Black Sesame Pie Crust Pinwheel Cookies

Flavor & Texture

Strikingly bold with its ebony black and golden pie crust swirl, this tender pie crust cookie with roasted sesame seed edges is the first to disappear from a cookie platter. They literally melt in your mouth. The chewy decadent center has thick and rich deeply nutty black sesame paste with a hint of caramelized brown sugar. If you prefer a chewy cookie that has ground sesame seeds throughout, you may like to try our gluten-free black sesame cookies. 

Recipe Tested - The Real Deal

Ok we must confess, there has been a lot of recipe testing and TASTING since we created this recipe back in 2016.  Today, we want to share with you all the lessons learned, recipe hacks and time savers used to create the perfect pie crust pinwheels with black sesame, nuts or other seeds. Are you ready to get started?

Basic Ingredients

Pie crust dough - Grab a two pack of refrigerated pie crust dough (14 ounces) to keep things easy, You will find it in the refrigerated section, with two rolled crusts sealed inside the box. Feel free to use leftover homemade pie crust dough for a budget friendly option. In addition, there are also many gluten-free pie crust mixes available.

Black Sesame Paste - Hands down, our favorite and easiest to use filling is our pre-sweetened homemade roasted black sesame paste. It's thick, rich and spreadable. In addition, it does not ooze out of the side of pinwheel shaped cookie when rolled up.

You can also use tahini paste, other nut and seed butters but there are some recipe adjustments and technique changes that need to be made with each type used. We have directions for each nut and seed substitution in the Recipe Substitution directions below.

Brown Sugar - Dark or light can be used gives this black sesame pinwheel cookie a caramelized flavor and adds to the chewy texture. You can also use brown coconut sugar or sugar alternative of choice. These cookies are only lightly sweet. You can adjust the amount of sugar up or down depending on your preference.

Beaten Egg - This is used to brush on the pie crust dough to help the sesame seeds stick on the outside and to help create that golden crust.

Toasted White Sesame Seeds - to coat the outside of the cookie crust. It's an optional ingredient but it adds so much flavor and aroma of the cookie.

How to Assemble Pinwheel Cookies with Black Sesame Paste?

• Remove the raw pie crust dough from the wrapper and lightly roll with a rolling pin to flatten.

• Cut off the four edges to make the circle pie crust dough into a square.
• Lightly spread the thick homemade black sesame paste over the top of the raw square pie crust.

• Sprinkle brown sugar over the top of the black sesame paste.
• Use a sharp knife and slice the topped pie crust in 1-inch segments.

• Roll each segment into a pinwheel.
• Brush the beaten egg over the edges and tops.

• Roll the pinwheel edges in the toasted white sesame seeds.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 14-16 minutes until toasty and golden.

Recipe Hacks: Healthy World Cuisine's Black Sesame Paste

• If you are not using our recipe for homemade black sesame paste, please read the directions below for the recipe substitution below. FYI: Every seed paste, tahini or nut butter has a different flavor and consistency. This will affect the outcome of the recipe!
• Don't add more liquid honey or maple syrup to sweeten the cookie or the sesame seed filling may leak out the sides when rolling.
• Lubricate your butter knife with a little sesame oil or light flavored oil to prevent sticking.
• Add about an ⅛ of an inch (0.3cm) thick of the black sesame paste to each pie crust. If you make it too thick, the filling will ooze over the edges or be more difficult to roll.
• Bring the black sesame paste to room temperature, if it was refrigerated. This makes it easier to spread.
• Leave Room for Sealing - leave about 1 inch bare on the edge closest and furthest away from you so that you have room to seal the pie cookies after rolling like we did with our Strawberry Jam Roll Cookies.
• Slice the cookies lengthwise from the edges of the 1-inch bare edges.
• Pinch the edge of the rolled cookies with your fingers so that cookie stays in the spiral shape during the baking process. You can use a little of the egg wash to help the edges seal.

What's the Difference between Black Sesame Paste vs Traditional Tahini or Black Tahini?

Unlike our thick homemade black sesame paste that is made with deeply roasted sesame seeds and sweetened with honey, tahini sauce is made with plain raw unroasted sesame seeds. This changes the dynamics of this cookie recipe in two very important ways.

1. Flavor: Raw sesame seeds are bitter compared to toasted sesame seeds, so they need more sweetener. In addition, plain tahini does not usually contain any sweeteners.
2. Consistency: Black tahini is made with only raw unroasted black sesame seeds. Traditional or white tahini is made with raw unroasted white sesame seeds. Store bought tahini is much thinner than homemade sesame paste because they use these industrial grade grinders and this also brings out more of the oil from the seeds.

Using Black or Traditional Tahini in Rolled Cookies

1. Stir the tahini paste before using. It is common for the natural oils from the seeds to raise to the top of the jar.
2. Add at least ½ cup or more of brown sugar to the tahini paste BEFORE spreading on pie crusts. You are also going to want to sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of the tahini that is spread on the pie crust dough before rolling. Raw sesame seeds are very bitter!
3. Only add a thin layer of tahini on to each pie crust. You will only need 3 tablespoons or less on each pie crust - 6 tablespoons total.
4. To help the tahini adhere to the pie crust during the rolling process, consider adding 1 or 2 tablespoons of either toasted white or black on top of the tahini before rolling.

Nut and Seed Butter Substitutions That Work

1. Creamy Natural Peanut Butter is usually very thin and pourable, consider adding ½ cup brown sugar to sweeten. Use only 3 tablespoons per pie crust to keep a thin manageable layer for rolling. Add roasted crushed peanuts over the thin layer of natural peanut butter before rolling. This adds some structure to the pie cookies. Instead of garnishing the pinwheel cookies with sesame seeds, consider dipping the edges into finely crushed roasted peanuts.
2. Jiffy Brand peanut butter or similar brand is thick and spreadable and is already sweetened.  Consider garnishing the edges of the peanut butter pinwheel cookies with finely crushed roasted peanuts instead of sesame seeds.
3. Crunchy Peanut Butter - if natural, consider adding a sweetener. It's thinner than the sweetened Jiffy peanut butter. Do not put a thick layer over the pie crust dough or it will ooze off the sides during the rolling process.
4. Pumpkin Seed Butter - if natural, consider adding a sweetener. We still like using Sesame seeds for the garnish.
5. Other nut or seeds butters - just remember the basic rules. Add brown sugar, alternative sweeteners or even date paste to natural unsweetened seed or nut butters.  If thick and not pourable, you will need a little more (about ⅓ to ½ cup) to cover the pie crust. Consider adding crushed roasted nuts or seeds over the top of the nut butter to help it stay in place before rolling.

Serving Ideas for Chinese New Year and Teatime

• Cookies are delicious hot out of the oven, at room temperature or even chilled.
• Serve with coffee, tea or even a black sesame latte.
• Try it as part of a teatime gathering along with Hong Kong Style Egg Tarts, tangyuan or fresh seasonal fruit.
• Enjoy as a sweet treat at the end of a Chinese New Year Feast!

Make Ahead for Easy Entertaining

There are a couple of different ways to prep these decadent black sesame pie crust pinwheel cookies in advance.

Option 1: Prepare the recipe and refrigerate for up to 24 hours or freeze for up to 2 months in a freezer before baking. To make sure the cookies do not stick together, place the cookies directly to the freezer on a baking sheet until firm. Then, transfer to freezer safe container for longer storage.

Refrigerated or frozen pinwheel cookies can be baked straight away. There is no need to thaw the cookies before baking. Frozen cookies may take a couple minutes longer to bake compared to cookies that are not frozen. They are done baking when golden brown with crispy edges.

Option 2: Prepare and bake black sesame swirl cookies. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Why are nuts and seeds are often offered as sweet treats during the Chinese New Year (CNY)?

From a practicality standpoint, nuts and seeds are long lasting snack and easy to store over the long Lunar New Year celebration. Some say consuming sweets during the new year bring a sweeter less stressful year ahead.

There is a belief that consuming black sesame seeds represents growing wealth and the birth of new prosperous generations ahead. Peanuts are symbolic of health, prosperity and family continuity. Did you know that consuming lotus seeds like they are prepared in our Lucky Shrimp and Lotus Seed Stir Fry represents fertility and the hope for children in the new year?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), black sesame seeds are used to treat many ailments of the kidneys, liver and spleen. They may even reverse some of the aging process and are good for the hair. In addition, they are thought to restore blood and essential qi to the kidneys.