Black Sesame Cookies

We can’t get enough of these addictive gluten-free Black Sesame Cookies! These nutty, lightly spiced Asian cookies are slightly crispy on the outside but chewy center, and are perfect with a cup of Tranquil Lemon Ginger Tea. With their bold grey and black color, these sesame seed cookies (Hēi zhīma bǐnggān, 黑芝麻饼干) are a stunning addition to any holiday or Chinese New Year cookie platter.

Have you ever tried black sesame seeds in a dessert before? If you haven’t tried it, you have no idea what you have been missing out on. Our Baked Black Sesame Mochi Donuts and Hot Black Sesame Cereal are deeply nutty sweet treats and ready in under 30 minutes.  

Something magical happens when black sesame seeds are toasted and ground. First, they are marvelously nutty and fragrant. Secondly, when ground they act much like a flour and bind ingredients together. Lastly, the black color is stunning.

We have been performing lots of testing and “quality assurance” (eating cookies – smiling) to perfect this black sesame recipe just for you.  We can’t wait to share with you all the baking hacks we learned along the way. So, let’s get started!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to Make: Step by Step
• How to Toast Sesame Seeds?
• How to Grind?
• 5 Tips for Baking Perfect Cookies
• Variations
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
• More Cookie Recipes
• Black Sesame Cookies

Ingredients

Black Sesame Seeds – Makes these baked cookies nutty and addictive. You have 3 options.

1. To save time, you can purchase toasted ground black sesame powder from the Asian market or purchase this on Amazon.
2. Purchase whole “toasted” black sesame seeds and grind them using a food processor, spice grinder or mortar and pestle.
3. You can also buy “raw” whole black sesame seeds. However, you will first need to toast them in a pan. Allow them to cool and then grind them into a powder.
4. Extra whole toasted black sesame seeds to top the cookie as a garnish. We would not skip it as it gives extra texture and nuttiness to the cookie.

Butter – unsalted and room temperature. Not melted - but soft. It should leave a dent in the butter when you gently press on it.  

Brown Sugar – light and packed. The molasses in the sugar makes the cookies chewy.

Granulated sugar – this gives the cookie that little crisp exterior and sometimes a crackle on the top of the cookie.

Egg – acts as a binder.

Gluten – Free 1:1 flour – (measure to measure flour) We used the King Arthur flour blend for this black sesame dessert cookie. If you do not need to worry about gluten, you can exchange with regular all-purpose flour.

Vanilla, Ginger, and Cinnamon – a pop of extra flavor. You don’t taste these spices right away. However, you feel the warmth from the warming spices at the end. These, of course, are optional but make it extra delicious.

Cornstarch – the secret ingredient that makes the baked cookies have crispy edges but extra chewy interior.

Salt – helps round out the flavors.

Baking Soda – helps the cookies rise when baked.

How to Make: Step by Step

• Grind toasted black sesame seeds.
• Add room temperature butter, packed brown sugar and granulated sugar to a bowl and mix until creamy.

• Nest, add room temperature egg and vanilla to the butter sugar mixture just until mixed.
• In a clean bowl add gluten free 1:1 flour, ground black sesame seeds, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and corn starch and mix well.
• Add the dry ingredients (flour mixture) slowly into the wet ingredients (butter mixture) and mix just until incorporated.
• Refrigerate the dough at least 2 hours. If you do not have the time, scoop cookies on to lined baking sheet and cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This step is important so the butter does not melt before the cookies have time to bake in the oven - or you will have flat cookies.

• Line baking sheet and place ½ rounded tablespoon of cookie dough at least 2 inches apart.

• Dip each cookie ball into toasted black sesame seeds and place the seed side up.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes. Our cookies were done in 8 minutes. The edges may ever so slightly start to brown on the edges. Resist the urge to over bake as they will not be chewy.

• Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
• Enjoy!

How to Toast Sesame Seeds?

First things first! If you have purchased “toasted black sesame seeds” you can proceed immediately to the next step. However, if you have purchased “raw sesame seeds” you will need to toast them in a dry pan on the lowest heat level until you smell the nuttiness - around 3 to 5 minutes. Allow the seeds to cool completely before grinding.

How to Grind?

Food processor or Spice Grinder – Place your sesame seeds in the food processor and pulse it. Push down the sides frequently. If you grind your seeds too long, the oil from the seeds will create a paste. Although a black sesame paste is delicious for our Black Sesame Pie Cookies, it is not the effect we are going for in this recipe.

Mortar and Pestle – Use some muscle power and grind the seeds a little bit at time.

Bag method – Add the sesame seeds to a large gallon size sealable bag. Then using a rolling pin bash and roll until the seeds into a fine powder.

5 Tips for Baking Perfect Cookies

Making cookies seems like a simple enough taste, right? Well, yes - but no. Many seasoned bakers don’t even need to think about it as they do these things naturally.  For others, a reminder is needed.

While testing the recipe for our black sesame cookies, we explored different ingredients, methods and had some epic fails while trying to make this recipe healthier. Things you are going to want to avoid!

We had all kinds of opportunities to take photos of what you should or should not do while prepping cookie dough. Today, we are going to share with you each type of failure and how to avoid it so that you can make the perfect cookie each time.

1) Soften the Butter

Sit the butter out at room temperature to soften, preferably overnight. It’s perfectly softened when you lightly press your finger into the butter, and it leaves a dent. Alternatively, you can microwave butter at low power at 5 second intervals just until you reach the soft stage. DO NOT melt or warm the butter. The butter should still slightly cool to the touch.

If you decide to soften the butter in the microwave, you need to do this on low power. Butter goes from brick hard to a puddle in a nano second. Can you guess which photo above used melted butter? Our cookies were flatter than a pancake. In addition, the flour mixture did not combine well with the flour mixture.

The purpose of softening the butter is so that you can easily cream the butter and sugar together. Doing so, creates air and this helps the cookies rise, puff up and bake up lighter. Cream the softened butter and sugar together for about 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy , just like what we did for our Chewy Mandarin Orange Cookies.  However, do not over beat the mixture or you will beat all the air out - resulting in dense cookies.

We tried substituting a portion of the butter with apple sauce. The black sesame cookies were still tasty but more cake like than cookie in texture.

2) Measure Properly

We usually weigh ingredients as this is the most accurate method. However, we know that many of you do not have a scale, so we used cups as our measurement tool. Measure your flour by spooning it into the measuring cup.

Do not scoop the flour into the measuring cup from the bag of flour.  This will pack the flour and your cookies will be denser. Finally, level it off with a butter knife. Too much flour will make tough and dry cookies.

Brown sugar has molasses in it. It needs to be packed into the cup for a proper measurement just like we did with our Homemade Gingerbread Cookies . First, we tested a recipe using only light brown sugar. Although the cookie was chewy and moist, it lacked that bit of crisp on the ends and the cookies spread more.

Adding a mix of granulated sugar along with the brown sugar gives more rise to your cookies while still making them chewy. The reason is the granulated sugar absorbs some of the liquid in the cookie. This makes those addictive crispy edges and sometimes a crackle top to your cookie. 

3) Chill your Cookie Dough

We cannot reinforce this enough! Refrigerate your cookie dough for at least 2 hours or even overnight. If you don’t have time for that, then scoop the cookie dough onto the lined baking tray, cover and place the cookies on the tray in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This hack gets the butter chilled so that the cookies are less likely to spread in the oven before the cookies have time to cook.

4) Prepping the Cookie Dough

• Line your baking trays to prevent sticking.

• Use a cookie scooper or measuring spoon to make uniformed shaped balls for uniformed sized cookies. This step promotes even baking so all the cookies get done at the same time. Do not press the dough down.

• Don’t be handling the dough too much. The warmth from your hands will melt the butter.

• Make sure your cookies are at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. The cookies will spread a little bit, so you need to allow for that space.

• Place the cookies on a room temperature or cool lined baking sheet. If your baking sheet is warm, the remaining heat from the pan will melt the butter in the cookies causing them to spread.

5) Baking Hacks

• Don’t over bake! As a matter of fact, it is better to underbake so that your cookies stay chewy and soft.
• Bake one batch at a time and bake on the center rack.
• If you have an oven that is warmer on one side, you may need to turn your cookies halfway through the baking process.
• Use a timer and set it for less time. You can always cook it longer. Every oven is a little different.  Some ovens are hotter or cooler and elevation differences can play a role on how long your cookies need to bake. Do NOT overbake cookies! Cookies like our Cranberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies will continue to firm up after you remove them from the oven.
• Let your baked black sesame cookies rest on the baking sheet for 2 to 3 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool. Less risk for breaking them.
• Don’t let your cookies rest on the baking sheet too long as they will continue cooking resulting in over baked cookies.

Variations

• Add ins like dark chocolate, goji berries, pitted Chinese red dates can be stirred in before chilling the cookie dough.
• If you do not need to keep the recipe gluten-free you can use regular all-purpose flour instead of gluten free baking 1:1 flour.
• Top with flaky sea salt.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Chewy Black Sesame Cookies are the ultimate gluten-free chewy cookie and goes perfectly with a steaming hot-pot of Goji Berry and Red Dates Herbal Tea. We can’t wait for you to make a batch today.

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