Salted Tahini + Fig Jam Fudge
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE desserts with tahini in them. Or any form of sesame in a dessert. You could honestly put honey + toasted sesame seeds on anything, and I would rave over it. One of my favorite desserts is Halva—a Middle Eastern confection made with tahini. It’s this decadent, flakey, sweet, nutty candy that literally melts in your mouth like cotton candy—and its sugary-sesame flavor is unbelievable.
Today, I’m bringing you a somewhat healthier dessert inspired by halva. It’s definitely more of a nut butter-based fudge, but it has all of the halva flavors packed into it… plus a few extra ones for fun.
I’ve been loving dried figs lately, in both sweet and savory dishes. I’ve been adding them to salads, oatmeal, and I even made some chickpea + fig tacos the other night that were insane. I added them to this tahini fudge—and I’m so glad that I did. The tahini mixture purely by itself is heavenly, but the extra fruitiness and squeeze of lemon from the fig “jam” sandwiched between the fudge layers definitely helps cut the richness from the tahini and coconut sugar.
I use coconut sugar a lot in desserts because:
It’s super low on the glycemic index and won’t spike your blood sugar as much as white sugar
It has tons of health benefits, minerals, and nutrients in it
And most importantly, its flavor is amazing! It tastes like sugar that has already been caramelized and adds an almost butterscotch like caramel flavor to anything you put it in.
It also works perfectly in this recipe because dark, caramel, and maple flavors really bring out the nuttiness of the tahini. You can always sub the coconut sugar for more maple syrup, but I love the crunch from the little sugar crystals that float in the fudge from a granulated sugar. You can also sub it for white or brown sugar.
Then top it off with a little flakey sea salt to bring out all of the flavors and keep them in the freezer for whenever you want a sweet snack! I used Merlot Sea Salt from The Tea & Spice Exchange because I was out of flakey salt.
Salted Tahini + Fig Jam Fudge
15 pieces
Tahini Fudge:
1 cup tahini paste
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbs. coconut sugar
2 tbs. maple syrup
pinch salt
Flakey sea salt for topping
Fig Jam:
2/3 cup dried figs + 3 thinly sliced figs (to make 15 slices)
1 tbs. coconut sugar
2 tbs. lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 tbs. coconut oil
pinch sea salt
Mix all of the tahini fudge mixture together except for the flakey sea salt. Pour 1/2 of the mixture into a 4x6 glass dish and freeze until solid. In the meantime, blend the fig jam ingredients together to make a paste in a blender or food processor, leaving out the thinly sliced figs for topping. The paste doesn’t have to be completely smooth - a few fig chunks are good!
Once the first tahini layer is frozen, spread the fig jam over it, leaving about 1/2 inch of space between it and the edge of the dish. Pour the rest of the tahini mixture on top and spread to evenly coat the top of the jam layer. Make sure it spreads to the outer edges and fills in the space left around the border. Gently press the sliced figs into 3 rows of 5 and top with flakey sea salt. Freeze until completely solid and cut into 15 pieces. Keep in the freezer, each pieces individually wrapped, for up to two weeks.
