These black sesame shortbread cookies are crisp and buttery with a delicious nuttiness from the black sesame! They are inspired by linzer cookies, but instead of a jam filling, they have a nutty black sesame filling that takes this shortbread over the top! No one will believe they are made with whole wheat flour!
What is Black Sesame?
Black sesame is a very popular flavor in a lot of Asian desserts. It has a really delicious nutty flavor that is very unique and soooooo good! It is commonly eaten as black sesame soup or in black sesame tangyuan. White sesame seeds have almost a completely different flavor.
In this recipe, we are using black sesame paste. Make sure to get the unsweetened one. But if you can only find the sweetened kind, just add less sugar to the recipe. You can find black sesame paste in any Asian grocery store, or I made my own by toasting and blending up black sesame seeds until it becomes a thick paste. I am using a mixture of black sesame paste and normal sesame paste in the cookies because I wanted a lighter colored cookie to contrast the delicious, dark filling! You could use all black sesame paste, or if you cannot find it just use all sesame paste, which is also known as tahini!
The Shortbread
For the shortbread, you are going to need white whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour is a type of whole wheat flour made from white whole wheat. Regular whole wheat flour is made from red whole wheat. They both have the same nutritional values, but white whole wheat flour is much lighter and finer than regular whole wheat flour. So, white whole wheat flour would work best in this recipe and create the lightest, crispiest shortbread. You could substitute it with all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour, but I wouldn't suggest substituting regular whole wheat flour. It is too dense and will cause your shortbread to taste and feel a bit grainy.
Next we are adding in course Himalayan pink salt. Sound fancy, doesn't it? Himalayan pink salt has many nutrients and minerals that normal salt does not, thus leading to its beautiful pink color! You could obviously substitute it with normal coarse salt. Keep in mind, table salt is a lot more fine than coarse salt, so you'll need to use less. I've included the measurements for both coarse and table salt in the recipe below. Whatever you do, do not leave out the salt! It provides a depth of flavor that goes really well with the nuttiness of the black sesame!
Baking powder helps make the shortbread a bit lighter. Do not substitute it with baking soda since you will need some acid to activate it. Without the baking powder, your shortbread would be dense and heavy. Make sure to whisk the dry ingredients together until well combined, to make sure there are no lumps of leaveners or salt. That would taste awful!
Softened unsalted butter is another important ingredient. This is what makes the shortbread crisp and buttery! If you are vegan, you could always use vegan butter. Do not use coconut oil, as it has a much higher melting point than butter and would not work well in this recipe! Make sure the butter is softened before using for this recipe. Softened butter will cream best with the sugar! I like to soften my butter by placing a hot glass over a stick of butter and letting it sit until softened! You may need to reheat the glass if it gets cold and the butter is still not softened. If you are using salted butter, just add a little less salt. Again, I will list out all the salt measurements in the notes below!
You would then cream the butter with some powdered sugar. Make sure to use powdered sugar, not granulated sugar, because powdered sugar is much more fine and will dissolve in the butter unlike granulated sugar. If you don't have powdered sugar, you can just blend 1 cup of granulated sugar and 2 tbsp cornstarch in a high-speed blender until powdery and you cannot feel anymore grains. If you are using this method, make sure to measure AFTER blending for the most accurate results! Also, you could substitute the sugar with any other sweetener of choice that can be subbed for sugar 1 to 1. Coconut sugar, monk fruit, or erythritol are perfect for this recipe!
Next add in an egg. We are only using half an egg, and I've included how to measure it in the recipe. You could also replace this with 1/2 a flax or chia egg, which are included down below in the notes. The egg provides structure to the shortbread so it doesn't just fall apart and crumble, like some shortbreads do. I prefer a more sturdy shortbread, since it is a bit cleaner also! Vanilla extract is for enhancing the flavor. If you do not have if, you could leave it out since the main flavor is black sesame and you wouldn't really notice a huge difference.
Assembly
Chilling the dough will make it about 10x easier to work with. After chilling the dough, you'll want to roll it out to about 1/16 of an inch thick. This is really thin; I find that the thinner the cookie, the crisper it is. But do not roll it too thick or it will fall apart. I find it is easiest to roll out in between two pieces of parchment paper. Now I don't have circular cookie cutters so I use a tiny cup (around 1 1/2 inches in diameter) to cut out the cookies. With half of the cookies, I use a piping tip to cut out a circle in the middle. Those will be the tops of our cookies! You can reroll this dough out as many times as you'd like; just place it back in the fridge if its starting to get too warm.
For the filling, just combine butter (or coconut oil) and black sesame paste, and melt that in the microwave or double broiler. Then add in powdered sugar. You can add any powdered sweetener of choice, such as powdered erythritol. You can also make your own powdered sweetener by blending 1 cup of any granulated sweetener along with 2 tbsp of starch until it becomes fine and powdered. This way you can use monkfruit, coconut sugar, etc.
When assembling the cookies, be careful as the cookies are very delicate. They are thin and crisp and will break apart if you apply too much pressure. But even if they break, they'll still be delicious!
Storage
You can store these shortbread cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for a week. They can also be stored in the fridge for 10 days, or you could even freeze them for up to 3 months. Just make sure to bring them to room temperature before enjoying!
Watch This Video To Learn How to make Black Sesame Shortbread Cookies:
Whole Wheat Black Sesame Linzer Shortbread Cookies
Prep Time: 1 Hour Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Total: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Serves: 45 cookies
These black sesame shortbread cookies are crisp and buttery with a delicious nuttiness from the black sesame! They are inspired by linzer cookies, but instead of a jam filling, they have a nutty black sesame filling that takes this shortbread over the top! No one will believe they are made with whole wheat flour!
Ingredients
Shortbread:
193 grams (1 2/3 cup) white whole wheat flour*
3/4 tsp course salt**
1/4 tsp baking powder
113 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) softened unsalted butter
26 grams (2 tbsp) tahini/sesame paste (or black sesame paste)
26 grams (2 tbsp) black sesame paste
63 grams (1/2 cup) powdered sugar (or powdered sweetener of choice)
25 grams (2 tbsp or 1/2) egg***
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling:
35 grams (2 1/2 tbsp) unsalted butter
67 grams (1/4 cup) black sesame paste
30 grams (1/4 cup) powdered sugar (or sweetener of choice)
pinch salt (optional)
Instructions
1. In a medium bowl, add in white whole wheat flour, salt, and baking powder. Whisk until well combined. In another medium bowl, add in butter, sesame paste, black sesame paste, and powdered sugar. Cream on medium high speed for around 2 minutes, or until fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Beat on medium high speed for 2 minutes or until combined.
2. Add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until just combined. The texture should be like cookie dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This dough can be kept in the fridge for at most 3 days.
3. Preheat the oven to 325° F (160° C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1/16 of an inch thick. Cut out the cookies into 1 1/2 inch circles. With half of the cookies, cut out a smaller hole in the center. Place the scraps back in the fridge. Bake the cookies for around 10 minutes. Continue this process until all the dough is used up.
4. For the filling, add butter and black sesame paste to a heat-proof bowl. Melt this in the microwave or over a double broiler. Add in powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix until smooth, and it should form a thick paste.
5. To assemble the cookies, place a tiny bit of filling on a bottom shortbread. Press a shortbread with a hole on top. Enjoy!
Notes
*All purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and spelt flour with work. Regular whole wheat flour is a bit too heavy for this recipe, but you could use it if you want.
**If you have regular table salt, just use 1/2 tsp. If you are using salted butter, use 1/2 tsp course salt or 1/3 tsp table salt.
***If you are vegan you can substitute the egg with 1/2 tbsp ground flax/chia with 1 1/2 tbsp water, letting it sit for 10 minutes before using.
Nutrition Info
Serving size: 1 shortbread
Calories: 61 kcal
Fat: 4.1 g
Carbohydrates: 5.7 g
Sugars: 2 g
Protein: 1 g
Sodium: 44 mg
Fiber: 0.8 g
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