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Chocolate Halva Buns

2020-08-17

I just love cinnamon buns or rolls of any kind really. Jam rolls are freaking delicious too. So when Hebel & Co, a Los Angeles based “halvatier” offered to send us some of their delicious halva to try it in a new recipe, we couldn’t resist! And moreso, I knew we were going to have to incorporate it into a baked bread or bun of some kind! And what better pairing than chocolate and tahini.

If you’ve never heard of halva before, it is a sweet Middle Eastern dessert, usually made from tahini or pressed sesame seeds. It can be plain or sometimes it has chocolate or pistachios or some sort of other flavoring added to it. Either way it is delicious! I have eaten halva a lot growing up and still do, but the kind I remember most is a sunflower seed halva, which is pretty common in Russian households. I have never seen it sold in stores except for Russian stores, but you’ll almost always be able to find a sesame seed halva.

But I’ve always eaten halva just plain, sliced out of the container, and sometimes with tea. Then I started seeing people top desserts with it or even bake with it! That was crazy to me. But then again, I was only limiting myself. So we wanted to try out something new. I’ve been wanting to make chocolate buns for a while, but crumbling some halva into the buns before rolling them up proved to be amazing! Not to mention the tahini icing all over the top!

You can use any type of sesame seed halva for this recipe, but we used Hebel & Co’s chocolate chunk halva, which was absolutely delicious and went nicely with our chocolate filling. Plain or vanilla halva will also taste amazing.

We’re also big fans of baking in smaller portion sizes. This recipe makes about 7 chocolate buns in a 9” cake pan. So if you need more than that, you might want to double the recipe. But for the two of us, it’s the perfect amount!

So if you’re looking for something a little different than your regular cinnamon bun, give these a shot, they don’t disappoint. Especially if you eat them when they’re all nice and warm ☺

Serving Size: 7 buns
Total Time: 70 minutes

Ingredients

Dough

  • 2¼ cups flour + more for rolling
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup warm milk, dairy or plant-based
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Filling + icing

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks)
  • 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ½ cup shredded halva pieces
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 1½ tablespoons warm milk, dairy or plant-based
  • ½ tablespoon tahini
Instructions

Dough

  1. 1. Pour the milk into the bowl of a stand mixer and add sugar and the yeast. Stir together to dissolve and leave to rest for about 5 minutes.
  2. 2. Add the melted butter and egg to the mixer bowl and mix together.
  3. 3. Add the flour and salt and continue mixing until a soft dough forms.
  4. 4. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough with your hands for a couple minutes until it comes together and is pliable. Roll the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Put it in a warm place to rise for about an hour or more until it doubles in size.
  5. 5. Remove the dough from the bowl and roll it out on a floured surface again using a rolling pin until it’s about a 11” x 7” rectangle. Use extra flour to prevent sticking.

Filling + icing

  1. 1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate chips together until smooth.
  2. 2. Mix in ½ cup of the powdered sugar, then add cocoa powder and salt and keep stirring until everything is well combined.
  3. 3. Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool completely before spreading onto the dough.
  4. 4. Spread the chocolate filling generously over the rolled out dough. Top with the crumbled halva pieces all over.
  5. 5. Roll the dough up starting with the longest side to get the longest length roll you can. If you did it right, it should be about 11” long, not 7” long! Make sure you roll the dough tightly without squeezing.
  6. 6. Using a very sharp knife, cut off the edges to get clean edges. Slice the dough into 7 equal pieces, taking care not to collapse the rolls.
  7. 7. Place them snugly in a 9” cake pan lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the buns to rise, for at least an hour or more.
  8. 8. The rolls should be puffed up and slightly touching one another. Place them in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees F, for about 25 minutes until the edges start to turn golden brown.
  9. 9. To make the tahini icing, whisk together the remaining ½ cup of powdered sugar with milk and tahini until smooth. Drizzle the icing all over the warm chocolate halva buns and serve.
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