Neapolitan ice cream, a classic that combines 3 beloved flavors: strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. This crowd favorite appeals to many due to its unique combination of flavors and that fact that all 3 of them are just stuffed together! I wanted to diverge from this flavor profile and instead take a more asian approach to neapolitan. Out came the Japanese neapolitan, a combination of black sesame, matcha, and hojicha; flavors that, to this day, are readily abundant in Japanese sweets!
This basic sugar cookie recipe and idea for the sugar cookie swirl is adapted from Constellation Inspiration, another food blog! While in her recipe she uses vanilla, strawberry, and matcha, mine sticks to flavors that many of asian descent are already familiar with.
The swirl cookie is a perfect vessel for these flavors. Each of them are so distinct and are undeniably there when you first take a bite into the cookie, but they also mesh and meld so well together. The matcha is earthy, the hojicha is roasty-toasy, and the black sesame is just ever so slightly savory. All combined together in sugar cookie form, these flavors truly take a pack an asian flavor punch and leave you wanting more with each bite.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp matcha powder
- 2 tbsp hojicha powder
- 1 tbsp black sesame powder
- 1 tbsp black sesame paste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- In a large bowl, pour in the butter and both sugars and cream together until smooth
- In a small bowl, pour in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined
- Add the egg into the large bowl with the creamed butter and sugar and mix until fully incorporated
- Pour the dry ingredients from the small bowl, into the large bowl and mix until the flour mixture is thoroughly incorporated
- Divide the dough into 3 equal portions
- In one bowl of dough, combine the matcha powder and mix until incorporated
- In another bowl of dough, combine the hojicha powder and mix until incorporated
- In the last bowl of dough, combine the black sesame powder and black sesame paste and mix until incorporated
- Take a 1/2 tablespoon (will yield 24 cookies) of each dough and roll them into separate balls (1 tablespoon of each dough ball is also fine. This will yield 12 cookies and the baking time should be extended to 20 minutes)
- Then take all three dough balls and roll together, taking care to not smush or knead the dough balls together in order to keep each color distinct
- (Optional) roll the combined dough ball in a bowl of granulated sugar
- Place the dough balls onto a lined baking tray, with 2-3 inches apart from each other to allow the cookies to spread
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the sides are just lightly golden brown and remove from the oven
- Allow the cookies to cool in the tray for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack
