Want candy that’s good for you? Consider halva. Made primarily from sesame seeds, the confection is an excellent source of minerals. (A cup of sesame seeds has more iron than a cup of broccoli.) There ...

It’s creemee season, and Bristol has a new way to enjoy Vermont’s favorite cool summer treat. As of June 28, Holy Halvah will offer swirls of vanilla or maple garnished with its maple-sweetened sesame ...

When the poor Persian woodcutter Ali Baba overheard the leader of a band of thieves stand before a cave and say “open, sesame,” it changed his life forever. Those magic words unlocked unimaginable ...

Rebecca Freedner grew up in the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., area eating bulk halvah from a health-food store her family frequented. “I loved it,” she said of the rich, crumbly-textured, sesame-based sweet.

Zoë Komarin's halva-topped chocolate chip cookies are perfumed with cardamom. (Portrait by Christina House / Los Angeles Times; cookie photo by Silvia Razgova / For The Times; food and prop styling by ...

We asked several L.A.-area pastry chefs and cooks to contribute their favorite holiday cookies. Each is a simple, homestyle cookie that reflects the contributor’s memories of holidays past. I grew up ...