of the second one. But then again, it’s always good to have extra chocolate around the house.
Happy Baking,
Martin
These sound fantastic
You had me at halva! Wow Martin, this sounds great!