Crisp, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth, these Miso Butter Cookies make the most insanely delicious afternoon treat! They hit the right notes with a serious depth of flavor. You need only 7 pantry ingredients!
These Miso Butter Cookies (味噌バタークッキー) might not be your ordinary butter cookies, but I have to tell you they are dangerously addictive, especially if you enjoy a hint of salt in your sweets. They are light, crisp, and have the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness. Go on, bake a batch, and get ready to be smitten today!
These Miso Butter Cookies Are:
- Made with 7 pantry ingredients!
- Just the right amount of sweetness.
- So buttery!
- Deliciously savory from miso
- Nutty and crunchy from sesame seeds.
- Crisp on the edges, with the perfect crumb of the cookie!
- Fairly quick, with just 30 minutes of chill time.
- A perfect sweet for an Asian-themed meal or parties!
7 Pantry-Friendly Ingredients for the Cookies:
- All-purpose (plain) flour
- Baking powder
- Unsalted butter*
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Miso – See the post below.
- Sesame seeds
* I only use unsalted butter because I can salt the recipe as I like, and not the other way around.
How to Make Miso Butter Cookies
These butter cookies are the simplest to make, even for a beginner! Or I should say especially, a beginner baker. You just need to follow these 3 easy steps:
- Beat wet ingredients, and add dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Roll the dough into logs* and chill for 30 minutes.
- Slice the dough into disks and bake!
* You can also make the recipe for cut out cookies. Form the dough into a disk, wrap and chill then roll out to ¼-½ inch, cut and bake.
3 Tips to Make Delicious Butter Cookies
1. Measure Flour Correctly
My #1 advice is to buy a kitchen scale (this small investment is so worth it and can avoid wasting ingredients due to mismeasurement). However, if you still prefer to measure flour with a cup, you must do it correctly. Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
2. Use Room Temperature Eggs and Butter
Did you forget to take out the eggs and butter from the refrigerator? Here are the quick tricks my daughter (a home baker in my family) taught me:
- Eggs: Soak the cold eggs in warm water for 10-15 minutes.
- Butter: Microwave 5 seconds for each long side of the stick and turn (total 20 seconds; our microwave is 1000W).
3. Chill the Cookie Dough
Chilling the dough intensifies the flavor of the dough and retains its shape in the oven. Hold tight for just 30 minutes. You can preheat the oven and clean up the kitchen during this time.
Use of Miso (Japanese Soybean Paste) in Sweets
Beyond miso soup and savory dishes, the Japanese fermented soybean paste has also been embraced by pastry chefs and home bakers alike as the secret ingredient. It adds an unexpected umami richness and balances the sugar in baked goods, in the best way possible.
For these Miso Butter Cookies, I used Organic White Miso from Hikari Miso®. The mild and mellow miso amps up the delicious buttery flavor in these cookies…but you wouldn’t even notice it’s there.
If you use a different type of miso, your cookies will have a slightly different taste and color. Reduce the amount if you’re using Dashi-Included Miso or Red Miso
Where can I buy Hikari Miso® miso?
- Japanese grocery stores (Nijiya, Mitsuwa, Marukai, local mom and pop shops, etc)
- Asian grocery stores (including Chinese/Korean grocery stores)
- Amazon
Itadakimasu!
Enjoy the miso butter cookies with Hojija, Green Tea, or Buckwheat Tea (Sobacha)! They are the perfect afternoon treat.
Other Delicious Cookies on Just One Cookbook
- Cherry Blossom Cookies
- Green Tea Cookies
- Black Sesame Cookies
- Meyer Lemon Sable Cookies
- Chinese Almond Cookie
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Miso Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick; at room temperature)
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp miso (I use mild and mellow white miso; a different miso type will give a slightly different taste and color; reduce the amount if you‘re using saltier red miso or dashi-included miso)
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) (at room temperature)
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour (weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds
- 3 Tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.
To Make the Dough
- In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat ½ cup unsalted butter (at room temperature) for 30 seconds. Tip: To bring cold butter to room temperature, microwave a cold stick of butter for 5 seconds on each side for 20 seconds total.
- Add ½ cup sugar and 2 Tbsp miso.
- Beat everything together on medium-high speed until smooth, light, and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Crack 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) at room temperature and whisk in a small bowl. (If the egg is cold, soak it in warm water to bring to room temperature.) Gradually add the egg to the butter mixture while mixing.
- Beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine in between.
- In a small bowl, combine 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour and 1 tsp baking powder and mix with a fork. I do this extra step so the baking powder is evenly distributed when sifting.
- With a fine-mesh sieve, sift the flour mixture over a medium bowl.
- Gradually add the flour mixture into the mixing bowl at low speed.
- Once you finish adding all the flour mixture, turn up to high speed and beat until incorporated.
To Roll the Dough Logs
- Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the working surface and transfer the dough. If the dough is very soft, chill it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. By chilling, the butter/fat will solidify and it‘ll be easier to work with.
- Roll the dough into a ball and cut it in 2 pieces. Note: This recipe can be used for cutout cookies: Form the dough into a disc, wrap and chill, roll out to ¼–½ inch thickness, cut, and bake.
- Roll the dough into 2 long logs.
- Each log should be 10 inches (25 cm) long with a 1-inch (2.5-cm) diameter.
- Cut the long logs in half; now you have 4 logs that are each 5 inches (12.5 cm) long.
- Prepare a small flat container (or baking sheet) and add 3 Tbsp toasted white sesame seeds (save the black ones for later). Moist a sheet of paper towel with water and wrap around a log so the dough is moistened.
- Roll 2 moistened logs in the sesame seeds and wrap in parchment paper or plastic.
- I‘ve learned the best way to keep the dough from flattening out on the bottom is to place the dough logs on a bed of raw rice.
- Roll the other 2 moistened logs in 3 Tbsp toasted black sesame seeds and wrap in parchment paper or plastic.
To Slice and Bake the Cookies
- Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tip: I highly encourage you to use an aluminum baking sheet and check your oven‘s temperature using an oven thermometer; see the Notes section below for more details.
- Once the dough is chilled, use a sharp knife to cut one dough log into 8 slices of even thickness.
- Cut the rest of the cookie dough and transfer to the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If the dough is no longer chilled, you can put the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes until the cookies are chilled and firm. Tip: If the cookie dough is chilled, they will not completely lose their shape.
- Bake the chilled cookies for 20–22 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Tip: Closely monitor the cookies in the oven and be ready to adjust the bake time if needed, especially if you‘re not using an aluminum baking sheet.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
To Store
- These cookies stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. I usually reheat the cookies at 350ºF (180ºC) in the toaster oven (or oven) until toasty. To freeze the dough: Tightly wrap the logs in plastic wrap and put them into freezer bags. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the refrigerator for 2 hours before slicing.
This recipe is soooo goood!!! Love it ! It’s so addictive!!
Hello there, Gabriella! We’re glad you enjoyed Nami’s recipe as much as we do!
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe!🤗
This version of the recipe does not include the weight of the flour.
Hello, Sara! To see the weight of the flour, please click “Metric” on the recipe card. It should be 200g for 32 cookies.
We hope this helps! 🤗
I just made these cookies for the first time and they are delicious!
The bottoms were slightly burnt in the first batch even when I used parchment paper, so I might move the oven rack up next time. Doris Greenspan always suggests where to place the oven rack. It would be helpful to know how to space the cookies on the baking sheet. I wasn’t sure if they would spread or not so I baked them in batches.
I’m planning to make the matcha cookies next!
Hello there, Manda. We’re happy to hear you enjoyed the cookies.
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and offering your advice.
Nami’s matcha cookies are also delicious, and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Happy Baking!
This recipe is INSANELY good! I don’t have a mixer so I had to do all the mixing by hand—definitely would not recommend as it’s a TON of elbow grease. BUT! You CAN indeed make these cookies without a mixer; you just need to make sure you spend the time to really mix it when the instruction asks for mixing in the mixer for a few minutes.
Anyways, I’ve already made these cookies a few times! Absolutely delicious. They go so quickly in the house as everyone loves them!
Hi James! We are so happy to hear you and your family love this cookie!
Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your baking experience with us.☺️
Happy Baking!
I love this recipe! It is like a more complexly flavoured short bread and it is amazing!
For not burning the bottoms, I just buy my parchment paper on a cooling rack and then on top of the pan so the pan getting too hot didn’t burn the paper.
Hi Avi! We’re glad you enjoyed Nami’s Miso Butter Cookies recipe.
Yes! We also like to use parchment paper because it is so effective. It’s a fantastic product. Nami’s baked-in parchment recipe may catch your attention too. We hope you will check this out.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/summer-vegetables-baked-in-parchment/
Not sure about the suggested bake time! My first batch was nearly burned on the bottom after 15-17 minutes @350. I pulled the second batch at 13-14 and cooled on the rack, not the baking sheet – much better flavor. Interesting bake!
Hi Kar, Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe!
The difference could be due to the different thicknesses of the cookie or the size of the oven. We also recommend checking the oven’s internal temperature to make sure that it matches the oven’s display screen.
We hope this helps!
These cookies are dangerous if you have no self control. I ate a good amount of the batter and then I ate all the cookies myself. They are phenomenal.
I used 1.5 Tbsp of red miso paste, though 1.25 Tbsp would probably be better if you prefer a subtler miso flavor.
My first batch of cookies were done around 12ish minutes at 350 and for the second batch, I baked them for 14 minutes at 325. I preferred the second batch.
In my option, the only way to improve this cookie would be to sub some of the all-purpose flour with almond flour for a grittier texture.
Highly recommend!!
Hi Bean! Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your baking experience with us.
We are so happy to hear you enjoyed Miso Butter Cookies! Happy Baking!
If I’m gonna use saiko sweet miso,is there an adjustment on the amount of sugar?
Hi Gloria! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and experimenting with her recipe!
We haven’t tried this recipe with Saiko miso before, and we’re not sure, but removing 1 teaspoon or 5 grams of sugar from the recipe may work.
Please keep us updated on your progress!🙂
I love the strong flavor of red miso. That is what I substituted for this recipe and did HALF the amount that this recipe called for. The sweet & salty flavors combined is truly a TREAT for those who love these unconventional unique taste like me.
Hi Aloha Nui! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and sharing your baking experience with us!
We are so happy to hear the red Miso flavor came out perfectly!
Happy Baking!