Pasteli Recipe (Greek Sesame and Honey Bars)

Pasteli is mentioned by ancient Greek writers as food carried by athletes, which gives some sense of just how long this exact combination, toasted sesame bound in honey, has been part of Greek life. It survives essentially unchanged into the present day, sold everywhere from village markets to modern health food shops, since it happens to also fit neatly into how people think about snacking today.

There is no baking at all involved, just toasting sesame seeds in a dry pan, heating honey to the right consistency, combining the two while both are hot, and pressing the mixture flat to set. The entire process, start to finish, takes well under half an hour, most of which is simply waiting for the honey to reach the right stage.

It keeps for weeks without any special storage, which is exactly why it made sense as portable food in the ancient world and remains a practical homemade sweet or snack today.

Key preparation steps

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant.
2. Heat honey, with sugar if using, to a thick, slightly darkened stage.
3. Stir the toasted seeds into the hot honey off the heat.
4. Press flat, cool slightly, then cut into bars while still warm.

Toasting the sesame properly

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry, wide pan over a medium heat, stirring or shaking constantly, until they turn a shade darker and smell distinctly nutty and fragrant, which takes three to four minutes. Watch them closely near the end, since sesame seeds go from perfectly toasted to burnt within moments of each other.

A mix of hulled and unhulled sesame seeds gives a good balance of colour and a slightly more complex flavour than using only one type, though either works perfectly well on its own.

Cooking the honey to the right stage

Heat honey, alone or with a little added sugar for extra crunch, until it thickens noticeably and darkens slightly, which takes around five to six minutes at a steady simmer. It should coat the back of a spoon thickly, closer to a loose caramel than runny honey.

Undercooking this stage gives you a soft, chewy pasteli that does not hold a firm bar shape once cool. A few minutes of extra patience here makes a real difference to the final texture.

Setting and cutting

Stir the toasted sesame into the hot honey off the heat until fully combined, then tip out onto a sheet of baking paper or a lightly oiled tray and press flat with a rolling pin or the back of a spoon, aiming for an even thickness of around 1 cm.

Let it cool for just five minutes, no longer, then cut into bars or squares while it is still slightly warm and pliable. Leave it too long and it sets hard enough to crack unevenly rather than cut cleanly.

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