Open (Black) Sesame (Cookies)!
One of the most vexing things about scouring the Internet for delicious recipes is when your cupboard doesn’t have the exact cardamom powder or whole wheat pastry flour that a recipe calls for. I want to explore baking and food, but I can’t devote all my resources to crafting the perfect spice cabinet or keeping a constant stockpile of “top fifty essential baking ingredients” in my kitchen, right? What a travesty, I know! And especially as part of an Asian-American household, our fridge and cupboard tend to have a blend of Asian and Western ingredients, meaning I don’t have an extensive amount of ingredients necessary for Western-based baking recipes. For instance, we have butter, all-purpose flour, pecans, and the like, but also dates, ginger, and… sesame. That’s where I found a sudden stroke of inspiration.
It’s a common belief among Chinese people that eating black sesame helps prevent grey hairs as you age, so many Chinese women love to incorporate it into their diets. In fact, my dad has taken it upon himself to buy black sesame seeds, grind them with a mortar and pestle, cook them, and store them in a jar on the kitchen counter so my mom can take an aromatic spoonful every morning. I also particularly love black sesame 汤圆 (tang yuan) — though peanut butter tang yuan are a close second. In addition to black sesame, an apparent Asian “cooking secret” — which my mom claims is key to her signature Korean rice noodle dish — is toasted white sesame seeds. I also fondly recall white-sesame seed coated, red-bean filling, sticky rice balls (麻球，maqiu) that are a staple of Chinese bakeries. With these sesame memories from my family’s kitchen and childhood, I resolved to search for and bake some easy and delicious sesame-flavored cookies!
So, I stumbled upon this simple recipe from Chatelaine to try, but I ran into some issues. First, I halved all the measurements to make a half batch, since my family does not consume a large amount of food. However, I soon realized a half batch would STILL require a whole stick of butter — which was rather unhealthy. So, I opted to try 1/2 stick of butter (cubed) and some olive oil (~ 2 tbsp, I really eyeballed it), but the batter still didn’t really come together until I added an egg and a splash of milk. I also estimated the ¼ cup ground sesame amount, since the original recipe called for ¾ cup whole sesame to be grounded for a full batch. And, since my family is not a huge fan of sugar, I added a few tablespoons less than ½ cup sugar.
After reflecting upon the cookies, my family actually agreed that I should add more sugar — so I’d go for the full ½ cup next time, or maybe I’ll add a tablespoon of honey or two! And while the sesame taste was strong enough, I could add an extra tablespoon for a richer flavor. I’m also considering adding a bit more milk, and slightly less oil — my batter was slightly wet, but I thought the cookies could have been “milkier” in taste. Disclaimer: I know milk probably messes with the chemistry of baked goods and whatnot, but my family and I strongly believe that adding milk to anything makes it taste better. Let’s call this the Golden Rule, since it’ll definitely appear again. Since the Golden Rule made my batter wet, I was worried about the cookies spreading too much and thus made them very ball-like in case they did spread, but they surprisingly didn’t. I might use a cookie-cutter (or glass rim) to make neater, flatter cookies next time.
Were these sesame cookies a victory? I’d say so. They came out looking like cute lil sesame balls, and my mom even asked me when I’d make them again, complaining that my dad ate the last cookie leftover during breakfast. I hope they become a staple in my Asian-American family’s food repertoire!
Ingredients
(makes ~12-13 cookies)
¼ cup ground black sesame
7/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp salt
¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
¼ tsp vanilla
1 egg
~2 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
~2 tbsp milk
(for topping) a spoonful of toasted white sesame seeds
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a food processor, pulse ground black sesame, flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add butter and vanilla, then pulse some more.
Add the egg, oil, and milk, pulsing in between to slowly incorporate the liquid into the mixture. You can slightly adjust milk/oil amounts depending on taste preferences. Scoop out into a bowl.
Scoop out 1 tbsp of dough and roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet, and gently flatten to 1/2-in.- thick disc if flatter shape is desired. Repeat, then sprinkle white sesame seeds atop the cookies.
Note: for a cleaner finish, feel free to use a cookie-cutter! I tried that for my later batch, and it was a success.
Bake in the oven until edges of cookies are just starting to brown, 9 to 14 min depending on oven and cookie thickness. Let cookies cool — or eat them straight-away, if you were just as excited as I was!