These easy homemade black sesame sandwich cookies are the perfect cookies for the holidays. They are made with my black sesame shortbread cookies and a dollop of strawberry jam. Holiday baking doesn’t get easier than this!
I absolutely love this time of year because it is all about the sweets! Especially the cookies. I love making cookies. To me, they’re small packets of happiness that you distribute to friends and family. First cookies this year are these black sesame sandwich cookies which are inspired by Linzer cookies! They’re made with my black sesame shortbread cookies with yummy strawberry jam sandwiched in the middle. I love how the tart strawberry jam balances out the sweetness from the shortbread cookie. It’s also so easy to make!
Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments
- Black sesame seeds – This is the main flavor component of these cookies. Make sure to pulverize them in a spice grinder, so they’re really fine.
- Powdered (confectioners) sugar – Powdered sugar is a combination of fine sugar and corn starch. This ingredient is a must for these cookies because it makes them soft and tender.
- Unsalted butter – I used unsalted butter for this recipe. It’s important to use unsalted butter because it helps you control the amount of salt in your recipe.
- Vanilla extract – Vanilla extract adds flavor to the cookies. A better substitute would be vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean because they have better flavor. Substitute vanilla paste in a 1:1 ratio – 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste.
- Salt – Brings out the flavor of the other ingredients.
- All purpose flour – I used all purpose flour for this recipe.
- Strawberry jam – I think strawberry jam looks the most festive, but you can use any kind of jam you want for this recipe. Other options are blueberry, blackberry, apricot, and even persimmon!
How to make black sesame sandwich cookies
Toast black sesame seeds for ~30 seconds until you can smell a toasted black sesame aroma. Pour into a spice grinder and pulse until it becomes very fine. Mix the flour and powdered black sesame seeds together. Set aside. Cream powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and salt. Mix until well combined.
Sift the dry ingredients from step 2 into the wet ingredients. Combine with a spatula until a soft dough forms. Combine into a ball or disk and cover with plastic wrap. Rest dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Move the oven rack to the center of the oven.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper. After 30 minutes, take the dough out from the fridge. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter that is 2.5 inches in diameter to cut out your cookies. For half the cookies, use a smaller ~1 inch cookie cutter to cut out the center of each cookie. After you cut out your first batch, combine the remaining dough, and roll it out to cut more cookies. Repeat this process until you run out of dough. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes until the edges start to turn a golden color.
Cool cookies for 10 minutes. Now it’s time to put together your sandwich cookies! Smear 1-2 teaspoons of jam on the cookies without the center cut out. Place the remaining cookies on top of the jam so the jam peaks out of the cut out in the center.
Tips on how to make the perfect black sesame sandwich cookies
An easy hack on how to soften butter
When testing this recipe, I forgot to leave my butter out before making the cookies. So instead of waiting for them to come up to room temperature, I put it in the microwave and used the defrost setting to soften it. It worked! To use this hack, place butter in the microwave and defrost for 1-2 minutes until softened.
Why I use a silicone mat
I used a silicone mat because it’s easy to roll out the dough on the surface, it makes it easy to transfer the dough onto a baking sheet for resting, and the cookies don’t stick when I transfer them onto another baking sheet for baking. Another option is to use a marble slab.
What to do if your dough gets too warm
When I was cutting the cookies, there were moments when the dough got too warm. Like I mentioned, the cookies bake better when they’re cold. If this happens, put the cookies back in the fridge for 10 minutes before continuing to work with it.
Did you make these cookies?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
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Black Sesame Sandwich Cookies with Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
- ¼ cup black sesame seeds powdered
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup strawberry jam see note 1
Instructions
- Toast black sesame seeds for ~30 seconds until you can smell a toasted black sesame aroma. Pour into a spice grinder and pulse until it becomes very fine.
- Mix the flour and powdered black sesame seeds together. Set aside.
- Cream powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and salt. Mix until well combined.
- Sift the dry ingredients from step 2 into the wet ingredients. Combine with a spatula until a soft dough forms.
- Combine into a ball or disk and cover with plastic wrap. Rest dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Move the oven rack to the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
- Prepare 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper.
- After 30 minutes, take the dough out from the fridge. Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick.
- Use a cookie cutter that is ~2.5 inches in diameter to cut out your cookies. For half the cookies, use a smaller ~1 inch cookie cutter to cut out the center of each cookie.
- After you cut out your first batch, combine the remaining dough, and roll it out to cut more cookies. Repeat this process until you run out of dough.
- Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes until the edges start to turn a golden color.
- Cool cookies for 10 minutes.
- Now it's time to put together your sandwich cookies! Smear 1-2 teaspoons of jam on the cookies without the center cut out. Place the remaining cookies on top of the jam so the jam peaks out of the center cut out.
Notes
- Use any kind of jam you want to use!
- What to do if your dough gets too warm – When I was cutting the cookies, there were moments when the dough got too warm. Like I mentioned, the cookies bake better when they’re cold. If this happens, put the cookies back in the fridge for 10 minutes before continuing to work with it.
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by Becca Du