Sugar Free, Dairy Free & Low Carb Halva. 0.5g net carbs per serving.
Halva is a fudgy, dense, flaky and sweet confection that is extremely popular in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
My keto-friendly version takes 5 minutes to create, is wholesome, and tastes incredibly like the sugar-loaded original.
After my recent post on how to make a super-simple Tahini two-ways, I was itching to create a keto-frendly Halva. The trick was finding the right ingredients to replicate the dense and crumbly structure of traditional halva. The first batch was too oily. The second was better but not crumbly. The third was a success. And I’m absolutely chuffed with the result. If you’ve ever tried classic halva, you’ll be able to judge for yourself how close this healthified version actually is.
With two types of Tahini ready and waiting, I just had to make two types of Halva. A traditional one, made with sesame seed tahini. And a pumpkin seed version. Both to die for. Although I’m partial to the pumpkin Halva version, it’s down to individual palate.
How To Make Easy Sugar Free & Low Carb HALVA
If you crave a candy that’s healthy, low carb, sweet but not sickly, that crumbles and melts in your mouth, halva ticks all the boxes.
It is also extermely simple and easy to make. The ingredients you need for this exotic candy are: tahini, erythritol, coconut flour, a lemon, xanthan gum, vanilla extract, liquid stevia, water and a pinch of salt. As for equipment, you only need metric weighing scales (as always) and a pot. 5 minutes is all it takes – so no lengthy cooking, either.
The halva mixture does require prolonged chilling, so my advice is to make it ahead of time. Don’t be in a hurry to taste it – just like a good cheese, halva needs to ripen and mature so that the characteristic flaky texture can develop.
This recipe and macros are for simple halva (N.B. photos show sesame seeds halva with a few pistachio nuts added in). You can easily customise halva by adding nuts, seeds, chocolate, coffee, spices, or any other flavourings that you fancy experimenting with. Just remember to add the relevant macros to those I’ve reported in the recipe.
Enjoy!
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Sugar Free, Dairy Free & Low Carb Halva
Equipment
Ingredients
- 100 g erythritol (U.S. option HERE)
- 15 ml (1 TBSP) lemon juice
- ¼ tsp xanthan gum (U.S. option HERE)
- 1 pinch fine Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
- 40 g water
- 12 drops vanilla liquid stevia
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (U.S. option HERE)
- 140 g tahini or use my QK Tahini recipe
- 10 g coconut flour (U.S. option HERE)
Instructions
- put water, salt, lemon juice, erythritol and xanthan gum in a small saucepan, whisk and bring to the boil over medium heat.
- whisk often, and turn heat off after 3 minutes, by which time the mixture will have thickened.
- stir in vanilla extract and vanilla liquid stevia, then use a spatula to incorporate the tahini and sifted coconut flour.
- line a small glass tray or container (the one I use measures 15cm x 10cm / 6" x 4") with non-stick baking paper and transfer the mixture into it.
- press the halva mixture down evenly, then let it cool completely before transferring it to the fridge.
- after 24 hours, remove the halva from its container, cut it into 8 equal pieces and either serve it or return it to the fridge for further curing.
Notes
Nutrition
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I’ve made this with 2x the almond flour instead of coconut (recently discovered I’m allergic) and it was even better than when I did it with coconut. However, now I’m needing to avoid Erythritol because I’m got an elevated stroke risk and it makes your platelets sticky. I guess I have to give this up since I see you can’t replace the sweetener with Allulose? I’m so bummed. I can’t do coconut sugar obviously. I wonder if Allulose monkfruit blends can make something similar, perhaps less flaky and more like sesame fudge. I’m going to try it next time.
Yes, Michal, give it a try with allulose and other blends that you can tolerate. The texture will definitely change, as those don’t crystallise like erythritol does, but you may actually like the overall result.
I have a quick question: can erythritol be substituted with Lankanto monk fruit, which is a combination of monk fruit extract and erythritol?
Hi Dawn. You may need to adjust the quantity to achieve your desired sweetness, but other than that, I can’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work in the same way.
Hi want to try your recipe. But, I’m allergic to coconut flour. Do you have any substitutes for this?
Hi, you could try defatted, fine almond flour, but I’ve not tested it, so I have no idea how it would affect the texture.
I love halva. Can’t wait to make yours. Can erythritol be substituted for liquid stevia? I have powdered & granular, if one is better. Any idea how much? Thanks.
Hi Gerri, no, sorry, substituting sweeteners is OK most of the times, but you need erythritol for this one. Reason is that it creates the dry, grainy texture the recipe requires.
Thank you for explaining. Sorry for the delay. I didn’t get notice you answered, though I checked the box to receive.
Halva was my favorite as a child. Excited to see your recipe! I don’t have liquid stevia. How much powdered stevia cab be substituted, if this can be substituted? Thanks,
Hi, yes you can replace the liquid stevia. I only add it to augment the sweetness without using excessive erythritol, and to inject a bit of extra vanilla flavour. You can replace those 12 drops with 1/8 tsp pure stevia powder (more if you use a stevia blend) plus an extra 1/4 tsp vanilla extract. Or leave it out altogether.
I did my best to create a low-carb halva that is as close to the real thing as possible. Hope you like it!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I love halva very much but I do not want to consume all the sugar.
I added some honey flavour drops, roasted almonds and I think I am in halva heaven.
You’re very welcome!
I love halvah and can’t wait to try this. Can you help out an American who is clueless with using grams for measurement?
For the liquid, is that fluid grams? The dry ingredients are by weight?
Hi Sara, there’s no such thing as fluid grams. They are separate measures.
However, as I’m so very fond of using the least number of tools and reducing unnecessary faffing/washing/clearing up ;D, I often weigh fluids instead of pouring them into a measuring jug to determine the liquid volume. Accuracy remains, but the scales do all the measuring. So yes, the halva recipe is all in grams (weight) – just pop the pan over your scales, add each ingredient, resetting to zero between each item, and voilá. The lemon juice ml value is just there to help Europeans who may not have a spoon measure.
Hope this helps. I’m here if you need anything else clarified. x