I started baking somewhat regularly with tahini and halva last year but I was quite interested to see Sarah Kieffer's recipe for pan-banging "Toasted Sesame Cookies" that get their flavor from toasted sesame oil. I've never used toasted sesame oil in a dessert recipe before, although we always have it on hand and I absolutely love its heady fragrance. Recently I started keeping both white and black sesame seeds in the house, so I had everything on hand I needed to try the recipe.
To make the cookie dough, you beat room temperature butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy; add an egg, toasted sesame oil, water, and vanilla; mix in the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and baking soda); and add bittersweet chocolate (the chocolate is listed optional, but I would never turn down the option to convert something into a chocolate chip cookie; I used Callebaut 57.9% Recipe No. 2815 callets). Then you roll the cookies in a mixture of black and white sesame seeds before baking.
I first tried using a #16 scoop to portion out the cookies and didn't get a lot of rippling around the edges with the pan-banging technique, so I switched to a larger #12 scoop and was happier with the result. The cookies in the photo below are the larger ones made with the #12 scoop.
I loved the dramatic appearance of the finished cookies with the black and white sesame seeds. The sesame seeds were so eye-catching that it was easy to miss the puddles of chocolate peeking out on top. Toasted sesame oil is so fragrant that the cookie dough emitted a strong sesame aroma both before and during baking. The baked cookies also gave off a distinct toasted sesame fragrance, and handling one left a slight oily residue on your fingers. But holy cow, were these cookies delicious. The toasted sesame flavor was just so all-encompassing and lovely, and the chocolate was a great addition. The flavor was completely different than what you get when baking with tahini or halva.
Tom and I preferred eating these cookies chilled, when they were at their chewiest. I have quickly become a fan of pan-banging cookies because of how they somehow maintain a chewy texture even though they are so thin. The texture is so satisfying and this particular flavor was just so unusual and disinctive -- I think it might be my favorite pan-banging cookie so far.
Recipe: "[Pan-Banging] Toasted Sesame Cookies" from 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer.
Previous Post: "They Catch the Eye and Delight Your Tastebuds: Tahini-Black Sesame Spiral Shortbreads," June 21, 2020.
Comments