Black Sesame Cookies
For Christmas I was gifted a cute embossed rolling pin, and I've been real eager to use it! Now it's finally time, here we go!!!
| Ingredients |
|---|
| Bake Temp & Time: 350°F for 12-14 minutes. |
| Yield: Makes roughly two dozen cookies. |
Step one: Get your (presumably) sticks of butter to room temperature or, in case of said room being like... cold, get them to a decent-to-work-with temperature that isn't melted. Hold em a bit. Carry them around.
Once they're workable, put them in your mixing bowl with the sugar and beat them together at low to medium speed until nice and fluffy. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and beat again as needed. Then add your vanilla, egg yolks, and black sesame paste, then mix again until well incorporated. Remember to stir your black sesame paste well before measuring it out! You don't wanna just dump the separated oil or clumps in here.
Afterwards, add the salt and flour, and mix until it comes together. It should be decently workable, leaning on a little too workable while it leaves something of a buttery feel to your hands when collecting it out of the bowl. It may also look like cement, don't worry about it. Scrape out the dough, pat it down into a disk shape, then wrap it up in plastic wrap and put it to chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
When your dough is nearly done hanging out in the fridge, line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and start preheating your oven to 350°F.
Assess your dough situation. Does your fridge run too cold for the dough to be workable? Did you have to leave it in there for longer? Let your dough hang out until it's agreeable. Or cradle it and let your tender love warm it up, whichever.
Put aside some flour for dusting, and get your workspace situation sorted out. For my cookies: I used two rolling pins, including one that is embossed, and a cookie cutter that's roughly 3-4 inches in size. But at the very least you'll need a rolling pin and a means to cut out cookie shapes.
If you're going for an embossed pin situation: Dust your space with flour, then lightly dust and roll out the dough until it is just under 1/2 inch thick with a standard rolling pin. Then dust again, and do another pass with your patterned pin. If you're just using a typical rolling pin: aim for around 1/4 inch thickness before punching out your shapes. The dough may be a bit fragile when trying to lift onto the sheets, so I'd recommend having a spatula handy.
Place your cookies evenly on your cookie sheets and bake for 12 - 14 minutes. The cookies will take on a golden brown around the edges when they're done.
The Result
The cookies turned out perfectly tender, with a light crisp to them. They're mildly sweet, and the black sesame gives them a very nice little nutty and smoky flavor! They'll be great alongside a warm drink, but might be a bit mild on their own. (But sometimes that's what you want!) I'm considering punching them up with a little more salt next time. I wasn't sure how sweet the sesame paste was, so I ended up being cautious about flavor.
It was my first time using an embossed rolling pin, so I won't pretend y'all aren't seeing the second, nicer tray of cookies up there. A confident, single roll is key! You can't hesitate or double back, or else your cookie print will end up a bit... ambiguous.
1 I used a jar of black sesame paste that's already lightly sweetened for dessert purposes. So, depending on what you've got or where your tastes lie, you might want to consider upping the sugar level.[Return]
2 Once again, depending on where your tastes lie (mostly: if you're a sweet 'n salty fiend), consider adjusting this measurement to a higher level. Or perhaps even just sprinkling some bonus salt on these guys once they're fresh out of the oven. [Return]