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 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, an 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!
More Easy Holiday Cookies You’ll Love:
- Matcha Green Tea Cookies
- Butter Cookies
- Cherry Blossom Cookies
- Meyer Lemon Cookies
- Chinese Almond Cookies
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Black Sesame Cookies
Ingredients
- 120 g unsalted butter (½ cup (8 Tbsp, 1 stick) + ½ Tbsp)
- 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (weigh your flour; for weights, click the Metric button; or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 40 g almond meal (¼ cup + 4 tsp; I used Trader Joe‘s almond meal)
- 6 Tbsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 5 Tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
- 1 large egg yolk (use only the yolk for the most crumbly, rich, and crisp texture; you can add the whole egg, but the final texture will be different)
Instructions
- Before You Start: Gather all the ingredients. I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. For weights, click the Metric button above. 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
- Cut 120 g unsalted butter (½ cup + ½ Tbsp) into small cubes. Keep them refrigerated until ready to use (I cut it on parchment paper and wrap up the butter for easy transfer).
- In a food processor, combine 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), 40 g almond meal (¼ cup + 4 tsp), 6 Tbsp sugar, and ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you don’t have a food processor, you can simply use a bowl to mix all the ingredients.
- If you want a finer texture for your 5 Tbsp toasted black sesame seeds, add them now to the food processor. If you prefer to keep them whole, add them later with the egg yolk.
- Take out the butter from the refrigerator, add to the food processor, and mix together. If you use a regular bowl to mix, use a dough/pastry blender to combine the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Lastly, add 1 large 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.
To Roll and Chill the Dough
- Put the dough on your work surface. Form it into a ball and divide into 2 equal portions.
- Roll each portion into a log approximately 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. For me, it’s easier to work the dough when it is wrapped in plastic wrap. While rolling, unwrap some parts of the plastic wrap, then roll again. Form a nice shape.
- Wrap the logs tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, for at least 1 hour (you can put them in the freezer to speed up the process as well). Tip: You can place the dough logs on a bed of raw rice to prevent them from becoming flat on the bottom.
To Bake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). For a convection oven, reduce the cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Remove the plastic wrap and cut the dough into discs about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. If you prefer thicker cookies, cut into discs about ½ inch (1.3 cm) for a total of 20 thick cookies.
- Place them on 2 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 it‘s time to bake.
- 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.
To Store
- Store cookies in an airtight container. Enjoy the cookies within 3 days while they are freshest, or keep them in the freezer for up to a month.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on December 13, 2012. The content has been updated in January 2020.
This is such an amazing recipe.. so easy and delicious! I’d like to try an Earl Grey (with lavender?) variation. Any suggestions about how to modify?
Hi Mary, Thank you very much for your kind feedback!
We haven’t tried modifying this recipe with Earl Grey before, but you can try 1 Tbsp of Earl Grey and 1 Tbsp of hot water (mix both and add to the batter) instead of black sesame. We hope this helps!
How many calories per cookie?
Hi Ri, It’s approximately 53 kcal per cookie. We hope this helps!
hi,
i;ve been using this recipe for a couple of years now and all of a sudden all the quantities are changed … not happy. if you are going to rewrite recipes could you please give the old quantities for those of us who rely on them. thank you so much in advance and god bless. greetings from australia
Hi irini! Thank you very much for using this recipe for a long time! We are sorry to hear that you thought we had changed the recipe.
Due to our recent website update, now the recipes are including US customary and metric units. Please click the “US customary or Metric” key next to the ingredients list. We hope this helps, and you can continue making your favorite cookies.🙂
The photos showed pretty skinny logs, but the instructions say to roll out the logs to 2 inches diameter. 2 inches diameter of the logs are only 3 inches long. That will make about 20 1/4”thickness cookies. Your recipe however states that it yields 40 cookies. Can you please confirm the recommended diameter for the logs?
Hi Ana, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! The diameter of this cookie is approximately 2″, and yields are approximately 40.
It depends on how thick you would like to cut and how many cookies you would like to make. You can change the diameter. So, if you would like to make 1/4″ thickness of 40 cookies, you can make 2 of 5″ long logs. The diameter will be around 1.5~2″. We hope this helps!
Thank you for your kind reply! Perhaps I didn’t phrase my question clearly enough. With the quantity of the ingredients given in the recipe I am only able to make one log 2″ diameter which is 3″ long. I really don’t see how with the quantity of ingredients you can make to 5″ long logs that are 2″ diam. A 3″ log that I was able to make yielded 20 1/4″ thick, 2″ diam cookies – half the quantity that your recipe says it will yield. So you mean just wanted to double-check the quantity of 40 cookies stated in the recipe. The intense sesame taste is wonderful! Thank you!
Hi Ana, No problem! We are glad to hear you enjoyed the intense sesame taste!☺️
Hi Nami! This is an excellent recipe and probably the most requested one by my friends and family. I’ve been baking this since 2015!
Question. Would this work with matcha? I’m thinking of substituting the sesame for matcha. I love the texture of this cookie but want to add some variation. Would the removal of sesame seeds change the texture of the cookie? Thank you in advance for your response.
Hi 1Happymama, Wow! since 2015! Thank you very much for using this recipe and for your long time support!
Ok… Matcha version, removing all the sesame seeds may make a difference in the texture, and add 5 Tbsp of Matcha to this recipe may be overwhelming with Match flavor unless that is what you are looking for. Maybe 2-1/2 Tbsp ~ 3 Tbsp of Match may work better? And if you like the sesame seeds texture, add 2 Tbsp of sesame seeds? Let us know how it goes!😋
Hello
I’m wondering if recipe works with coconut flour to replace the all purpose flour, since I’m on a keto diet. The ratio is 3/4 coconut flour to 1 cup flour
Hi Irene, We have never tried Coconut flour for this recipe before and do not know how the outcome will be… Please let us know how it goes!
I just made these with gluten-free flour from Trader Joes and one egg and they came out wonderfully! Thank you 🙂
Hi Ilka, Thank you very much for trying this recipe and sharing your baking experience with us! We are glad to hear you enjoyed it!🙂
I can’t wait to try to recipe with Chinese New Year coming up!
Would it make a big difference if I grind the black sesame seeds into a paste instead of keeping them whole? How would that change the texture of the cookie?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Ivana, It will not change the texture so much. Thank you for trying this recipe!
Are used to live in Hawaii on the island of Oahu In Chinatown they had those sesame cookies so delicious when you showed it to me it brought back memories also thank you for the recipe I’m gonna try and make it My granddaughter What kind of containers do I need to put it in can I freeze the dough?
Hi June, Thank you very much for trying this recipe. You can use an airtight container (glass, plastic, etc.), and it can be freeze. We hope this cookie tastes delicious as the one in Hawaii!😊
Ohhh, that looks delicious! I’m definitely going to try it. Thanks!
Hi Long, Thank you for trying this recipe!
Hi I love black sesame thank you for this recipe! can I use almond flour instead of almond meal?
Hi Allis, The cookies’ texture will be a little bit different, but you can definitely use almond flour. Thank you for trying this recipe!
I love that these aren’t like your standard cooking. Definitely trying these.
Hi Susan, Thank you very much for your kind feedback! We hope you enjoy this cookie!
I want to try making the black sesame cookies. Is almond meal the same as almond flour? Do u use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients rather than a normal measuring cup? How do u measure 2.6 or 5.8 oz if I don’t have a kitchen scale?
Hi Amy, The Almond meal and Almond Flour are slightly different, and Almond flour is finer than Almond meal (slightly coarser). If you are using a kitchen scale, we recommend using the Metric system. (Click “US Customary – Metric” at the end of the ingredients list) We hope this helps!
These cookies sound delicious! But what if I don’t have a kitchen scale?
Hi Wanda, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are currently updating the website and installing the new plugin. If you click “US Customary – Metric” at the end of the ingredients list, it will give you a US cup size, and we hope this helps. However, please see notes next to the ingredients TO BE PRECISE if you measure ingredients with a cup. For example, instead of 1/4 cup of Almond meal (that’s only a 30 g of Almond meal), you need 1/4 cup + 4 tsp. (Trader joe’s that Nami used say 1/4 cup is 30 g, and we need 40 g for the recipe.)
Using a kitchen scale is most accurate, especially for Nami’s baking recipes, and we strongly recommend getting a kitchen scale for better results!
Thank you for trying this recipe!
As others stated my dough was dry, I doubled the recipe, I used a scale and xl egg yolks, I added 1 extra egg yolk because it wouldn’t hold together. So I hope it will bake right when I bake it tomorrow.
But a lot of people have said it was too dry and I feel it was too.
With the extra egg yolk it came together nicely and tasted good so I home they turn out.
Hi Kimberly, Thank you very much for trying this recipe! We are glad to hear you were able to work out and made tasty cookies! This dough needs to mix for quite a long time and needs patience until all the ingredients are incorporate. A piece of advice is that the egg yolk will make the cookie more crumbly, so next time, try to mix a little longer than this time, and you may not need to add extra egg yolk. Happy Baking!