Black Sesame Cookies

Name: Black Sesame Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 ¾ cups (210g) all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon baking soda; ½ teaspoon coarse salt; 1 stick dairy free butter; ⅓ cup tahini; ½ cup (110g) brown sugar; ½ cup (107g) sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds + 2 tablespoons for rolling; 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds + 2 tablespoons for rolling; 1 cups dark chocolate chips

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A close up of a black sesame cookie with dark chocolate chips and flecks of sea salt.

Why you’ll love these black sesame cookies

Thanks to the sesame seeds, you can get a mellow, nutty flavor without any nuts. Perfect for guests with nut allergies.

I use tahini and sesame often, but I find that recipes usually only call for small amounts. I love that this recipe is yet another way to use them.

A stack of fresh baked cookies, with cookies surrounding and on a cooling rack in the background.

Here’s what you’ll need to make it

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Electric mixer

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Large cookie scoop

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measuring spoons

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Ingredients & substitutions

Black sesame seeds – Make sure you aren’t getting any sesame seeds with seasoning for this recipe. I have found smoked black sesame seeds, which I love to savory recipes, but that’s not what you want here.
White sesame seeds – They don’t need to be toasted, but I had ones that were already toasted on hand when we made these cookies, and they were wonderful.
Tahini – This is sesame paste. I usually find it in my organic or international section of my grocery store. You don’t want any other ingredients listed, just sesame seeds.
Dark chocolate chips – You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips too, but I like the deep chocolate flavor that dark chips add to the cookies. Make sure they’re dairy free if you need them to be.
Dairy free butter – To make this recipe dairy free, I used a stick of Earth Balance. You can use whatever works for your diet, vegan or traditional dairy butter will work.

Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.

How to make black sesame cookies

Mise en place. Measure out all of your ingredients before starting. Then, preheat your oven to 350˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl. This helps distribute the baking soda to make sure the cookies rise and spread evenly. Set aside.

Cream the fat and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat the vegan butter with the sugars until light and airy.

Mix in the wet ingredients. Add the tahini and continue to beat until smooth. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract, and continue mixing until combined.

Cookies scattered on a counter, one of them with a bite taken out of it.

Combine everything. Add the flour mixture to the mixer in increments (about 1/2-3/4 cup at a time), scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Once the flour is mixed in, add the sunflower seeds and chocolate chips.

Roll the dough. Mix 2 tablespoons of each sesame seed in a bowl. Then, scoop the dough into 2 tablespoons-sized balls – I like to use a cookie scoop to get consistent sizes. Roll each dough ball in the mixture of sesame seeds and transfer to your prepared cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies. Working in batches, bake the cookies for 13 – 15 minutes, or until the cookies starting to turn golden brown on the edges and the tops are set.

If you prefer your cookies chewy, make sure to take them out before you think they’re going to be done. They might not be completely golden, just set on top.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Everything you need to know about sesame cookies

Should sesame seeds be toasted before baking?

You do not need to toast the sesame seeds before baking. The baking process will create the toasted flavors without the extra step.

Do black sesame seeds taste different than white?

Black sesame seeds are nuttier, sharper flavor than white sesame seeds, but they do taste very similar.

A hand holding a cookie showing the sesame seeds coating the outside.

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