The Easiest Black Sesame Cookies
These black sesame cookies are super easy and packed full of flavor. Only three ingredients, they are thick and chunky like peanut butter cookies, with a naturally striking gray color and nutty black sesame flavor. Edit 2025: I made a major rehaul of this recipe to make it even easier. Plus, they are now naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.
Recipe Update: Easier Than Ever!
Black sesame cookies are back BETTER THAN EVER! I recently went through a series of 3 or 4 ingredient cookies, learning more about using nut butters and nut flours in baking. I had no idea before, but you can make cookies without any all purpose flour using a ground nuts or seeds. Mind blown. Immediately I knew I had to come back and update this recipe to make it easier and, dare I say, healthier? Nuts and seeds naturally contain fats that keep the cookie dough tender, which means you also don’t need to add any butter. So now, not only is the recipe gluten-free, it’s also dairy-free. AND you don’t need a stand mixer or have to worry about creaming your butter. The only equipment you’ll need is a blender or food processor, but even then, you could skip that by buying store-bought black sesame paste if you wanted.
AND! FURTHERMORE! You don’t need any leavening agent – no baking powder or baking soda. Whaaaat? I know. These nut/seed flour cookies are magic.
Read more below on ingredient substitutions and options for these cookies, but please give this new version a try!
What is Black Sesame?
Like the name implies, black sesame is a type of sesame seed that is naturally black. I find the flavor of black sesame to be much stronger and… earthier(?) than white sesame seeds. It’s almost got a roasty… toasty… flavor. Okay, I’m obviously really struggling to find the right words here. You just have to taste it for yourself.
Black sesame is a common ingredient in Asian desserts. You can find it in traditional desserts like Chinese tang yuan, deep fried in rice balls (jian dui), and in more modern desserts like in soft serve ice cream (one of my favorites).
Grinding Black Sesame Seeds Vs. Paste
For some of my other black sesame recipes, I call for a commercially made paste. Store-bought paste, also sometimes called black tahini or basically a black sesame seed spread/butter) is much smoother than paste you can make at home by grinding your own black sesame seeds. My blender is just not good enough to eliminate all the grittiness. HOWEVER, for cookies, it doesn’t matter! You don’t need to blend into a fully liquid spread. You’re actually just trying to get it to be similar to almond flour. I like to think of the texture similar to wet sand, if that doesn’t gross you out.
If you don’t have a blender or food processor, you can still use store-bought paste, it’s just about twice as expensive as buying the seeds. So I try to reserve it for when I really need it. Both seeds and paste are available online but you will find a much better price if you can find it in store at your local Asian market (if you have one).
Can I Reduce the Sugar?
Someone always asks me this, but reduce sugar at your own peril. The more you reduce the sugar, the more loose and wet your dough will be. I recommend using powdered sugar instead of granulated and reducing by only 1/4-1/2 cup maximum.
Nut Butter Cookies Don’t Spread in Oven
This black sesame cookie recipe is really a type of nut butter cookie. The black sesame paste acts in a similar way to peanut butter or almond butter. If you’ve ever made flourless cookies with peanut or almond butter, you’ll know they don’t really spread in the oven.
If you’d like to achieve a typical cookie appearance, you’ll need to flatten these cookies yourself. You can use a mason jar or even your fingers to flatten the black sesame cookie balls either before baking or while they are hot, straight out of the oven. If you want, you could press a fork into the cookies to create a crosshatch pattern, like the common design for peanut butter cookies.
Right out of the oven, the cookies will be extremely soft. You’ll be tempted to keep them in the oven longer. Don’t! As long as they look slightly puffed up, they’re done. They will solidify after cooling. Remember that the only ingredient that really needs to cook is the egg. Without flour, the resulting texture of this cookie is fairly soft and a little crumbly. It’s not quite chewy, but it’s definitely less crisp than my previous recipe, which seems to appeal to American bakers. I myself, much prefer this texture.
Make Wizard of Oz Tin Man Cookies
Want to make “Tin Man” cookies for a Wicked movie night? Or a Wizard of Oz party? These are perfect! They’re naturally gray with no artificial colorings or flavors (I don’t like to add any vanilla extract so it doesn’t take away from the black sesame flavor). Simply press a single heart sprinkle onto each cookie before it bakes. That’s it. Tada! So easy.
Other Ways to Use Up Black Sesame Seeds and Paste
Check out these other black sesame recipes!
Let me know what you think if you try it, or if you’ve got other fun ideas for black sesame desserts!
Easy Black Sesame Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups black sesame seeds, 240g
- 2 cups powdered sugar, 200g
- 1 large egg
- heart sprinkles, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 baking trays with silicone or parchment paper.
- Put black sesame seeds in a blender or food processor and blend until mixture has the texture of wet sand.
- Transfer ground black sesame to a mixing bowl and add the powdered sugar. Whisk well to combine.
- Add egg mix well until a dough forms.
- Scoop 2 tbsp balls of dough onto your baking sheets (A cookie scoop works well for this). Use your fingers to slightly flatten the cookie dough balls. Alternatively, you can also use the back of a fork to press a cross hatch pattern onto the cookies.
- Optional: If using sprinkle hearts to create Wizard of Oz tin man cookies, press a red or pink heart sprinkle onto the surface of each cookie.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until cookies look slightly puffed up. They will look very soft coming out of the oven but after cooling will solidify and easily lift from the parchment paper.
- Leftover cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
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These were absolutely delicious. Love that they are chewy and if you cook them for a minute or so longer, they will crisp a little on the edges and still be soft and chewy in the middle. I used the bottom of a glass to flatten. I also used a sesame spread that I got from Costco which is already sweetened so I used only 1 1/4 cups of sugar and could possible go even less. These are really good! Definitely make them!
Thank you for this recipe, and thank you D for your comment! I think I got the same paste from Costco, so your note was helpful! I did 1/2c each of white and brown sugar instead of 1 1/2c white.
Added chocolate chips and walnuts, used a silicone mat and lightly flattened the balls with a fork before baking and did 12 min per batch. A bit crispy on the outside and soft inside. Perfect!! We’ve already eaten way too many
That sounds amazing! I may need to follow your adjustments next time.
Made these yesterday and thought they were pretty tasty! Texturally, I liked the chew and the black sesame paste flavor all throughout. I did follow the recipe as is with the 1 TBSP of Baking Powder and thought it was fine.
Where did you get your heart sprinkles?
Trader Joe’s!
I can’t find the black sesame paste. Can I use the black sesame powder with no sugar instead? How do I incorporate the black sesame powder to use with your recipe?