Black Sesame Sandies Best Dessert Recipe

Black Sesame Sandies

Black Sesame A delicious twist on shortbread. Aside from using sesame oil in my savory cooking, I hadn’t paid much mind to sesame for most of my life other than enjoying some seeds atop my hamburger bun.

That is until I had a fortuitous brush with the sesame bomb known as halva- accidentally/fatefully grabbing a block when I meant to snatch a candy bar-and fell deeply in love.

Then sesame, ground to a paste in the form of tahini, became a go-to ingredient in my baking and opened a whole world of nutty flavor to me.

These sesame Sandies carry that sesame love into Cookieland. A drizzle of sesame oil in the dough adds yet another sesame dimension, and we are in business.

Ingredients:

282g unsalted butter 2½ sticks (20 T)

400g sugar 2 cups, divided

6g toasted sesame oil 1½ tsp

3g kosher salt ¾ tsp + more for

decorating

110g black sesame seeds ¾ cup

290g flour 2 cups

Instructions:

1. In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat and set aside undisturbed for 5 minutes to settle.

2. Use a spoon to skim off the milk solids (white foam) from the surface of the butter. Get as much as you can, but no need to be painstaking. Carefully pour the remaining clarified butter into a cup measure, leaving behind the buttermilk that has collected on the bottom. You should have about 1 cup of clarified butter.

3. In a bowl, combine the clarified butter, 200g (1 cup) of the sugar, the sesame oil, and salt in a bowl and set in the fridge to chill until solid, about 20 minutes.

4. Heat the oven to 350°F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a food processor or blender, grind the sesame seeds into a rough meal. Transfer to the lined pan and toast until aromatic and nutty, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool and turn off the oven.

Scrape the solidified butter/sugar mixture into a stand mixer fitted with the whisk. Whip on medium-high for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. 7. Unhook the mixing bowl from the stand mixer and add the flour and ground sesame seeds. Firmly knead the dough together by hand until crumbly but evenly mixed.

Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold the wrap over the dough and squeeze and mold it into a compact log about 2 inches wide and 6 inches long. Refrigerate until firm, a minimum of 2 hours. 

About 20 minutes before baking, heat the oven to 350°F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

Remove one log from the refrigerator and use your sharpest knife to cut it into ¼-inch-thick slices. Press any broken slices back together and place them on the lined pan, 1 inch apart. Repeat with the other log.

Bake at 350°F until the cookies appear dry on top without developing any color, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the remaining 200g (1 cup) sugar and 3 finger pinches of kosher salt.

Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the pans. Then carefully coat each cookie all the way around in the sugar/salt mixture.

Store in an airtight container. At room temperature, the cookies will keep fresh for 3 days. The dough logs can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for 1 month.