Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies

I’ve honestly never been too big a fan of shortbread cookies, but these ones definitely helped to change my mind. They’re incredibly easy to make, have a great crumbly melt-in-your-mouth texture, and are packing in the toasted notes of black sesame. Another great plus is that they don’t taste too sweet at all!

(I also got some llama-shaped cookie cutters on sale at Target around December and haven’t used them since, so I decided to cut these shortbread cookies out with them and ended up really liking how they looked!)

What are shortbread cookies?

Shortbread cookies are Scottish cookies that have a characteristically crumbly and tender texture. This is a result of the fact that there really isn’t liquid in the recipe for the flour to interact with. There is a lot of fat, but since the gluten can’t activate with just that alone, the cookies don’t end up with a chewy texture and are instead crumbly when bitten into.

Since butter is a key ingredient in shortbread cookies, it helps to use a higher quality butter when making them. European butter is usually denser and has more fat so the cookies will end up tasting richer.

What does black sesame taste like?

Black sesame is one of my favorite flavors to use in my bakes! It’s incredibly nutty with really great toasted/roasted notes to it. At the same time, it’s also earthy and can come off as being slightly bitter to some people (but hopefully you won’t feel that way after trying these cookies). Most of the time I’ve seen black sesame come in three forms: straight-up black sesame seeds, black sesame powder, and black sesame paste.

This recipe calls for both black sesame powder and black sesame paste as I felt that they would be easier to incorporate into the dough this way, but if you’re inclined to use black sesame seeds themselves, feel free to add them in! The black sesame paste is really what gives these cookies that strong black sesame flavor and beautiful color though, so make sure to not skimp on that!

(Feel free to add an additional tablespoon of black sesame paste for a stronger black sesame flavor)

How to store them?

Shortbread cookies can actually last quite a while if they’re stored at room temperature in a sealed container! They’ll last about a week this way. Once baked, they also last in the freezer for about a month as well! If you don’t want to bake them right away then you can roll out the dough and store it in the fridge for about a week, or freeze the dough for at most a month before baking again!

Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies

ryanllee FacebookTweetPin I’ve honestly never been too big a fan of shortbread cookies, but these ones definitely helped to change my mind. They’re… Recipes Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies European Print This

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes 10 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 3.9/5

( 14 voted )

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup black sesame powder
• 1.5 tbsp black sesame paste
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Cream together the softened butter, black sesame paste, and powdered sugar
2. Sift in the flour and black sesame powder and mix to combine (don't overwork the dough)
3. Roll out the dough until ~1/4 inch thick
4. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
5. Preheat the oven to 350F during this time
6. Cut out the cookies and then bake for ~10 minutes or until the sides just start to turn golden brown
7. Allow to cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!