Chocolate Almond Sesame Halva

Since seeing how popular my first Raw Sesame Halva recipe has become I have been intending to make a chocolate version. But there's nothing like a food craving to actually propel me into action. I didn't have enough sesame seeds on hand to make a worthwhile batch, so I used almonds to make up the difference.

I also added maca powder for even more superfood goodness and a bit of finely ground coffee beans for an extra kick which sent the taste over the top into the heavenly realm. The base of this recipe is quite simple – sesame seeds, almonds and honey. Around that you can be a bit flexible with the ingredients. If you don't have raw cacao powder (raw chocolate) you can use unsweetened cocoa powder instead. The coffee and maca, or other superfood powder can be left out and it's still delicious. I'd also like to try this using spirulina as the superfood powder ingredient, though I might start with only a teaspoon to make sure the taste won't overpower the rest.

The result was delicious, and I think I actually prefer this half almond, half sesame variant over the original. Try it and let me know what you think.

3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
3 Tablespoons almonds
1 Tablespoon raw cacao powder
1 Tablespoon superfood powder (e.g. maca, mesquite, lucuma, optional)
1 Tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon finely ground coffee (optional)
pinch of Himalayan sea salt
pinch of allspice (optional)

Grind the sesame seeds and almonds to a fine meal. I used a coffee grinder on the fine/espresso setting and it did a beautiful job. But you could also use a high-speed blender or food processor instead.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with fingers, fork, or wooden spatula/spoon. The honey will bind everything together. So keep mixing until all the dry ingredients have been blended into the honey making a stiff dough. Break off small pieces of this ‘dough' and roll into balls between the palms of your hands. Rolling into balls will bring out the oil in the sesame seeds, and that's why these are so shiny in the photos. No oil was added, it's all from what the sesame seeds naturally contain.

Eat immediately or refrigerate to make them a bit firmer.