Soft Black Sesame Sugar Cookies
These melt-in-your-mouth black sesame sugar cookies are incredibly soft with hints of nutty, earthy flavors. The dough is made with black sesame powder and comes together within 5 minutes.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The cookies are so soft and melt-in-your-mouth. They have the same soft texture as those typical grocery store sugar cookies that we all know and love.
- It’s perfect for black sesame lovers. This recipe uses black sesame powder, which adds delicious nutty, earthy notes to plain sugar cookies.
- You won’t need any special equipment. Simply mix everything in one bowl with a spatula, scoop, and bake.
Interested in more black sesame recipes? Try out my white chocolate black sesame cookies or black sesame chia pudding with Oreos!
Ingredients
To make the best black sesame sugar cookies from scratch, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Using melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough really easy to mix by hand. Plus, it helps yield super soft cookies.
- I used black sesame powder, which is the star of this recipe! It adds a unique depth of flavor, making the cookies taste nutty and earthy.
- Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and rise we’re aiming for!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
- If you have them on hand, you can sprinkle the cookie dough with black sesame seeds (not pictured) right before baking.
- To decorate the cookies into bears, I used white and milk/dark chocolate melting wafers. Alternatively, you can use chocolate chips or candy melts.
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- For rounder cookies, place a larger circular cutter or mug on a freshly baked cookie. Move it in a circular motion. This “cookie scoot” helps create perfectly round cookies for a more aesthetic look. However, it’s not necessary and purely for pretty plating purposes. 🙂
How to Make Soft Black Sesame Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Mix sugars, melted butter, and black sesame powder until combined.
Step 2: Stir in egg and vanilla until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until no dry spots remain.
Step 3: Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough, then roll into granulated sugar. Place cookie dough balls on lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart and optionally sprinkle on black sesame seeds. To make bear ears (also optional!), take about 1 teaspoon of dough, split it into 2, and roll them in sugar. Place them on the top left and right sides of the cookie dough ball.
Step 4: Bake at 350°F/177°C for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on sheet for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. Use melted chocolates to add bear faces.
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
“I can’t believe how soft these cookies are. The black sesame adds such a nice flavor!” – taste tester
Black Sesame Sugar Cookie FAQs
Black sesame is similar to white sesame, but is much more nuttier and toastier in flavor. It can come in the form of whole seeds, powders, or even as a paste.
Black sesame is commonly used in Asian cuisines and balances well with the sweetness of desserts.
In an airtight container at room temperature, they can last up to 5 days. See the storage section to learn how to keep these cookies long-term.
Yes, but it won’t be a sugar cookie anymore! You can add about ½ cup of mix-ins, like chocolate chips, M&M’s, etc. You can also check out another recipe I have—brown butter black sesame cookies with white chocolate chunks.
Storage
- Room temperature: Store cooled black sesame cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
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Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe
Soft Black Sesame Sugar Cookies
Equipment
- 1 small plate for rolling dough in sugar or sprinkles
- 1 medium mixing bowl for dry ingredients
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing dough
- 1 silicone spatula
- 1 Medium cookie scoop 2-3 tablespoon capacity
- Parchment Paper
- 2 small microwave-safe bowls, optional for bear design
- 2 Piping bags optional for bear design
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) brown sugar light or dark, packed
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) black sesame powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract or paste
- 1 (1) egg
For rolling/topping:
- 3 tablespoons (48 g) granulated sugar
- black sesame seeds optional
Decoration for face:
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) milk or dark chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons (44.36 g) white chocolate chips
- pink/red oil-based food coloring see steps
Instructions
For the cookie dough:
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon salt.
- In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted ½ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup brown sugar, and 3 tablespoons black sesame powder until combined.
- Add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
- Dump in all of the dry ingredients and mix until no dry spots remain.
Scoop & bake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl or plate, add 3 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the cookie dough balls.
- For regular sugar cookies, use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (about 2-3 tablespoons each). Roll into granulated sugar and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart. Optionally sprinkle on a few black sesame seeds. If they do not stick, lightly press them into the dough.
- For bear sugar cookies, take about 1 tsp of dough, split it in 2, and roll them in granulated sugar. Place them on top left and right sides of a cookie dough ball on the baking sheet. Repeat for other bears, spacing the cookies about 3 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes. Let cool on pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack. Let cool completely.TIP: For rounder cookies, place a larger circular cutter or mug on a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it in a circular motion. This "cookie scoot" helps create perfectly round cookies for a more aesthetic look. However, it’s not necessary and purely for pretty plating purposes. 🙂
For the bear faces (optional):
- Note: You can a piping bag, toothpick, or cookie scribe to add on the details. I used piping bags.
- Add 3 tablespoons white chocolate chips to small microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until fully melted.
- Leave about a tablespoon of melted white chocolate and transfer the rest to a piping bag. Use this for the snouts and ears.
- To the remaining white chocolate, add a drop of pink/red oil-based food coloring. Transfer to piping bag and use this for the blush.If you don't have oil-based food coloring, then the chocolate will seize/become lumpy. To counter this, stir in a tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable) at a time, until it becomes smooth again.
- Melt 1 tablespoon milk or dark chocolate chips in another bowl, transfer to piping bag, and use this to draw on the eyes and nose.
- Enjoy!
Notes
-
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- For a richer molasses flavor, use dark brown sugar. Otherwise, light brown sugar works well, too.
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
This recipe is very easy to make and one of the ways to use up my huge bag of black sesame powder! All of my friends who tried a cookie loved it—even if they never even had black sesame before.