Halvah Shortbread

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 16
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 cups pastry flour
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans or 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
• 16 pecan halves or 16 walnut halves

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 375°f.
• 2 with a food processor, or by hand, cream the butter with the tahini.
• 3 add the salt and brown sugar. blend until smooth.
• 4 sprinkle in the flour, blending well.
• 5 mix in the chopped nuts. the dough will be very stiff.
• 6 lightly butter 2 7-inch pie plates or shallow baking pans.
• 7 press the dough to evenly cover the bottom and sides of the pie plates so that the thickness is not more than 1/4 inch.
• 8 press a few whole nuts into the surface to decorate.
• 9 bake the shortbread for 15 minutes and then check it frequently, every couple of minutes, and remove it from the oven as soon as the edges are golden brown.
• 10 be careful not to overbake.
• 11 while it's still warm, cut each shortbread into 8 or 10 wedges in the pan; don't wait until it's cool or it will crumble.