At any given time I am bound to have this unbaked cookie dough ready to go in my freezer. Which is a good thing since these are by far my most requested cookies. If you haven’t tried black sesame before you need to sort this out. The only way I can describe it is a more aromatic version of a peanut butter cookie. I know that seems vague and confusing, but trust me these are good. You’ll be stocking them in your freezer in no time.
A few notes on this recipe…
I take cookie baking very seriously, as such, I have a few tips to share.
- Rest your dough. For at least 24 hours in the fridge. I do this for 2 reasons: it allows the gluten to develop which I believes results in a chewier cookie, also, by resting the dough in the fridge it allows to cool to a consistent temperature which ensures even baking.
- Vegan egg replacements. For most of my cookie and baking recipes I prefer a ‘chia egg’ mostly because I am likely to always have chia seeds on hand. My method for the perfect chia egg is simple: grind up 2 tablespoons of whole chia seeds immediately before you plan on using your chia egg, I use an old coffee grinder (pro tip: use white chia seeds in pale/white baked goods, and black chia seeds in dark coloured/chocolate baked goods that way you won’t see little specks). Then transfer these to a small bowl and add 6 tablespoons of hot water (just as hot as your tap will go is fine). Stir together until it is starting to gel and pull away from the sides. Store bowl in the fridge until you get to the egg adding portion of your recipe. This makes the equivalent of 2 eggs.
- If you have to bake in batches, store your excess cookie balls on a sheet of baking paper in the fridge until they are ready to go in the oven.
Ingredients
- 230g vegan butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 chia egg (refer above for my preferred method), or, 2 eggs worth of your favourite egg replacer
- 1 cup black sesame powder*
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Method
- In a large bowl combine your flour, baking powder and soda and salt. Set aside.
- In an electric mixer (use a paddle attachment, preferably with a bowl scraper if you have it) or by hand, cream together the butter and sugar.
- When thoroughly combined add in your vanilla essence and chia eggs, mix until combined.
- Slowly add your flour in batches so it doesn’t puff up in your face. I speak from experience.
- When you have mixed in all your flour, slowly add in your black sesame powder, scraping down the sides of your bowl as you go.
- To rest your dough overnight you can either plastic wrap the bowl you made your dough in (however if you do this make sure to press some plastic wrap down directly on to the dough so that it won’t dry out). Or you can tip your dough out onto some plastic wrap and then wrap tightly to store in the fridge or longer term in the freezer.
- When you are ready to bake preheat your oven to 190°C
- Remove your dough from the fridge or freezer. Because this dough is made using vegan butter it won’t freeze solid and therefore you will be able to work with it straight from the freezer (vegan bonus!)
- Prepare baking trays with either baking paper or silpat
- Scoop generous tablespoon sized balls of dough, roll between your palms to form a ball.
- Place on your baking trays, but do not flatten, they will flatten naturally as they bake.
- Once you have rolled all your balls of dough you can now begin baking.
- Bake for 15mins until they are slightly golden around the edges.
- Allow to cool on the trays for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
*Black sesame powder can usually be found in the tea/coffee section of your local Asian supermarket.
Kat's Savage Kitchen 
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