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These Black Sesame Cookies are buttery, nutty, crisp and so addicting. With a unique combination of sweet and savory flavors, they are delightful with a cup of morning coffee or afternoon tea. The perfect holiday cookies to make and gift!
Have you tried black sesame seeds in cookies before? With a rich nutty aroma and textures, black sesame is easily one of the most popular ingredients used in Japanese baked goods and confectionery.
These Black Sesame Cookies (黒胡麻クッキー) are buttery and nutty, and I’m sure you are going to fall in love with them.
Black Sesame Seeds in Japanese Cuisine
Know as the very first culinary spice, sesame seeds are widely used in Japanese, Chinese, and many other Asian cultures. In Japanese cooking, you can find sesame seeds being used to flavor desserts and sweets such as mochi, ice cream, cakes, cookies, muffins and more. Its uses are so dynamic that we use it in both sweet and savory dishes.
In this icebox cookie recipe, sesame seeds impart an incredibly rich aroma and nutty flavor that it’s impossible not to love.
What Makes This Cookie a Favorite?
- Buttery & crisp
- Unique, nutty flavor from the black sesame seeds
- A touch of savory in the cookies (not overly sweet)
- Easy to bake
- Festive looking from the crushed sesame seeds (like sparkles)
- Freezer friendly (up to a month!) and ideal for holiday gifting
Just like the Matcha Green Tea Cookies, they are equally popular and sold everywhere at bakeries in Japan.
Two Types of Flours in Sesame Cookies
I used both all-purpose flour and almond flour/ meal to give these cookies an enhanced nutty flavor and texture. You can find almond flour and almond meal in the market, and both work for this recipe.
The main difference between the two is that the almond meal is much more coarsely ground. You’d be able to see small brown specks of almond skins in the final result. Since the speckled look is what we are after, almond meal is great for these sesame cookies.
My favorite brand, Bob’s Red Mill, carries both Natural Almond Meal and Almond Meal/Flour. You can also find almond meal at Trader Joe’s at a cheaper price.
I hope you enjoy these delicious sweet and savory Black Sesame Cookies. You can use white, black, or both sesame seeds for these cookies. My favorite is definitely the black ones!
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These delicious Black Sesame Cookies are buttery, nutty and crisp. With a savory-sweet combination, they are delightful with a cup of coffee or tea. The perfect holiday cookies to make and gift!
- 120 g unsalted butter (1 stick, ½ cup, or 4 oz)
- 160 g all-purpose flour (plain flour) (5.6 oz)
- 40 g almond meal (1.4 oz)
- 80 g sugar (2.8 oz)
- Pinch kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- 40 g toasted black sesame seeds (1.4 oz)
- 1 large egg yolk (You can add the whole egg instead of just the yolk. The difference is the texture of the final result. Cookies made with egg yolks would give the most crumbly, rich, crisp cookies. Many icebox cookies use only egg yolk to produce the texture.)
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Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut the butter into small cubes and keep them refrigerated until ready to use (I cut on parchment paper and wrap up the butter for easy transfer.).
- In the food processor, combine the flour, almond meal, sugar, and salt. If you don’t have a food processor, you can simply use a bowl to mix all the ingredients.
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If you want your sesame seeds to be of fine texture, add them now. If you prefer to keep the original shape of sesame seeds, add them with egg yolk later on.
- Take out the butter from the refrigerator and mix together. If you use a regular bowl to mix, use a dough/pastry blender to combine the butter into the dry ingredients.
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Lastly, add egg yolk.
- If the food processor is small (like mine) and it doesn’t look like it’s mixed completely, take it out and mix well with a silicone spatula.
- Form the dough into a ball and cut in half.
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Roll it to a log approximately 2” across. For me, it’s easier to work when the dough is wrapped in plastic wrap. While rolling, unwrap some parts of plastic wrap then roll again. Form a nice shape. I wasn't paying attention so my log is flat on one side (see step 11)!
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Wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour (you can put them in the freezer to speed up the process as well).
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Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Remove the dough from plastic wrap and cut into discs about 1/4 inch thick (if you prefer thicker cookies, cut into discs about 1/2 inch and you get 20 cookies total).
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Place them on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. If you are baking in batches, make sure to keep the second batch in the refrigerator to chill until baking.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Store cookies in an airtight container. Enjoy the cookies within 3 days while they are best, or keep them in the freezer for up to a month.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
More Easy Holiday Cookies You’ll Love:
- Matcha Green Tea Cookies
- Butter Cookies
- Cherry Blossom Cookies
- Meyer Lemon Cookies
- Chinese Almond Cookies
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on December 13, 2012. The content has been updated in January 2020.
Those cookies look amazing!! My family enjoys a lot of black sesame seed-based goodies over the holidays and New Year’s, so this recipe would fit right in. I actually really like the “icebox cookies” process because it helps ensure that the cookies turn out with the right shape! Thanks very much for sharing this recipe~~
You are welcome! I hope you enjoy these cookies. If you like black sesame seeds, you will really enjoy these cookies! 🙂
A tempting Christmas gift Nami. Thank you! A legion of cousins will bless you next sunday at our Christmas party…
Thank you Serena! I hope everyone will enjoy these cookies! 🙂 Happy Holidays!
I’ve never really tried these cookies before. Looks very tasty and definitely will try it. Thanks for the recipe and the visuals. Those will really help :-).
Hi Armie! Thank you for your feedback! I’m glad to hear my step-by-step is useful. It takes a lot of time but readers like you seem to enjoy seeing step-by-step photos so I think I’ll continue to do so…. 🙂
I just finished baking it. These cookies are so delicious!
Wonderful recipe, thanks Nami.
Have a happy holiday.
Hi Liliana! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m happy you enjoyed them! Happy New Year! 🙂
Hi, would like to share my experience. I do not have food processor so I used my hands too to blend all ingredients. I cut the butter to quite small pieces first. I baked half recipe but I used one full egg yolk.
If I want my cookies bit softer, I normally add one more egg yolk from the original recipe. Or, if I want crispier, then, less egg yolk used.
I really love Nami’s sesame cookies. My colleagues did not stop eating slice per slice. The taste is just perfect.
I hope it helps. Hopefully too your next trial is successful, just don’t give up..
Liliana Tan
Hi Liliana! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and you are so sweet! I really appreciate it. Glad to hear your colleagues also enjoy them. 🙂 xo
Thanks…but i just want to know why is not crispy and mixture is very lose. Advise please…thanks!!!
Hi Christopher! It’s a little bit hard to tell you what went wrong without being there, but it seems/sounds like the mixture doesn’t have enough butter or egg yolk, if the mixture is very loose. At Step 6 you see my mixture is kind of like paste, and not loose at all. You need that consistency. Hope that helps…
Ms Nami, I made them yesterday. I burnt the Hato Sabule but Sesame cookies were so nice. Mine were kind of rectangles shape and I used only white sesame seeds and added like 1 teaspoon more. Thank you so so so so much for such a delightful easy to follow recipe. You are the best. Kindest regards Maya
Hi Maya! Aww I’m sorry that you Hato Sable got burnt. :/ So glad Sesame Cookies turned out well. I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thank you for trying this recipe, Maya!
Hi Nami, thank you for your lovely blog, and very informative recipes. Is there any way I can adapt this recipe for people who cannot have almonds? Have you tried it without almond meal and, if so, what other adjustments did you make?
Hi Maria! Thank you for following my blog! No, I haven’t tried replacing almond meal, but you should be able to make it with just flour. I am not sure if the amount needs to be changed though.. I’m sorry I cannot help much. 🙁
Thank you for your reply! I will try making them with just flour, then, and will let you know what happens. I have made some of your recipes, and I was very proud the first time I managed to make a tamagoyaki with your recipe and the tamago pan I inherited from my (non-Japanese) grandmother: whether she ever made tamagoyaki with it remains, to this day, a mystery.
Hi Maria! I hope they will come out nicely. Either way let us know if you don’t mind… maybe some readers may be interested in doing the same. 🙂
I’m so glad you tried my tamagoyaki recipe! How interesting that your grandmother had tamagoyaki pan, and you could use her pan! 😀
Hi Nami!
I’ve been following your blog for the past few months and have tried some of your recipes. They’ve all turned out amazing so far!
A question about these cookies- If I were to use black sesame paste instead of ground black sesame, what kind of adjustments would I need to make when making the cookie? Thnks!
Hi Emily! I’m glad my recipes turn out well, and thank you so much for trying my recipes!
Ohhh I wish I can answer that… but I’ve never tried it without the paste. Usually store bought black sesame paste is smooth and has liquid, so I certainly assume adjustment is necessary but cannot have good advice for that. I’m sorry Emily! These shortbread style cookies need to be more dried, so I’m not sure if that will work (I’m sure it will, but you have to adjust quite a bit I think?).
Hello!
I need to make a better use of those sesame seeds I have because these cookies look amazing. Do you think that using yellow sugar would make them even tastier?
Hi Ana! Hmm, I haven’t made them with yellow sugar, but I think, regular white sugar will work better as it is more fine texture and combines well with dough. But that’s my guess and you never know until you try. 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Thanks for your delicious recipe!
Thank you Quynh! 🙂
My 2, 5 & 8 year olds all loved this cookies!! Hubby loves sesame! Its a winner in our family!
Thanks for the yummilicious recipe!
Hi Janice! Yay! So happy to hear your family enjoyed these cookies. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Would I be able to substitute the sugar for icing/powdered sugar? I quite enjoy the powdery, melt in the mouth texture it gives! Not sure how it’ll be like with these sesame cookies. Tried your green tea cookies recipe and absolutely love it!
Hi Joy! I’m glad to hear the green tea cookies came out well. Thank you for trying that recipe! I think you can, but I’m not sure the amount for powder sugar as I’ve never tried before. The texture should be like green tea cookies, I think. 🙂
I tried baking it today!! It was easy and fuss free! But it was too sweet. I will make another batch with less sugar!
Why did i found out ur website so late >.< Hahahs!
Thanks!
Hi Ivy! Thank you for trying this recipe! I hope your next batch will be perfect. 🙂 I’m glad you found my site, and thank you so much! 🙂
Can I substitute butter for something else, like macadamia butter? Macadamia butter will be more liquid and won’t be in cubes. Will that affect the texture of the cookie?
Hi YJ! I’ve never used macadamia butter before and it’s hard to advice without trying it myself. Let me know if it came out successfully. I’m sure there are other people who would be interested in replacing butter with other healthier alternatives. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Can i know the all purpose flour you use is bleached or unbleached?
everytime i use unbleached flour the cookies turned out very hard like rock.
thanks
soshin
Hi Soshin! I usually use bleached flour – I know it’s not ideal, but I am not much of a baker so I consider it’s okay.. haha =P
haaa…thank you nami. That’s real quick.
I always put health in priority thats why the taste is always not ideal.
But will give a try with bleached flour.
thanks again.
It’s an ideal if both works – taste and health. But I don’t mind eating not so healthy but tasty one only occasionally to keep good health. =P
Really love this recipe! I’ve tried it today and the cookies came out perfect! My kids will love them! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Amy! So glad to hear you liked this recipe and thanks so much for the kind feedback. 🙂
By the way I read your recent post on your blog and really love your birthday party ideas! So pretty!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! :D. I’m using a bow to mix all ingredients. I’m wondering if I melt the butter and add it directly to the mix, would it still work?
Hi Jenny! There is difference between cold cut butter and melted butter in the dough (so my answer is no). Cold butter mixes with flour and creates pockest of fat that melt and make for a lighter more airy pastry while melted butter acts more like oil. 🙂
Hi, I’ve enjoyed your chiffon cake recipe! If I don’t have a food processor, could I cream the butter in a stand mixer using the paddle?
Hi Karen! Thank you for trying my chiffon cake recipe before and I’m glad to hear you liked it! 🙂 I think stand mixer will work. I haven’t tried, but if it’s fast enough… Let me know if you try and it doesn’t work….
Hi Nami!
I’ve just tried making them with the stand mixer using the paddles today, it worked out very well for me, thanks for the recipe!
Hi Karen! Sweet! Thanks so much for getting back to me. I’m glad to find out it worked! Thank you!!
Hi. I have food allergies. How do you think these would turn out with hazelnut or peanut meal and gluten free flour? Thanks!!!
Hi Aimee! I have never tried this recipe with different flour, so I can’t tell how it will work out. Sorry Aimee! Since sesame tastes is subtle, try with GF flour first? Maybe other nut flour might be overwhelming to sesame flavors.
Nami- I just made the cookie dough but it seems too dry. Is it supposed to be like that? It was difficult to roll it into the shape- it wasn’t sticking together…I followed the recipe exactly… 🙁
Hi Susan! The texture is like butter cookies/shortbread/icebox cookies. I wouldn’t say the texture of the cookies is “dry” but it’s rather crispy cookies and not “moist and chewy” type. Maybe your dry ingredients were more than mine? I know the environment/weather affects to the dough, but shouldn’t be a drastic change I think….
They came out well, in the end, I think maybe the butter just didn’t disperse to all the dry ingredients because even after an hour in the fridge, the ends of the logs were just dry ingredients. They were good, though!
Hi Susan! I see. I used to have a smaller food processor (like one in this picture) so the mixing part was tricky. Now with a big one, I have more room to spin around. 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies. Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
These are excellent, and got approval from a bunch of Japanese housewives. I’m trying out adjusting the recipe to replace the almond meal with ground black sesame to intensify the color.
Hi Josh! So happy to hear Japanese housewives enjoyed these cookies. 🙂 Oh that sounds like a great idea!
I made these today. This recipe is a winner! My family’s sweet tolerance is a bit low so I might reduce the sugar level next time but these were really good when paired with tea.
Hi Van! I’m so happy you liked this recipe! Hope you can adjust the sugar amount to your family’s liking. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi! Can I use all purpose flour instead of almond meal?
Hi Casel! I haven’t tried replacing the almond meal with all purpose flour. I see doing opposite for gluten free, so I assume it’s possible. I just don’t know how it will be. Sorry I wish I knew…
Hi Nami-
The sesame cookies look amazing. I want to make them but I can’t figure out your conversions to US measurements. 5.6 oz is slightly under a cup but the converting the almond flour is hard. Do you have easier measurements that can be posted?
Thanks Nami!
Hi Michelle! Ughhhh I wish! Back then (second year of my blogging), I didn’t measure in both metric and American cup… (now I do!)
For baking recipes, I always use metric system to be precise. If I had almond flour I would measure it with cups for you but I currently don’t have it. 🙁 So sorry…
Hi Nami! Thank you for the recipe! I really want to make this since I have been looking for recipes using black sesame paste and I was wondering if I can use the paste instead of the sesame seeds instead since I already have the paste. Thank you so much! 🙂
Hi Hesper! Is it liquid? I am actually not too sure how it would be like without testing. If you end up trying, let us know how it goes. 🙂
It’s actually a paste! I’ll let you know if i do end up trying! 😀
Oh that’s good, it should work. Keep me posted and good luck! 🙂
I have all the ingredients to make these, however, they make a lot of cookies….and they only store for 1 or 2 days?? Did i read that right? So whatevers not eaten after a day or two should be disposed of?
Hi Amy! They are thin and small cookies (not American size). I’ve changed to 3 days in the recipe. To taste the good quality cookies, they should be eaten within 3 days while they are best, but can be eaten up till 7 days. It’s just that they are not at its best.
Do you think it would work to replace the almond meal with regular flour for those with nut allergies?
Hi Olivia! I haven’t tried that so I’m not sure if you can swap the ingredient without adjusting the amount. It’ll be less crisp but should work. 🙂
Absolutely fabulous and easy recipe! Cookies came out so delicious that my 2 year old toddler and my husband started fighting over the last piece.
Hi Seva! I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback. 🙂 xoxo
Can I use flour to replace almond flour? If so is it by 1:1 ratio? I don’t have almond flour and would like to make it but free.
Hmmm. You probably can, but I haven’t tried it, so I can’t be too sure… If you try, let us know how it goes. The texture will definitely change though. 🙂
Hi Naomi,
I ended up adding 40g of sesame to your butter cookie (Hato Sabure) recipe and it worked out beautifully! Will definitely make it again. Thanks for both of your recipes!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Connie! Glad it worked out! 🙂
No thank you for two delicious recipes NAMI!
Hi Nami
Thank you so much for the recipe! I made them into bitesize cookies and they’re all gone from the jar within the next day. I’ve used black sesame powder and white sesame seeds. Love the flavor and they lingers on my palate 😉
Hi TsuAnn! Aww I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you so much for trying my recipe! 🙂
Hi Nami,
thank you for all these delicious recipes! Our family has been trying one at least once a week 🙂
for black sesame cookies, can almond flour be substituted with regular or other non-nut flour? I’d like to make it for new year’s party but some people are allergic to nuts.
thanks,
Sara
Hi Sara! You can (but yields different texture of the cookies, less crisp without almond flour/meal), but I haven’t tried it and I’m not sure if you can simply swap. The dough may not come together… you probably need to play a bit to see if you need more wet ingredients or less flour… Sorry I wish I could help more.
Hello Nami, really love your blog and wanted to try out this sesame cookies. I have a question regarding one of the ingredients. You recipe calls for: 40 g white and black sesame seeds (roasted/toasted) (1.4 oz). My understanding would be 20 g white and 20 g black sesame seeds. Is it correct?
Hi Sue! Oh my goodness! No, these are Black Sesame Cookies, and not white sesame seeds included (You could but that’s not my intention). Thanks for catching this mistake. I did some editing ingredients in my master ingredient list recently, and somehow black sesame seeds got changed to white and black sesame seeds!!!! SO glad you caught this and let me know. All my black sesame seed recipe could be messed up… THANK YOU again!!!!
Hi! I made this and it tastes amazing but the dough sort of fell apart when I was trying to make it (didn’t stay together sorta has cracks in it). Any guesses what I did wrong? I measured it all out with a scale and I thought I followed everything to the T.
Hi Christian! Hmmm… Honestly, I’m not too sure. Since you used a scale, the only difference is the ingredients themselves and how we make it. How dry was it? You can increase the wet ingredients slightly if it’s really dry… but I live in California (dry!) so yours shouldn’t be dry compared to mine…
I made these last week following the recipe exactly, and they’re delicious! My friends loved them! They’re light and buttery and barely sweet. My cookies came out very small, which was fine for my purposes, but I may try doing one larger log next time. Think I might also add half the sesame seeds later, so they’re not *all* blended into the cookie and to give a little texture.
Hi Ro! Thank you for trying this recipe! I love the idea of adding half of the sesame seeds later on! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. 🙂 xo
I’ve just attempted this. My dough is completely dry and crumbly. It is very difficult to put it together into a ball and the color is much lighter than yours. What is going on? Should I add another egg yolk?
Hi Eri! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m not too sure what could be the reason. Maybe a slight difference in dry/wet ingredients? I use a large egg yolk? I think another egg yolk is a bit too much. A little bit of butter and egg yolk might help? I know this recipe has been made quite often especially during the holidays in the past years (through Instagram and emails), and so far I received only 2-3 feedback mentioning the dry dough. I think, most of the cases, people have no issues. I’ll continue to keep an eye on everyone’s results to see if I should step in to make any changes.
The darkness of color could be due to the almond meal? I used almond meal instead of almond flour (which is lighter because of no almond skin included). You can use either almond meal or almond flour for this recipe.
As usual this was an excellent recipe from Nami. When I mixed all the ingredients together the dough was a little dry and needed some liquid to bring it all together. I added 1 1/2 tablespoons of Oat-Milk and then everything came together perfectly. The end result was perfect. Not too sweet and with a mild nutty flavor and great crumb.
Hi Gerard! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m glad additional milk helped the dry dough. 🙂
Thanks! I’ve tried at least a dozen of your recipes now and I love them all! This is the easiest cookie recipe I’ve ever followed, they go really well with a cup of earl gray tea
Hi James! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for trying all my recipes. You’ve made my day! 🙂
Hi Nami!
I’ve been hoping to make cookies out of the black sesame paste I have at home. Could I still make these cookies with the paste? If so, what would you recommend tweaking about this recipe?
Thank you!
Hi Stephanie! Since black sesame paste is more like a wet (and oily) ingredient, I can’t guess the measurement without testing it myself. 🙁 I’m sorry…
Hi Nami! I can’t wait to try these! My son is allergic to nuts so my question is can I substitute the almond flour with something else?
Hi Debbie! You can make it with 100% flour if you like. 🙂
These were great! Made them for my Japanese coworkers at my school and they enjoyed them. They asked me for the recipe, so now I’m translating it 🙂
I didn’t have almond meal, so I finely ground up almonds with a blender and it worked just fine. I also didn’t have a food processor, so I made sure to combine the cold butter really well with my hands, as you would with pie dough. I found it easier to combine the egg yolk with my hands and knead the dough instead of using a spatula or spoon. Turned out nice and crispy still.
Thanks for this yummy recipe, Nami!
Hi Megan! Aww thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing this recipe with your Japanese coworkers! And thanks for sharing your helpful tip with us, too! 🙂
Hi Nami, I am excited to try this recipe because my mother loves black sesame. Do you have a recommendation how I should pack and mail them? Will they keep (it may take about a week to reach her)
Thankyou!
Hi Emma! Hmm Definitely airtight package works best. And ask her to toast them before enjoying them when she received them.
thank you!
Do you think a little almond extract would be good in these cookies? Is it too inauthentic to the recipe? I just love almond extract in literally everything, so had to ask 🙂
Hi Jade! Hahahaha! Sure, if you like, but I use almond flour for the texture, not so much about flavor. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! Turned out so good…can’t believe I made them! Thank you Nami.
Hi Namita! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Nami-san, disappointed with the recipe. I followed the instructions to the letter except I doubled the recipe and used margarine instead (which shouldn’t make a difference). I used a machine and the dough did not really come together. I then kneaded with hands – it was very crumbly. I put into cling film which made it easier to roll into a log but it was still breaking apart. I then refridgerated for 1.5 hours and when I went to cut, crumbled like sand.
Hi Andrew! You can do your own research on this topic, but DO NOT substitute margarine for butter. It does not work for butter cookies like this. Margarine is made from vegetable oil (among other things), meaning the fat used doesn’t solidify the way butter does, meaning there’s not just less flavor, but the lack of “solid” fat inhibits tenderness and flakiness and contributes to spreading. This recipe is tested many times it’s published and made by many of my readers, especially during Christmas and Chinese New Year time. Please give it a try with butter. I’m confident that you will succeed unless you make different substitutions or do not follow my recipe. Best wishes and good luck, Andrew!
Nami-san, thank you for your reply re margarine. I did not know it could not be substituted in this recipe. In the end, the cookies turned out well and tasty, just a crumbly mess when it came to roll them. Thank you for all your recipes and your wonderful blog. Andrew
I’m glad they came out okay! Thank you for letting me know and for your kind words. 🙂
I usually cut down the sugar in dessert recipes but you mentioned that the cookies are not too sweet. Glad I followed the recipe exactly as the cookies are absolutely delicious!!
Hi Freda! Japanese (and Asian) dessert recipes are not too sweet, so you can probably do not need to adjust the amount of sugar (in most cases). 🙂 Thanks so much for trying this recipe and I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
How do I make it less dry? It also didn’t have any crisp. I followed the recipe but used almond flour instead of almond meal.
Hi Chris! Thanks for trying this recipe! Is it possible that your cookie was undercooked or your oven temperature was not optimal? Any substitute you made to the recipe?
So delicious and the texture is wonderful too! I think the almond meal really helps temper the flour make the texture nice and tender, while still crisp. Great recipe, thank you for sharing it. Next time I might try using a few sprinkles of water to help my dry ingredients and butter come together in the food processor next if it needs it. It was sandy and didn’t seem to be coming together at first, but I just kept pulsing and it did at last.
Hi Dorothy! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for trying it out! And I’m glad to hear the cookie dough came together by pulsing it. 🙂
My cookies all melted and joined together!! I let them rest for the hour and the next batch I am gonna put in the freezer – any more advice on what I could do?
Hi Giovanna! You need to make sure the cookies are chilled before putting into the oven. These butter cookies melt too quickly if the cookies are warm/room temp when you put them into the oven. They should be chilled so that they go inside the oven and stay in shape until the surface is firm. 🙂
Hi,
I notice some of the butter cookie recipes you make (e.g- miso butter cookies) use a whole egg, whereas others (e.g- green tea cookies, this recipe) use just the egg yolk. Separating the egg always feels a bit wasteful (no judgement, just personal feeling given that I’m unlikely to use it, even if I freeze it). I scrolled through comments a fair way to see if anyone had already asked if you can just use the whole egg. A fair number of people mentioned their recipe was a bit dry, and generally the advice seemed to be add another egg yolk. Sorry to ask, is there a reason we shouldn’t just use the whole egg?
Sorry for a rather long- winded way to ask this question.
Hi Liliana! I think this article helps to answer your question with great images.
https://www.cotta.jp/special/article/?p=2662 (Please use google chrome to translate to English).
Just as an update to my first comment, I used a whole egg (not separated) and it turned out perfectly! Crispy but not too dry or crumbly. I think I’ll keep doing that in the future.
Thanks for the article and recipe. 🙂
Hi Liliana! Thank you so much for your feedback! 🙂
Hi I was planning to make these. Do you have measurements in cup, teaspoon of tablespoon instead of grams?
Hi Donna! This is one of my old recipes and back then I wasn’t providing both cups and grams. All my new recipes provide both. Usually, I use a kitchen scale to make baked goods so that every time is precise. A lot of people compress flour into a cup and everyone’s flour amount varies, so I prefer using a kitchen scale for the best result. 🙂 When I update this recipe one day, I’ll measure with cups and provide the amount. I’m sorry I can’t provide at this time.
this recipe was so good! i did the following in case anyone else also needs to make these adjustments, but my cookies still turned out great:
– i have a family member who can’t eat a lot of sugar, so i only used 25g of sugar
– i don’t have a food processor. i grinded my black sesame seeds in a little nutribullet first. make sure to get all the remaining seed mixture which sticks to the knives! later, i also added my entire mix to a blender. i took the mix out to incorporate the egg yolk
– i left my dough in the fridge overnight before baking, and they taste great <3
thank you so much for this recipe! i'm excited to bring some to a friend and to my sister when i visit her too. hope you have a great day.
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and sharing your detailed baking experience with us! Hohpe your sister and friend enjoy these cookies too. Thanks again for your kind feedback, Emily!
Hi Nami, may i know whether you used a convection or conventional setting to bake these cookies?
Hi Jasmine! I have both convection and conventional settings in my oven, but I use conventional for all my recipes as some people don’t have a convection mode. If you use convection mode, make sure to reduce -25 ºF. Most of the American websites use a conventional unless it states otherwise. 🙂
Thanks! The cookies look so yummy, i’ll try it out!
Hope you enjoy the recipe. 🙂
Hi nami, if the dough feels dry, do i add more egg yolk, milk or butter?
Hi Leeping! Just to make sure, it’s a dry dough (see step 6)… is yours even drier? You have to kind of try to combine though. Have you tried measuring it with a kitchen scale? Maybe egg size etc may be slightly different. If it’s too dry to handle, add a bit of moisture in there. 🙂
Do you think this could be done without flour? Could I just use almond flour?
Thanks!
Hi Emiky! Yes, you can do that. The texture will be slightly different… but possible. 🙂
Hi Nami, I made these today & it turned out perfectly 🙂 so nutty and delicious! I used a whole egg as I didn’t want to waste the egg white & it was still good.
Thank you for all your consistently good recipes!
Hi Carol! Wonderful to hear that. Thank you so much for your kind feedback!!!
Can I substitute the semame seeds with black sesame paste? If so, same weight?
Hi Leo,
We’ve never had a chance to make this recipe with black sesame paste. The color will be darker, and paste is considered more wet ingredient than dry ingredient, so we’re not sure how it will turn out. Please let us know how it went if you ended up trying!