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Home » Recipes » Bars & Brownies

Mar 11, 2022(updated Sep 23, 2022)

Black Sesame Brownies

4.17 from 24 votes

15 Comments

by Becca Du

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
black sesame brownies

My matcha brownie recipe is by far the most popular recipe on this blog, so I wanted to create a variation on that recipe with these black sesame brownies. Same idea but with the smoky flavor of black sesame seeds. Next to matcha, black sesame is one of my favorite dessert flavors of all time. It acts like matcha powder in desserts because it balances out sweet flavours really well, so black sesame desserts are inherently not too sweet. And “not too sweet” seems to be the ultimate compliment for desserts in my household.

creamed sugar and eggs
mixed batter

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

  • Unsalted butter – I used browned butter for that extra nutty flavour. I would recommend using unsalted butter (instead of salted butter), so you can control the amount of salt in your brownies.
  • White chocolate – Unlike blondies, chocolate is typically used in a traditional brownie recipe, but since I wanted to see the black color of the black sesame seeds, I used white chocolate instead.
  • Granulated sugar – Adds sweetness and moisture to these brownies.
  • Light brown sugar – Adds sweetness and moisture to these brownies. You can also use dark brown sugar, but it will make these brownies more fudgy and sweeter.
  • Eggs – Adds richness to these brownies. I would highly recommend using eggs that are at room temperature. This helps the eggs mix better with the other ingredients.
  • Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the brownies. Substitute with 1 vanilla bean or an equal amount of vanilla paste.
  • Salt for seasoning
  • Black sesame seeds – Adds the color and black sesame flavor. Substitute with an equal amount of black sesame powder.
  • All purpose flour – This is the main dry ingredient in this recipe.
batter before baking

Making my black sesame brownies

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Next, grease a 8×8 baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside. Make your black sesame seed powder. Toast black sesame seeds for 20-30 seconds over medium heat. Pour into a spice grinder or food processor until they become powder. Set aside.

Heat the butter over high heat until it melts. Lower the heat to low and cook until small brown bits start to appear. Remove from the stove. Add white chocolate to a small bowl. Pour the brown butter over the top and stir until all the chocolate melts. Let the mixture cool for 2 minutes.

In large bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer until thick and creamy (5-10 minutes). While mixing, stream in your white chocolate butter mixture. Whisk until a uniform batter appears. Lastly, sift your flour and black sesame powder into the bowl. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the batter until a black batter forms. Spoon into your prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, take out the brownies and slam them on the counter to get rid of some the air. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt and black sesame seeds over the top. Put the brownies back in the oven. Bake for another 15-20 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes before serving.

black sesame brownies

Tips on how to make the perfect black sesame brownies

  1. Use a light coloured pan to brown butter – It is a lot easier to brown butter using a light colored pan because it helps you see the color of the butter as it cooks.
  2. Use a spice grinder to break down your black sesame seeds – I would highly recommend using a spice grinder to break down your black sesame seeds. A food processor works, but it doesn’t really get your that fine powder you want. A finer powder allows you to get that dark, black color.
  3. Beat sugar and eggs until thick and creamy – Beating the eggs and sugar incorporates air into the brownies, creating a lift in the final product. This helps provide lift without any type of leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder.
  4. Smack the brownies on the counter – This helps get rid of air bubbles and evens out the shape of the brownies, so they’re not thicker in one part and thinner in other parts.
black sesame brownies

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black sesame brownies

Black Sesame Brownies

Becca Du
These chewy, fudgy black sesame brownies have the soft texture of brownies combined with the smoky flavor of black sesame seeds.
4.17 from 24 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 45 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine Asian
Servings 9 brownies
Calories 375 kcal

Equipment

  • 8 inch square cake pan
  • Oven Thermometer
  • Spice Grinder

Ingredients
 
 

  • ½ cup black sesame seeds powdered
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 4 oz white chocolate
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 3 eggs room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ tsp flaky salt optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Grease a 8×8 baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Make your black sesame seed powder. Toast black sesame seeds for 20-30 seconds. Pour black sesame seeds into a spice grinder or food processor. I would recommend using a spice grinder for the finest powder. Pulse until a fine powder forms. Set aside.
  • Heat the butter over high heat until it melts. Lower the heat to low and cook until small brown bits start to appear. Remove from the stove.
  • Add white chocolate to a small bowl. Pour the brown butter over the top and stir until all the chocolate melts. Let the mixture cool for 2 minutes.
  • In large bowl, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. Beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer until thick and creamy (5-10 minutes). 
  • While mixing, stream in your white chocolate mixture from step 5. Whisk until a uniform batter appears.
  • Lastly, sift your flour and black sesame powder into the bowl. Using a spatula, gently fold both into the batter until a black batter forms. Spoon into your prepared baking pan.
  • Bake for 20 minutes.
  • Take out the brownies and slam them on the counter to get rid of some the air. Sprinkle some flaky sea salt over the top and put the brownies back in the oven. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.
  • Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1brownieCalories: 375kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 5gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 230mgPotassium: 119mgFiber: 1gSugar: 36gVitamin A: 399IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 125mgIron: 2mg
Keyword black sesame brownies
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Comments

  1. QS says

    March 14, 2021 at 1:42 pm

    Hello, just wanted to clarify regarding grinding the sesame seeds. In the tips section, you suggest the spice grinder is best, but in the recipe directions, it’s the food processor. Which is the best way, as I have both? Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Becca says

      March 14, 2021 at 1:50 pm

      Apologies for the confusion! The spice grinder is definitely the best option. I will update the recipe to reflect that!

      Reply
      • Qs says

        March 14, 2021 at 3:04 pm

        Great. Thanks!

        Reply
  2. Davina Ma says

    March 20, 2021 at 2:21 pm

    4 stars
    After the holiday disaster of Brown Butter Matcha Brownies, where I doubled the recipe and didn’t account for a longer bake time, I wanted to give this another try but with black sesame.

    I finally got a much needed 8 × 8 square pan! These are plenty sweet after I reduced the white sugar to 1/4 cup. However, they didn’t turn out as fudgy or black as I expected. They were more cake-like than brownie-like but still really enjoyable with black sesame flavour.

    Becca, do you know? Did the sugar adjustment change the texture?

    Reply
    • Becca says

      March 20, 2021 at 11:06 pm

      Sugar adds moisture and sweetness to these brownies, so that could explain the texture change. If you want to reduce sugar, consider adding an egg yolk to make up for the moisture change. That way you’re adding moisture without increasing the sweetness.

      Reply
  3. Elena says

    March 29, 2021 at 7:02 pm

    4 stars
    Followed this recipe exactly so much so that I converted to grams for accuracy. It was much lighter in color and was very cakey not fudgey. It’s way good but I definitely would cook for much less time. I baked for 10 min less and still feel it went too long.

    Reply
    • Becca says

      March 29, 2021 at 7:17 pm

      Thanks for the feedback!

      Reply
      • Bridget Williams says

        July 27, 2021 at 2:31 pm

        5 stars
        My SO and I made these. Mine also came out as a Blondie color..I have black sesame powder that I buy on Amazon to use in my “porridge” in the mornings..I also used gluten free all purpose flour and I substituted 1/2 of the white sugar for coconut sugar. (I have RA and certain food items and ingredients make my flare worse). I did bake for 10 less minutes also.

        Reply
        • Becca says

          July 27, 2021 at 3:48 pm

          Hi Bridget. I’m not sure why they came out a blondie color 🙁 The top should be brown but the center should black. Thanks for trying the recipe.

          Reply
  4. Yuner says

    May 07, 2021 at 11:42 am

    Hi Becca, the sesame powder can get clumpy and a lot doesn’t get through the sieve. I just end up pouring the last clumps in, but then my batter doesn’t get grey like yours and then I also have a blondie look on top, looks more like a blondie with black dots. How to correct this?

    Reply
    • Becca says

      May 07, 2021 at 1:56 pm

      Oh no!! Are you using a food processor or spice grinder? The uniform black color comes from super fine black sesame seeds that have been broken down into powder. A spice grinder works better for breaking it down into really fine powder. You also can buy black sesame powder, so you don’t have to go through all that. I usually press the black sesame into the sieve to break up the clumps. This does take some time, but I find it’s worth it in the end because I get that uniform black color.

      I am not sure why you’re getting the blondie look on top. Mine are brown on top and black in the middle. Cooking black sesame seeds at a high temperature will give you that brown crust on all sides. This happens with a lot of my black sesame desserts. Some things I would check are 1) Is your oven temperature accurate? Some ovens have inaccurate temperatures, meaning the internal temperature of the oven is different from what it says on the oven. so you might be over baking them. I would recommend an oven thermometer to resolve this issue. I personally use one all the time. 2) Are you baking them too long? The center should be a little fudgy when you take them out of the oven, and as it cools, it should set. Hopefully this all helps!

      Reply
  5. Jeanette says

    June 04, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    5 stars
    Great variation on your matcha brownie recipe! I just made these last night but didn’t have any black sesame powder so had to pulse black sesame seeds in the food processor. I didn’t sieve them so there were black sesame clumps but I actually like the texture. These turned out chewier rather than fudgey compared to when I made the matcha brownies–maybe due to the sesame texture, longer bake time, and I didn’t mix the wet ingredients for that long (def less than 5min).

    Re: other comments on the light color, my brownies were blondie-like with black specks after the first 20min of bake time when I took them out to bang the pan, but after baking for an additional 15min, they were darker in color like the photos (brown on the outside, black on the inside).

    Reply
    • Becca says

      June 05, 2021 at 11:33 am

      Thank you for making them!!

      Reply
      • Bridget Williams says

        July 28, 2021 at 8:19 am

        5 stars
        I’m wondering what would happen if I used a tiny bit of leavening in the recipe? I do need to get an immersion blender or electric hand mixer, as we did this recipe by hand…. So no real lift, but delicious nonetheless. Even with my modified autoimmune protocol diet substitutions… It was delicious and we’ll be making them again. Most likely for my MIL when we go up north for the holidays. She would love these! (I substituted gluten free all purpose flour for the reg flour, and half of the white sugar with coconut sugar. I wonder how it would be with all coconut sugar)

        Reply
        • Becca says

          July 28, 2021 at 9:03 am

          The leavener will help the brownie rise! Let me know if you do try it with all coconut sugar! I imagine it’ll be less sweet.

          Reply

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About Me


Hello I'm Becca! I believe any day can be made better with a bowl of noodle soup. Here you will find recipes from my Chinese/Vietnamese heritage and stories from my experience living here in beautiful LA. Grab a drink and stay awhile! Read More

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