These black sesame cookies are super easy and packed full of flavor. My recipe uses store bought black sesame paste so you don’t need to grind your own seeds. The cookies are thick and chunky like peanut butter cookies, with a naturally striking gray color and nutty black sesame flavor.
What is Black Sesame?
Like the name implies, black sesame is a type of sesame seed that is naturally black. I find the flavor of black sesame to be much stronger and… earthier(?) than white sesame seeds. It’s almost got a roasty… toasty… flavor? Okay, I’m obviously really struggling to find the right words here. You just have to taste it for yourself.
Black sesame is a common ingredient in Asian desserts. You can find it in traditional desserts like Chinese tang yuan, deep fried in rice balls (jian dui), and in more modern desserts like in soft serve ice cream (one of my favorites!).
Grinding Black Sesame Seeds Vs. Paste
A lot of recipe blogs out there give instructions for grinding your own black sesame seeds into a paste prior to using it. And you certainly can do that if you want. But I would rather skip that step and just buy black sesame paste straight from the store.
I can find jars of black sesame paste at my local Japanese market, but of course there’s always online (afflink). A word of warning, however: the paste is definitely more expensive than buying seeds. So the choice is up to you! For me, convenience > price. Plus, I don’t have a spice grinder or anything that could really get the seed paste smooth enough if I did it myself.
Nut Butter Cookies Don’t Spread in Oven
This black sesame cookie recipe is really a type of nut butter cookie. The black sesame paste acts in a similar way to peanut butter or almond butter. If you’ve ever made flourless cookies with peanut or almond butter, you’ll know they don’t really spread in the oven.
While this recipe still uses flour, these cookies also act in a similar way. They will not spread in the oven. So if you roll the dough into balls before baking them, they’ll also come out as… balls. If you’d like to achieve a typical cookie appearance, you’ll need to flatten these cookies yourself.
My preferred method is to use a mason jar to flatten the black sesame cookie balls while they are hot, straight out of the oven. Alternatively, you could try and flatten them prior to baking, but I find that my resulting cookie is more uneven. If you want, you could try pressing a fork into the cookies, like the common design for peanut butter cookies.
Also like other nut cookies, these black sesame cookies are more dense and CRISP, not chewy. I’m still working on a chewy cookie recipe, so hold tight.
Other Ways to Use Up Black Sesame Paste
If you’re not sure you want to splurge for a whole tub of black sesame paste, fret not. It’s easy to use up! I’ve got a great recipe for black sesame cake. You can also mix it into hot milk for a black sesame latte. Add a spoonful to your usual buttercream to get black sesame frosting. Or if you’ve got an ice cream maker, try your hand at black sesame ice cream!
Or just make a ton of black sesame cookies.
Let me know what you think if you try it, or if you’ve got other fun ideas for black sesame desserts!
Easy Black Sesame Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1/2 cup black sesame paste
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2-3 baking trays with silicone or parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer (or with an electric beater), cream butter, black sesame paste, sugar, salt, and baking powder together until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs and beat until homogenous.
- Add flour and mix until just incorporated.
- Scoop about 2 heaping tbsp of dough into balls and arrange on your baking tray.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until cookie balls are puffed up.
- Cookie balls will not flatten on their own. To flatten the tops, take a cup or mason jar and press firmly down on the tops of the cookies while they are still hot. Alternatively, you can flatten the cookie dough balls before they go into the oven, similar to peanut butter cookies, but this leads to a denser cookie.
- Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
2 comments
[…] is true. The Christmas BEFORE last, I made a thick and chunky black sesame cookie, which was well received at a Christmas party we went to. But my kids prefer the thinner, softer […]
These were absolutely delicious. Love that they are chewy and if you cook them for a minute or so longer, they will crisp a little on the edges and still be soft and chewy in the middle. I used the bottom of a glass to flatten. I also used a sesame spread that I got from Costco which is already sweetened so I used only 1 1/4 cups of sugar and could possible go even less. These are really good! Definitely make them!